The newly appointed Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Tuiloma Neroni Slade officially begins his job today.
Tuiloma, who is from Samoa, was appointed during the Leaders' Forum in Niue in August to replace former Secretary General, Greg Urwin who passed away earlier in the month.
He is the first Samoan to lead the region's premier political organisation since it was founded in August 1971.
A lawyer by profession, Mr Slade has held several positions in the legal fraternity including as a Judge in the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands; Assistant Director, Legal Division in the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK and Attorney General of Samoa .
Mr Slade was also Samoa's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York and concurrently Ambassador to the United States of America and High Commissioner to Canada from 1993 to 2003.
