NGOs upset at ban on attending Forum officials meeting
Updated
Non-government organisations in the Pacific are upset they have been barred from a meeting of Pacific island Forum country officials in Suva. The officials were meeting ahead of the Forum leaders meeting on Niue to work out details of the agenda. The programme director for the Pacific Island Association of Non-Government Organisations, Katabwena Tawaka, says they feel they have a right to attend. The Pacific Island Forum Secretariat has rejected the group's claims. The Secretariat spokesman says the group is well aware, that while it is accredited with the Forum, that does not mean it has the automatic right to attend all its meetings and deliberations.
Bruce Hill
Speaker: Katabwena Tawaka, the programme director for PIANGO, the Pacific Island Association of Non-Government Organisations
