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New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, is unable to attend the 51st Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Suva this week after contracting COVID-19.

The Associate Foreign Minister, Aupito William Sio, will travel in her place instead.

Mahuta says the Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which precedes the Leaders’ Forum, comes at a critical time, adding that the most pressing security and economic challenges for the Pacific are from the effects of climate change.

She reaffirms New Zealand’s commitment to stand alongside the Pacific, mitigating and adapting to the impact of sea-level rise. Half of New Zealnds $1.3 billion climate finance commitments announced late last year are for the Pacific.

Mahuta added that other pressing issues for the Forum include regional responses to broader security challenges, including maritime surveillance and illegal fishing, support for economic resilience; managing the COVID-19 pandemic; and responding to natural disasters and emergencies.