The Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat is appointed by Forum Leaders every three years. As head of the organisation. the SG is directly responsible to Forum Leaders and to the Forum Officials’ Committee (FOC). The SG is also permanent Chair of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP).
The Executive Management team at the Forum Secretariat is made up of the two Deputy Secretaries General and four Programme Directors. The members of this team are responsible for managing their respective programmes and collectively provide leadership to the rest of the organisation.
Secretary General, Tuiloma Neroni Slade
The current Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat is Tuiloma Neroni Slade of Samoa. Mr Slade was elected to the position for three years on 20 August 2008.
Before taking up his tenure at the Forum Secretariat, Mr Slade was elected to the International Criminal Court in 2003 for a three-year term, and served as Presiding Judge of Pre-Trial Chamber II at The Hague in the Netherlands. He then went on to practice as an International Legal Consultant between 2007-2008.
Mr Slade’s extensive diplomatic career from 1993-2003 saw him serve as Samoan Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the United Nations; concurrently Ambassador to the United States of America and High Commissioner to Canada. Preceding this, Mr Slade worked as Assistant Director of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Legal Division in London.
From 1976-1982, Mr Slade served as the Attorney-General of Samoa, following his roles as Parliamentary Counsel to the Government of Samoa and Principal/Legal Counsel and Senior Prosecutor for the Attorney-General’s Office of Samoa.
Mr Slade is a recipient of Order of Samoa – Poloaiga Sili a Samoa (2005), Global Oceans Leadership Award (2003), Elisabeth Mann Borgese Medal for services to small island developing States and the oceans (2003) and Laureate, Elizabeth Haub Award for Environmental Diplomacy (2001).
He has also served as chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States (1997-2003).
Deputy Secretary General (Strategic Partnership & Coordination Programme), Feleti Teo
Feleti Penitala Teo of Tuvalu is the current Deputy Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat's Strategic Partnership & Coordination Programme. He began work at the Secretariat on 21st May 2008. Mr Teo served as the Attorney General of Tuvalu, with the official title of Attorney General and Head of the Legal and Judicial Services of Tuvalu. Before becoming Deputy Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat, Mr Teo served as the Director General of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), which is based in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Deputy Secretary General (Economic Governance and Security), Andie Fong Toy
Andie Fong Toy of New Zealand is the current Deputy Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat's Economic Governance and Security programme. Ms Fong Toy took up this position on 23 May 2011. Ms Fong Toy’s extensive experience incorporates research on Pacific legal issues and working in a civil society organisation in New Zealand and experience in election observation missions, encapsulating vast knowledge and understanding of regional and international issues. Ms Fong Toy served as Director for the Forum Secretariat’s Political Governance and Security Programme until 2008. Prior to her appointment as Director she also served the Secretariat as International Legal Adviser and Legal & Political Officer. Ms Fong Toy holds a Bachelor of Laws from the Victoria University in New Zealand and Masters in International Relations from Deakin University, Australia.
