This year the Forum’s theme is: Building a Strong Pacific: Our People, Our Islands, Our Will.

50 years after the first nuclear test, and 20 years after the last. The French Polynesia atoll of Mururoa is still largely a no-go zone. Photo: AFP

Officials representing all 18 Pacific Islands Forum members are meeting in Apia today to discuss the agenda for the 49th Pacific Islands Forum.

The Officials Committee are considering the Specialist Sub-Committee on Regionalism’s 2018 report which consolidates the information gathered during public consultations earlier this year and details progress of the Forum’s priority areas of action on regional security, climate change and disaster resilience, and fisheries.

The Officials Committee are also discussing the Forum’s Foreign Policy and its Strategic Advocacy and Engagement Strategy, the first, quadrennial Pacific Sustainable Development Report, and a revised Charter of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific.