Delegates to the Pacific Conference of Churches conference being held in American Samoa have been told that Pacific churches need to get their views heard at international forums.
In his keynote address the President of the World Council of Churches from the Pacific region, John Doom, said that as people from a region which has experienced, and is experiencing, the effects of all the major issues that have affected the world, Pacific representatives need to be assertive "in bringing Pacific perspectives and experience into international forums."
He called on delegates to change the attitude and mindset which makes Pacific people feel junior or inexperienced.
Among the "major issues" affecting the Pacific region and the world, Doom mentioned were "colonialism, migration problems, the downside of tourism, issues of democracy and good governance, the ravages of climate change and its long term effects, [and] the geo-political tensions played out in the region by larger nations".
