Fact Sheet: Boosting US-Pacific Islands Forum Alliance

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield led the U.S. delegation to the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Cook Islands on November 10 as part of the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to enhancing our partnership with the Pacific Islands to achieve our shared vision for a resilient Pacific region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion, and prosperity, where individuals can reach their potential, the environment can thrive, and democracy can flourish. Since the Administration released the first ever U.S.-Pacific Partnership Strategy in 2022, we have announced we are working with Congress on plans to provide over $8 billion in new funding and programs for the Pacific Islands. The United States believes it is important to be guided by Pacific priorities and needs, including the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the newly launched Pacific Partnerships for Prosperity.

Driving Forward the U.S.-Pacific Partnership

President Biden has emphasized that our partnership with the Pacific matters, and that we will step up our diplomatic and development cooperation in the region, including with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat.

• Strengthening Regional Institutions: As a member of the Pacific Community (SPC) and Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), as well as a PIF Dialogue Partner, the United States firmly supports the Pacific regional architecture led by the PIF and values a strong, unified, and resilient PIF. In response to the priority PIF leaders have placed on strengthening capacity building to foster and develop Pacific leaders who embrace the principles of inclusive Pacific regionalism, the United States intends to provide $500,000, subject to Congressional notification, to strengthen the PIF's institutional capacity and support the PIF's Pacific Leadership Initiative. This funding will identify linkages and fill gaps in existing training and capacity building opportunities offered in the Pacific region. It will support a holistic approach to Pacific leadership development that meets PIF members' objectives for inclusive Pacific leadership rooted in Pacific values while being adaptive to modern challenges.

• Advancing the Implementation of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent: USAID intends to partner with the PIF Secretariat to strengthen the participation of critical Pacific Non-State Actors (NSAs) in regional policy engagement and implementation to deliver sustainable development outcomes. Assistance focuses on engaging NSAs in the implementation plan for the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and enhancing NSA engagement at annual ministerial dialogues in the Pacific.

• Signing Agreements Related to the Compacts of Free Association: The Compacts of Free Association with the U.S. Freely Associated States have formed a bedrock of U.S.-Pacific cooperation for nearly four decades. We remain deeply committed to these partnerships. In May we signed Compact-related economic assistance agreements with the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, and in October, we signed Compact-related economic assistance agreements with the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Administration is working with Congress on the necessary authorities and appropriations to bring these agreements into force and implement and fund them.

• Opening U.S. Embassy Port Vila: The Biden-Harris Administration is opening new embassies across the Pacific in recognition that that our close partnership with the Pacific requires regular exchange between our governments at all levels. We intend to open an embassy in Vanuatu in 2024, having completed Congressional notification procedures this year. This builds on our opening of new embassies in Solomon Islands and Tonga earlier this year.

• Returning the Peace Corps: Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn joined the U.S. delegation to the PIF to highlight Peace Corps' ongoing work in the Pacific. Peace Corps volunteers have returned to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, and will likely return in 2024 to Vanuatu. Peace Corps will also expand the Blue Pacific Youth Initiative, announced at the US-PIF Summit in September, to support young leaders working on environmental climate resilience issues.

• Expanding Development Assistance Eligibility for Cook Islands and Niue: Following the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Cooks Islands and Niue, both countries may now benefit independently from a broader range of future U.S. foreign assistance programming. This expanded eligibility builds on the disaster risk reduction and resilience assistance both countries currently receive through the USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.

• Expanding our Public Health Diplomatic and Program Engagement to Strengthen Global Health Security: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is opening a new regional office for East Asia and the Pacific, which seeks to improve public health capacity in the Pacific Islands to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats. This builds on the U.S. Government's investments to strengthen global health security in the region, including more than $1.2 million in FY22 for the Freely Associated States through the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program; and $5.0 million of new global health security funding for Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and regional activities. Through our support, the U.S. Government provides remote and in-country partnerships to improve health security. As we continue to build back from the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Government provides funding for a One Health workforce (public and animal health sectors), regional laboratory capacity, data modernization, and implementation of public health programs, including immunizations; and One Health Rapid Response Team framework that will guide human, animal and environmental-related coordination, collaboration and communication before, during and after an emergency across the region.

Tackling the Climate Crisis

The United States recognizes the importance of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, accelerating the clean energy transition, and helping Pacific Islands adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change. We are responding directly to Pacific priorities, including through our May 2023 commitment to provide $2 million, subject to Congressional notification and the completion of domestic procedures, to support the PIF to design and stand up the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) to support adaptation and resilience at the local level in the Pacific Islands.

• Reaffirming U.S. Position on Statehood and Sea-level Rise: For some States, particularly low-lying island States in the Pacific Ocean, increasing sea levels pose an existential threat. At the U.S.-PIF Summit in September, the President announced that the United States considers that sea-level rise driven by human-induced climate change should not cause any country to lose its statehood or its membership in the United Nations, its specialized agencies, or other international organizations. The United States is committed to working with the Pacific Islands and others on issues relating to human-induced sea-level rise and statehood to advance these objectives. We call on all countries to support this policy position by COP28.

• Building Early Warning Systems (EWS) for All and Data for Resilience: As announced at the U.S.-PIF Summit, the United States intends to provide $8 million, subject to Congressional notification and the completion of domestic procedures, to expand our Information Services for Resilience Initiative announced last September. The United States is supportive of the Pacific-led Weather-Ready Pacific, a priority identified by PIF leaders under the Pacific Partnerships for Prosperity. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is supporting projects in the region that complement activities identified in Weather-Ready Pacific. This includes projects focused on capacity building and training for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services as they develop and build their multi-hazard early warning systems.

• Promoting Pacific Women's and Girls' Climate and Clean Energy Leadership: Around the world and in the Pacific, women and girls are on the frontlines of both climate impacts and solutions. In October, we launched a new $1.5 million initiative to support implementation of the Pacific Community's (SPC) Pacific Energy and Gender Strategic Action Plan (PEGSAP). PEGSAP seeks to promote women's climate and clean energy leadership and economic security by increasing career and income-generating opportunities for women and girls in 22 Pacific Island Countries and Territories through pilot projects to promote women-owned businesses in the sale, distribution, and maintenance of renewable energy systems, and scholarships for women and girls to pursue studies in relevant science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

• Supporting a New Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution: As part of the Pacific Partnerships for Prosperity, PIF leaders have called for an international legally binding instrument to address plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The United States continues to seek an ambitious and inclusive international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution that will have universal membership, including every country that is a major producer and consumer of plastic. The United States is also committed to working to prevent, reduce and remove marine debris in the Pacific, including through programs like NOAA's Marine Debris Program, which offers competitive grant opportunities, including to the U.S. Freely Associated States and U.S. Territories. USAID's Save our Seas Initiative is addressing marine plastic pollution in the Pacific by strengthening solid waste management systems and creating inclusive circular economies through the Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program.

Investing in Trade Ties and Economic Development

The United States is committed to supporting our Pacific Island neighbors' economic resilience through enhancing trade and investment, supporting enabling business environments, and expanding access to finance for development.