Good morning and welcome!

I am very pleased to join all of you today to present completion certificates to participants who have attended the Project Management Practice course.

This training was conducted by the United States Agency for International Development, commonly known as USAID, through its Ready project, with the support of the University of the South Pacific-Pacific Technical and Further Education (TAFE).

Vanuatu has been at the forefront of advocating for sustainable development that addresses increasingly extreme weather events and disaster risks that we all face. At the regional, national, and local levels, your leaders have identified clear priorities to strengthen the resilience of your communities, and we are here today to demonstrate our support for those priorities.

Resilient development requires everyone across all sectors of the economy to work together to adapt existing infrastructure and social systems to ensure that we are ready to manage the challenges ahead.

When USAID launched its Ready project last year, we set out to work with Pacific Island countries to increase their access to international sources of financing.

These international funds will help countries become more environmentally and disaster resilient to protect the lives and livelihoods of their people.

But accessing these resources is just one part of the solution. To ensure that the available funding is best utilized and that the most vulnerable among us benefit, projects must be well-managed and implemented.

The right people with the right skills are needed if these projects are to deliver on their promised benefits.

Today, I join you all in celebrating this wonderful milestone. I admire your commitment to enhancing your project management skills. With the skills that you have gained from the five-month training, you are now better equipped to manage the design and implementation of projects that build the resilience of Vanuatu and its communities.

The skills that were covered in this project management course are also critical for successfully managing current and future investments.

The project management course builds on existing programming by our partners and helps expand a trained cadre of government staff, nongovernmental organizations, and private personnel that will be an invaluable resource for your country in the future.

The U.S. government is a firm believer in harnessing the skills and resources of the local private sector and civil society to further national and local adaptation work in collaboration with the government.

This capacity-building activity represents the first of what is hoped to be many more partnerships between the U.S. government and Vanuatu.

The American people value their close friendship with the people of the Pacific Islands region, including Vanuatu. We share a friendship that is based on trust and mutual interests, with our long history of defense partnerships, commercial linkages and people-to-people ties.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with national and local governments, the private sector, and academe to address pressing development needs that not only affect this country, but also this strategically important region as a whole.

We thank the Government of Vanuatu for its cooperation and collaboration with USAID, and the University of the South Pacific for delivering the course and hosting today’s event. We look forward to continued close collaboration as we work together in building a more resilient and sustainable Pacific Region.

Thank you.