The Asia Pacific region is home to more than half of the world's population, the majority of whom are poor and among the most disadvantaged in the world. Some 600 million women, men and children in the region live below the USD 1 a day poverty line, while 1.8 billion survive on less than USD 2 a day. Compounding the situation, the region is also highly disaster-prone. The diversity, scale and frequency of natural disasters across the region are daunting. Set along numerous fault lines, many countries in the region are often hit by major earthquakes

UNICEF and Save the Children are co-hosting a workshop in Port Vila, with delegations travelling from Fiji, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.

Donner Herder from UNICEF's Pacific headquarters in Suva told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program the training will help teachers handle children during and after a disaster.

"Children are more vulnerable," she said.

"They're not aware of what's happening in a disaster."

"Teachers need to be mindful of

"We recognize climate change to be a critical development challenge with enormous implications for the entire range of development concerns: poverty, livelihoods, food security, conflict and social cohesion, to name a few," said Ajay Chhibber, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, who is also Assistant Administrator

Trade negotiations between Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Pacific leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns this week must not plunge Pacific people already hit by the economic crisis, food crisis and climate change further into poverty, says leading international aid agency Oxfam.

With overall growth in the Pacific expected to slow, and falls in tourism, remittances and exports resulting from the global financial crisis likely to hit hard, any new trade arrangements

Addressing a Headquarters press conference on climate change, Dessima M. Williams, Permanent Representative of Grenada and Chairperson of AOSIS, welcomed the statements by the major economies,

This is just one of the multiple impacts of climate change taking their toll on the world's poorest people, according to the Oxfam report 'Suffering the Science - Climate Change, People and Poverty'.

The report's release comes ahead of the

Sixty-third General Assembly
Plenary
85th Meeting (AM)

Deeply concerned about the possible security implications of climate change, the General Assembly today invited the major organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council, to intensify their efforts to address the challenge, as appropriate and within their respective mandates.

Unanimously adopting a draft resolution on follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit and titled "Climate change and its possible security implications" (document A/63/L.8/Rev.1),

Recalling the Statement on Environment in the Pacific issued at PALM 2, the Leaders of Japan and the PIF expressed their renewed commitment to pursue the shared vision of an eco-friendly Pacific. The Leaders of Japan and the PIF then highlighted the vital importance of working together to address and respond to environmental issues including climate change, to support the sustainable development of Pacific island countries and are committed to enhance and deepen cooperation in equal partnership in the form of the Pacific Environment Community (PEC).

BANGKOK, 21st May 2009: Habitat for Humanity is calling for governments to overhaul housing policies after the release of its poverty housing report revealed that 40 per cent of households in the Pacific Islands lack adequate shelter.

The Poverty Housing in the Developing Nations of the Pacific Islands report,