Fiji & Pacific Talanoa on Governance, Policy and Sustainable Development

  The article also appeared in the Fiji Times of Feb 12, 2022  Regional and global news media outlets reported that Tuvalu's Foreign Minister Simon Kofe had been nominated for the Nobel peace prize by Norwegian politician Guri Melby. Mr Kofe received global media prominence during COP26 when he gave an impassioned speech (that went viral) while standing knee-deep in the sea to highlight rising sea levels due to climate change.  Saving Tuvalu, Kofe said, was akin to saving the world.  There is much that the smaller Pacific Island states can do, for example, in accessing climate finance to assist in climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. There is also the persuasive argument that working with non-state actors in the anti-corruption space can help these nations overcome corruption issues that inevitably creep in when huge amounts of funds are being disbursed.  Non state agencies represent citizen groups in small island states and although their discussions m...

Joseph Veramu is an Executive of CLCT Integrity Fiji The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021 results released on Jan 25, 2022 showed that Fiji received a score of 55 out of 100 and a ranking of 45 out of 180 nations. The CPI ranks 180 countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Two-thirds of countries scored below 50, indicating that they have serious corruption problems, while 27 countries are at their lowest score ever. A Report in Transparency Times of 24/1/2022 noted that “From a Transparency International New Zealand point of view, it was also pleasing, given the work we’ve been doing with Fiji to see them re-enter the index rating with a score of 55, placing it well inside the top 50 countries.” Grace Konrote of Integrity Fiji’s Youth Network noted “we have to give credit where it is due. The Fijian anti-corruption agency FICAC has worked hard in anti-corruption advocacy and i...

Joseph Veramu is Executive Director of CLCT Integrity Fiji – Transparency International’s National Contact in Fiji. When Shakespeare wrote in his famous play Macbeth that “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark", he could not possibly be meaning Denmark which was ranked first in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2021 – which measures perceived levels of public sector corruption by experts and the business community. While Denmark may have its own challenges too, Shakespeare who is studied widely in high schools in Melanesian nations was probably alluding to nations like Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu where curbing public sector corruption is challenging. All is not well at the top of the political hierarchy in Melanesia. CSOs in the anti-corruption space can sometimes feel like Hamlet – sleep walking through anti-corruption advocacy as the ‘rank and gross’ spirits of corruption refuse to be curbed!  Amongst the 180 countries assessed globally, Fiji had a score of 55 ou...