OIA Provides Seed Funding to Establish Micronesian Islands Forum Secretariat in Palau

KOROR – Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen G. Cantor has presented a $400,000 grant to the Governor of Guam Lourdes Leon Guerrero and Palau President Surangel Whipps, Jr. from the Technical Assistance Program which will fund the establishment of the Micronesian Islands Forum (MIF) Secretariat in the Republic of Palau. While the MIF Secretariat will be located in Palau, Guam provided strong leadership and collaboration with the island’s leaders to complete and submit the final application. 

“We are pleased to support the region’s leaders with funds to establish the Secretariat of the Micronesian Islands Forum,” said Carmen G. Cantor, Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs. “This important regional organization brings island leaders together on many important issues and now with a new secretariat, they can be even more effective in advocating for their needs.”

The funding will establish the MIF Secretariat in Palau to coordinate and manage executive functions of the regional body and strengthen regional collaboration among Micronesian island nations on key regional issues such as economic development, environmental protection, clean energy, and cultural preservation.

The Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs and the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers several discretionary grant funding programs to the Insular Areas and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

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