US President Biden hosted a group of Pacific leaders last week in Washington in what has been billed by The Whitehouse as “The first-ever United States-Pacific Island Country Summit”. 

Attending on behalf of Vanuatu’s President was the country’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and Climate Change Envy, Ambassador Odo Tevi.

The US has made very clear its intent to be more substantively engaged with the Pacific in a significant beefing up of its foreign policy in this area, and this Summit follows on from a high profile participation by US Vice President Kamala Harris in July’s Pacific Island Form in Fiji.

Credit: https://twitter.com/odo_tevi/status/1575820046915411969

The full Whitehouse statement is here:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/29/fact-sheet-roadmap-for-a-21st-century-u-s-pacific-island-partnership/

The Whitehouse Declaration is here:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/29/declaration-on-u-s-pacific-partnership/