History of the organization

The Pacific Island Forum was established in 1971 and was an improvement of the pre-existing South Pacific Commission, which was formed in 1947, but it has no relation with it. It currently consists of 18 nations; Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. It also has several nations and institutions which act as observers.

In 1971 took place the first meeting of the South Pacific Forum in New Zealand with only seven members (Nauru, Western Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, the Cook Islands, New Zealand and Australia). It was an informal discussion of issues of common concern like trade rights, education, shipping and tourism. This meeting set an annual tradition; every year there was held an encounter in a different member countr

y. In 1999 the name of the organization was changed into Pacific Islands Forum (commonly known as The Forum). The goal was to be an intergovernmental organization for all the independent countries in the Oceania, so in the next few years all the ones in the South Pacific area joined the Forum.  The headquarters are located in Suva, Fiji.The current Forum Secretary General is Meg Taylor from Papua Nova Guinea and the Forum’s Chair is changed annually.

Since 1989, the Forum has organised an annual meeting with key Dialogue Partners at Ministerial level. The Forum currently recognises 18 dialogue partners: Canada, People’s Republic of China, Cuba, European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

The Pacific Islands Forum is no longer only a meeting but an organization which works in daily life. As they explain in their website, the Forum’s Pacific Vision is for a region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion and prosperity, so that all Pacific people can lead free, healthy, and productive lives.The Pacific Islands Forum works to achieve this by fostering cooperation between governments, collaboration with international agencies, and by representing the interests of its members.

In the meetings there are no formal rules of procedure, however a number of traditions or conventions exist. Decisions are usually made by consensus.The summit agenda is set by the Forum Secretariat with input from members and regional organisations. A communiqué announces the decisions made during the meetings and regional policies are also set through Forum Declarations. (Boxall, 2006).

In May 2012 Fiji was suspended because it didn’t have a democratic system. The Chair or the forum considered that a regime which displays such a total disregard for basic human rights, democracy and freedom didn’t deserve to be in the Forum. On September 2014 there were elections in Fiji so in October the Forum lifted the suspension.