PM Rabuka Calls for Pacific Unity as Employment, Climate and Security Intersect

FIJI NEWS

9/1/20253 min read

Nadi, Fiji — Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has urged Pacific nations to confront interconnected challenges as one family, declaring the inaugural Pacific Employment Conference a “watershed moment” for the region’s future.

“Today, we gather in the spirit of vuvale – family – because that is what we are: one Pacific family facing shared challenges and blessed with shared opportunities,” the Prime Minister told delegates at the Crowne Plaza in Wailoaloa, Nadi

PM Rabuka stressed that employment cannot be separated from security, climate change, and labour mobility.

“My fellow Pacific leaders, we gather at this historic moment because we understand a fundamental truth: employment, security, labour mobility, and climate change are not separate policy domains – they are interconnected forces reshaping the very foundations of Pacific life,” he said

He warned that disruptions to jobs lead to instability: “Unemployment and underemployment don’t just hurt families economically – they create the social tensions that tear communities apart. When our young people cannot find dignified work, when families cannot sustain their livelihoods, when traditional economic sectors collapse, these become security challenges that no police force or military can solve alone”

The Prime Minister described employment as central to foreign policy, remarking: “Employment policy, properly understood, is foreign policy. When our people have decent work, when our communities are prosperous, when our youth see futures worth staying for – these become the foundations of regional stability and global peace”

Rabuka used the occasion to reflect on Fiji’s and the region’s partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), which is marking its 50th year in the Pacific.

“For half a century, the ILO has stood with us as we navigated independence, built our institutions, and faced unprecedented challenges… the ILO has been more than a development partner – it has been family,” he said

He noted that Fiji joined the ILO in 1974, just four years after independence, and has since built a “progressive and cordial relationship built on the sacred principle of tripartism – the equal partnership of governments, workers, and employers that forms the foundation of sustainable development”

The Prime Minister also tied the region’s employment agenda to the urgent realities of climate change.

“When climate change disrupts employment – as rising seas threaten traditional livelihoods and extreme weather destroys the infrastructure our workers depend on – we see the first connection,” he said. Citing ILO projections, he added: “Up to 3.8% of working hours worldwide could be lost to climate-induced heat alone. That’s 136 million jobs globally. For us in the Pacific, already facing existential climate threats, this isn’t just economic loss – it’s the potential displacement of entire communities”

He outlined opportunities in new sectors such as renewable energy, ecosystem restoration, and climate-smart agriculture, urging the Pacific to lead in shaping a green and resilient economy. “The Ocean of Peace must be anchored in decent work for all Pacific peoples… We cannot build lasting peace on economic foundations that climate change will wash away,” he said

A major outcome of the conference will be the creation of a new permanent body for regional cooperation.

“The centerpiece of this conference is the launch of the Regional PS Employment Talanoa Forum,” Rabuka announced. He explained that the forum would be more than a “talking shop,” but a platform for real accountability and collective action: “It will meet regularly, report transparently, and measure progress honestly… But the forum itself begins now, with this conference, with your participation, with your commitment to the tripartite principles that the ILO has helped us develop over fifty years," PM Rabuka said.

By rooting the forum in the Pacific tradition of Talanoa and the ILO’s tripartite model, the Prime Minister said the region was charting a new path of integrated and inclusive policymaking.

In closing, Rabuka called for sustained cooperation and bold commitments beyond the conference: “Let us design not just for disruption, but for prosperity grounded in justice. Not just for adaptation, but for transformation that serves all Pacific peoples. Not just for survival, but for thriving communities where decent work provides the foundation for human security and regional peace”