Office of the Patron
Amb Mr. Amenatave Yauvoli (Amena)
Patron
Ambassador Mr. Amenatave V Yauvoli (Amena) is the Patron of UNA Fiji. As our Patron, he acts as our Ambassador, Chief Adviser, and Motivator.
Ambassador Mr. Yauvoli is currently the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Fiji to the Republic of Indonesia;High Commissioner to Singapore; High Commissioner to Malaysia; Permanent Representative to UNESCAP in Bangkok. Before this, he was the Roving Ambassador /High Commissioner to the Pacific Islands / Special Envoy to CROP agencies (ad-interim).
Ambassador Mr. Amena is a seasoned Fijian/Pacific civil servant and diplomat. He was the Director-General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat in Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu, a post he assumed in April 2016.
Before joining the MSG Secretariat, he was Interim Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) with the subsequent appointment as Fiji’s Ambassador for Climate Change and Oceans, with both positions being resident in Suva, Fiji.
Apart from other senior Fijian Government appointments, Ambassador Mr. Amena had also served as Senior Policy Adviser for Sustainable Development with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) from January 2004 to December 2005 and Manager/Director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community North Pacific Regional Office in the Federated States of Micronesia from February 2008 to December 2012.
Ambassador Mr. Amena also served as Fiji’s Diplomatic Deputy Representative in New York from 2000 to 2003 and also previously served as Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Permanent Secretary of Commerce, Investment, Industry, and Communication in the Fijian Government.
Since 2000 to date, Ambassador Mr. Amena has been involved widely in international negotiations at the UN in the areas of sustainable development, oceans, and climate change, the latter as Chair of the Group of 77 & China, and Chair of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation under the UN Climate.
Ambassador Mr. Amena graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Management from the University of the South Pacific (USP) in 1988, a Master of Commerce (Honours) in Development Economics from the University of Wollongong, Australia in 1996. He has attended numerous courses and attachments throughout his career, including a three months attachment with the World Trade Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr. Yauvoli has contributed enormously to public policy discourses for Fiji and the Pacific region in the areas of finance, trade, climate change, and sustainable development.
Amb Mr. Tregar Albon Ishoda
Senior Vice-Patron
Ambassador Mr. Ishoda is the Patron of UNA Fiji. As our Patron, he acts as our Ambassador, Adviser, and Motivator.
Ambassador Mr. Ishoda is the Ambassador of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the Republic of Korea. He had previously served as the 7th Ambassador appointed by the Republic of the Marshall Islands to Fiji, the Pacific Islands, and the Regional Organizations based in Suva with core responsibilities as key political advisor to the President and Cabinet members and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Prior to his appointment, he was the Charge‘d Affaires and later the Deputy Chief of Mission for the RMI Embassy in Fiji. Responsibilities included the advancement of RMI's political, social, economical, and cultural agenda for Fiji, Regional Organizations, and Pacific Island Countries. Key outputs included the greater regional integration of RMI’s Climate Change Policy and Nuclear Justice agenda within key institutions and across Pacific narratives.
Ambassador Mr. Ishoda had been a key technical lead in regional policy development and reforms of the political, economical, and social issues across different Pacific Leaders Agenda, which includes the Blue Pacific Narrative, the Boe Declaration, and other important regional agendas placing RMI's interests for implementation strategies.
As a principle political advisor, His Excellency has chaired and participated in many regional working committees that have advanced RMI's political position and negotiation leverage in key regional outcomes and strategies.
In his nearly 8 years of professional work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has worked in different capacities from senior policy advisor for Multilateral Environmental Agreements, negotiator to on climate change, including a member of the 2013-2015 national team leading negotiations towards the Paris Agreement. He was also involved as a negotiator for the SIDS SAMOA Pathway 2015 and the 2030 Global Development Agenda (SDG2030).
In recent developments, Ambassador Mr. Ishoda has been highly involved in the Pacific Islands Forum Officials’ discussions in the policy decision-making processes and garnering support for the national interests of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. In addition, he has been co-leading the discussions around the proposal submitted by the RMI and the Solomon Islands to the IMO on GHG levy, which aims to incentivize the international shipping sector to transition from heavy fuel intake to a more sustainable and low carbon industry. He had been one of the influential advocates in rallying Global support for an International Carbon Levy and the recent submission for zero emissions and carbon neutrality no later than 2050 leaving none behind
He’s been recognized as a key lead in the Micronesian sub-grouping in Suva where he provides strategic knowledge and advice around arising issues and providing possible solutions to minimize such political and regional strains.
During his tenure as a Diplomat, Ambassador Mr. Ishoda has served under three Governments.