COLLABORATION and working together are strong words emanated out from the Honiara Summit that ended at Friendship Hall this afternoon.
The Summit, hosted by the Government of the Solomon Islands and organized together with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Pacific Community (SPC), and the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, was held from the 24th to the 27th February 2025 in Honiara.
The Summit brought together five Heads of State, 10 Ministers and over 300 global representatives of fisheries administrations, Regional Fisheries Bodies and stakeholders.
The Summit was an opportunity to review the status of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 14.4 and exchange good practices and lessons learned among countries and regional organizations in and outside the Pacific, with a view to accelerating progress towards achieving the target, with particular attention to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the Pacific region.
Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele and former Director of Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, Dr. Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen and other regional leaders echoed these words as the attention turns to the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France from June 9 to 13, 2025.
France and Costa Rica are co-organizing the UN Conference.
PM Manele reiterated to the participants at the closing the theme ‘Iumi Tugeda’ in Solomon Islands pidgin mean, “you and I working together” to accelerate the sustainability of fisheries and marine resources in the Pacific.
The Summit focused on the themes:
a) Progress in the implementation of SDG Target 14.4;
b) The role of Regional Fishery Bodies in supporting implementation of SDG Target 14.4;
c) Pacific Islands region response to SDG Target 14.4;
d) Supporting fisheries sustainability through science;
e) Supporting fisheries sustainability through effective monitoring, control and surveillance;
f) Supporting coastal fisheries sustainability through management action;
g) Supporting fisheries sustainability through implementation of international instruments; and
h) Strengthening partnerships to implement SDG Target 14.4.
In the outcome, the Honiara Summit called on participants, governments, regional and international organizations and fisheries stakeholders to carry the below outcomes into deliberations at the 2025 United Nations Oceans Conference and other relevant fora, to ensure that fisheries are firmly at the center of conversations on conservation and sustainable development of the Ocean, Blue Economy initiatives, and Ocean’s health.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
Solomon Star, Honiara
