August 31, 2026
Koror, Palau – Smaller Island States Leaders met on Monday 31 August in Koror, kickstarting the week of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting with His Excellency Surangel Whipps Jr., President of Palau, assuming the role of Chair of the Smaller Island States.
His Excellency Taneti Maamau, President of Kiribati, joined colleague Leaders virtually from Tarawa to handover the SIS Chair.
In his remarks, President Maamau reminded SIS Leaders that “it is in gatherings such as this that give Leaders the privilege and opportunity to converge ideas and solutions for the complex challenges that we face, especially as Smaller Island States,” thanking Leaders for their support to the Government of Kiribati during its tenure as Chair of the SIS over the last 12 months.
The Chair of the SIS, His Excellency Surangel Whipps Jr reaffirmed the theme of the weeklong engagements: B.E.L.A.U – Building Economies: Life. Action. Unity, emphasising that “building stronger economies is not an end in itself – it must elevate the livelihoods of our people, create tangible and sustainable opportunities for our economies, and unite us in our ongoing efforts to deepen regionalism through integration”.
Central to SIS Leaders discussion was their commitment to work together to address shared challenges and harness opportunities that can be achieved as a collective through their agreed four priority areas which are identifying and securing reliable and affordable air and sea transport; advancing fisheries development; strengthening regional procurement and health workforce mechanisms; and access to climate change finance. SIS Leaders agreed on 8 focus areas under these four priorities to galvanise targeted support to the SIS grouping.
Building on discussions from their meeting in 2025, SIS Leaders also considered and endorsed a revised set of membership criteria that were updated for currency and to reflect more closely the key vulnerabilities and characteristics facing the SIS grouping today.
President Whipps further added that it was only fitting that the SIS Leaders Meeting marks the first formal leader-level engagement in the weeklong meetings recognizing the opportunity it offers for the SIS to consolidate its positions to ensure a stronger SIS voice in the wider Forum deliberations throughout the week.
The SIS Grouping was established in 1992 and its membership comprises the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu.
//ENDS
