Amenatave Vakasavuwaqa Yauvoli (commonly known in short as Amena) is a seasoned Fijian civil servant and diplomat who is currently the Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat in Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu, a post he assumed in April 2016.

Prior to joining the MSG Secretariat, he was Interim Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) with 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, Mr Yauvoli 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 Federated States of Micronesia from February 2008 to December 2012.

Mr Yauvoli also served as Fiji’s Diplomatic Deputy Representative in New York in 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 todate, Mr Yauvoli 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.

Mr Yauvoli 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 have contributed enormously to public policy discourses for Fiji and the Pacific region in the areas of finance, trade, climate change, and sustainable development.