MINISTER for Defence and Veteran Affairs Pio Tikoduadua has called on all Pacific nations to translate the Ocean of Peace Declaration into hard national policy, warning the landmark document risks becoming empty rhetoric unless countries act on it at home.
Speaking at the Pacific Peace and Security Dialogue in Suva this week, Mr Tikoduadua framed the declaration as a rare opportunity for the Pacific to chart its own future on its own terms.
“The most important thing is that we know what peace means to us,” he told the gathering of ministers and security officials.
“Peace means that islanders can take their canoe to the reef without worrying about the reef or shores being lost.”
He said foreign pressures too often divided the region, urging Pacific leaders to speak earlier, talk more and hold firm on shared values — especially the rule of law.
“We need to remain clear about who we are and what we stand for as a region,” Mr Tikoduadua said.
“Peace should be more than a declaration — it should be the way we all work together and trust each other.”
Solomon Islands Minister for National Planning Peter Kenilorea Jr backed the call, pointing to September’s United Nations General Assembly as a concrete moment for action.
He urged the handful of Pacific nations yet to sign the UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime to do so collectively in New York.
“A practical outcome from this conference could be that those of us who have not yet signed should make a visible collective effort to sign it together,” Mr Kenilorea said.
Palau’s Minister of Justice Jennifer Olegeriil added that while regional unity was critical, individual national realities must not be lost.
She pointed to Palau’s proximity to Asia as creating both opportunity and unique vulnerability.
“We also must never forget the specific and unique attributes of our individual structures,” she said. Mr Tikoduadua called for the Ocean of Peace to be broken into country-specific policies, with nations sharing progress with each other.
“If it does not improve the lives of our people, it means nothing.”
