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English: Day 3: Tonga MP Hon. Sitiveni Halapua joins a roundtable discussion with the delegates.

Day three of the conference addressed Gender Empowerment, Adaptive Leadership, Non-Communicable Diseases, and Climate Change. The leaders visited the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association Marine Sanctuary for a discussion on climate change. The day closed with visits to American Samoa cultural sites and a dinner hosted by the Govenor Lolo Moliga.

Ms. Adimaimalaga (Adi) Tafuna’i opened with a discussion on ‘Gender Empowerment through the Private Sector’. She shared her experiences as the Executive Director of Women in Business, where she has led female entrepreneurship using locally based resources in Samoa to tap into external markets. That effort has addressed what she referred to as a “poverty of opportunity” wherein Pacific women lack the opportunity to earn where they live due to a cash-based economy, infrastructure, lack of education, and cultural traditions that tie them to working at home. She encouraged leaders to consider how countries in the Pacific use regional resources to fuel economic development and empower women. In break-out sessions youth shared projects and frameworks to empower women’s economic development that have worked in their home countries, and how this could be applied regionally.

Deputy Chief of Mission Jeff Robertson led an engaging discussion on ‘Adaptive Leadership in the Pacific’. The session addressed identifying adaptive challenges, how to not shy away from conflict, and how to create a productive work environment. He noted that leadership was an activity and not a position of power and non-formal authority is developed from trust. Leaders were encouraged to select one challenge in their country they would like to address during the small group discussions. Many leaders noted youth unemployment, education, communication and transparency between government and the public.

Orginally scheduled to speak on day two, but postponed due to a tsunami watch, Dr Nancy Lewis spoke of Non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the Pacific. Non-communicable disease is the leading cause of death in the Pacific. She described the Pacific region as having a triple threat, high rates of infection plus premature mortality rates, and significantly increases NCDs. In the mid 2000s an epidemic of NCDs was declared. At the 2011 Pacific Island Forum this issue was officially highlighted.

Dr. Lewis asked how delegates to examine whole of society approaches to the major challenges. In the break out sessions youth delegates noted loss of cultural traditions of food preparation, food prices for fresh produce, and cultural feelings towards exercise contributed to NCDs. The delegates agreed to promote healthy practices, and promote local foods to help improve both health and the economy.

The delegates then traveled to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Marine Sanctuary where Dr. Victoria Keener led a discussion on how climate change will impact the Pacific at the only ‘Science on the Sphere’ located south of the equator. Projected onto a large globe, delegates saw the impact of rising sea levels, earth temperatures, ocean acidification, and the extent of harmful human influences on global marine ecosystems. The delegates discussed how climate change is affecting their islands and what steps can be done to mitigate effects, which include reduction of agricultural resources, global migration, and disaster preparedness. The delegates from Nauru and Kiritbati had poignant perspectives from their home experiences.

Delegates then had the opportunity to visit some of American Samoa’s sites including the market and the Jean Haydon Museum which houses a number of cultural artifacts.

To close the evening, the delegates were treated to a private dinner hosted by the Honorable Governor Lolo Moliga. Ambassador David Huebner thanked the governor for the kind invitation with a siapo. Roy Pa'u ausage, director of Youth and Women generously gave each youth delegate a memorabilia bag containing custom made future leader tee shirts, lava lava, and the famous Wahoo tuna. At the end of the night, a special performance closed the evening with the first lady performing the taualuga