The Biketawa Declaration is a declaration agreed to by all the leaders of the

Pacific Islands Forum The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 197 ...

constituting a framework for coordinating response to regional crises. The declaration takes its name from the Kiribati islet of

Biketawa Biketawa is one of the twenty-four small islets which comprise the atoll of Tarawa in the Republic of Kiribati. The capital of Kiribati, South Tarawa, is located on Tarawa. The 2000 Biketawa Declaration on Pacific regional security Security ...

, where the Forum Leaders met in a retreat to discuss, agree and adopt measures for collective security. The declaration was agreed to at the 31st Summit of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, held at Kiribati in October 2000 in the regional context of the

2000 Fijian coup d'état The Fiji coup d'état of 2000 was a civilian coup d'état by hardline i-Taukei (ethnic Fijian) nationalists against the elected government of an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry on 19 May 2000. This was followed by an attempt on ...

and ethnic tensions in the Solomon Islands. It commits Forum members to eight core values, including good governance, liberty of the individual, democratic processes and indigenous rights. Where these values are breached, the Forum Secretary-General and members will develop a response, which may include mediation, institutional support, or targeted measures (sanctions). Since its adoption it has been invoked a number of times, leading to regional peacekeeping and stabilization operations in: * Solomon Islands ( Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, 2003 - 2017) *

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...

(Pacific Regional Assistance to Nauru, 2004-2009) * Tonga (

2006 Nukuʻalofa riots The 2006 Nukualofa riots, also known as the 2006 Tongan riots, started on 16 November, in the Tongan capital of Nukualofa. The Legislative Assembly of Tonga was due to adjourn for the year and despite promises of action, had done little to ad ...

, 2006) *

(election observation mission for the

2019 Nauruan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Nauru on 24 August 2019. President Baron Waqa lost his seat in Boe Constituency, making him ineligible for a third term. Following the elections, Lionel Aingimea was elected President, winning a parliamentary ...

) The Declaration also provided the basis for the Forum's 2009 decision to suspend

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

after it had failed to hold elections in the wake of the

2006 Fijian coup d'état The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 was a coup d'état carried out by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, against the government of President Josefa Iloilo. Iloilo was removed as president, but ...

. The suspension was lifted in 2014, after the military regime held elections. Forum members and NGOs have unsuccessfully sought to invoke the declaration over torture in Fiji, the 2011 Fiji-Tonga territorial dispute, the Nauru government's 2014 crackdown on opposition, and the

2016 Nauruan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Nauru on 9 July 2016. On 10 June 2016, the Parliament was dissolved by President Baron Waqa after it completed its three-year term. Speaker Ludwig Scotty called the elections for 9 July, with nominations tak ...

. The Declaration was most recently invoked to respond collectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2021 Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna reminded Samoa's caretaker government of the Declaration in a statement on the

2021 Samoan constitutional crisis A constitutional crisis began in Samoa on 22 May 2021 when O le Ao o le Malo (Head of State) Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II issued a proclamation purporting to prevent the Legislative Assembly from meeting in the wake of the gene ...

Biketawa Plus

In 2017 the Forum began to consider expanding the Biketawa Declaration to cover other security threats such as natural disasters. Talks on the proposed "Biketawa plus" continued through 2018, resulting in the 2018 Boe Declaration. This expanded the Bitekawa Declaration to include issues of human security, environmental security, transnational crime, and cybersecurity.

References

{{reflist

External links

Biketawa Declaration
Pacific Islands Forum treaties New Zealand–Pacific relations Politics of Oceania 2000 in Oceania 2000 in Kiribati 2000 in international relations