UN congratulates Niue on successful election

The UN has offered its congratulations to Niue after the results of successful parliamentary elections were finalized last week.

Simona Marinescu, UN Resident Coordinator for the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau praised the island state for carrying out a positive and effective democratic process. “We are pleased to see that the results of free and fair elections that took place last month have been finalized – and the parliament can begin its important work. Niue faces many development challenges – and the UN stands ready to work with this new government to resolve these issues,“ she said.  

The election resulted in a tie between two candidates for the seat of Mutalau, which was resolved in a coin toss last week – finally determining the outcome of the May general election. The election also brought the first change of leader in the country for more than a decade.

Although Niue has made significant development progress in recent years, many challenges remain that threaten the achievement of the SDGs - and are therefore high on the agenda for UN support to the country. For example, as a small island nation Niue is highly vulnerable to climate change, with any rise in the sea level threatening the underground freshwater supply and inundation threatening food security. It also faces frequent tropical cyclones. Rising rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases jeopardize health targets, and the country’s famous biodiversity is at risk from coral die-offs and over fishing.

At the same time, like many countries in the region, although Niue avoided a COVID-19 outbreak, measures taken to avoid the disease, such as closing the border to tourists, have taken a socio-economic toll. The UN has worked with Niue in recent months to protect it from the global pandemic and to bolster the health system, as well as to understand and mitigate the socio-economic impact of the lockdown.

“We look forward to advancing these efforts with the new government,” said Marinescu.