People connections in the Pacific
People connections in the Pacific
Australia’s people-to-people connections with our Pacific family are more important than ever this year as we face the pandemic together.
Under the Step-up, Australia has launched a range of measures since 2017 to reinforce people-to-people links across our region through expanded sports, education, media and church partnerships.
These programs place people at the heart of Australia's partnerships in the Pacific. While the scale and impact of the pandemic globally has meant delays to some planned activities and events until conditions improve, much of our people-to-people program continues in 2020 with a fresh focus on digital delivery, innovation and flexibility.
Sports partnerships
Australia and the Pacific have a shared passion for sport. PacificAus Sports brings us even closer, lifting our sports partnerships to the high performance level.
More about PacificAus Sports
Education partnerships
Investing in better education outcomes for all children and youth across the Pacific has been a long-standing objective of Australia's aid program.
Under the Pacific Step-up, Australia is further deepening educational links with the region through expanded secondary and primary level teacher training, exchanges and engagement, and a targeted science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching program. These education development programs have adapted to COVID-19 with innovation and flexibility, pivoting to deliver core activities online. Working collaboratively with Pacific education partners is central to our approach.
More about Australia's education partnerships in the Pacific
Church partnerships
Churches play a profound role in Pacific island communities. The Pacific Church Partnerships Program aims to strengthen the leadership capabilities of Pacific island church leaders to contribute to development outcomes in their communities, through closer connections, dialogue and training with their counterparts in Australia.
More about the Pacific Church Partnerships Program
Media partnerships in the pacific
Australia works closely with Pacific media to create high quality original content, improve broadcasting infrastructure and to build professional media networks. This is delivered through Australia's long-standing Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS).