Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) at the East-West Center will convene “Puʻuhonua: The Pacific Way Forward,” the 12th Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL) September 12-14, 2022 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.
The PICL Standing Committee, a body of senior officials from member countries and territories, met virtually on August 8, 2022 to confirm arrangements for the September conference. It will feature closed leaders’ meetings and dialogues, as well as plenary sessions, ceremonies, and side events which will be open to the public.
PICL is composed of twenty heads of government from independent Pacific Islands countries, as well as territories and the State of Hawaiʻi. PICL members include American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaiʻi, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
PIDP has served as the Secretariat of PICL since 1980, convening presidents, prime ministers, governors, and other heads of government that comprise PICL membership to determine the regional priorities that inform PIDP’s work toward holistic, people-centered development.
“The 12th PICL is the first in-person conference of Pacific leaders that PIDP will convene since 2016,” said PIDP Interim Director Dr. Mary Therese Hattori. “This is an especially important gathering of leaders, regional organizations, and the broader public during a time of renewed regional unity and as the Pacific works toward collective action to confront critical issues such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, industry diversification, geopolitical challenges, and more in ways that are organic to our Island ways of coming together and working toward a prosperous future for the Pacific and for Pacific Islanders,” Hattori added.