> THE PACIFIC COMMUNITY CELEBRATES 55 YEARS OF EXISTENCE: IN A GLOBAL
> VILLAGE, FOCUS IS STILL ON PEOPLE, RESOURCES SUVA, Fiji Islands
> (February 7, 2002 - Oceania Flash)---The oldest Pacific regional
> organization, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, a grouping of
> 22 Pacific countries and territories and five metropolitan powers, on
> Wednesday celebrated its 55th birthday with a determination to respond
> to the growing challenges the region faces. Originally known as the
> South Pacific Commission, SPC came into being on February 6, 1947, as
> a result of the signing of the "Canberra Convention," which set up a
> body fully dedicated to the region. The founding members were the
> metropolitan powers present at the time in the Pacific region: the
> United Kingdom, Australia, France, New Zealand, the Netherlands and
> the United States. In 1999, to mark the turn of the millennium, member
> states agreed to change the old name to "Secretariat of the Pacific
> Community," which allowed retention of the SPC acronym. But "While the
> Canberra Agreement has remained its founding agreement, today's
> Secretariat of the Pacific Community bears little resemblance to the
> original SPC of 1947, just as today's Pacific has also changed
> considerably," the SPC stated on Wednesday in a media release. "The
> organization has retained a strong sense of renewed commitment to the
> development of the Pacific Islands, maintained its original bilingual
> nature (English and French), and shown a capacity not only to adapt to
> changing needs but to anticipate them, in order to better fulfill its
> mandate to improve the well- being of all Pacific Islanders." SPC'
> Director General, Guam Islander Lourdes Pangelinan, elected in 1999 as
> the first woman to head the organization, acknowledges that although
> the Pacific, like the rest of the world, has entered "a modern era of
> technology and instant communication, with Internet and
> teleconferencing, online searchable databases and downloadable
> publications . . . human resource development is still at the crux of
> all the efforts of our dedicated staff to improve the well-being of
> the people of the region. "As island countries today address the
> challenge of striking the right balance between resources, population,
> and development in the Pacific, SPC is putting all its efforts in
> helping them achieve that priority goal. In doing so, we are lucky to
> have the renewed support of our donors and development partners, in
> spite of difficult economic conditions worldwide, and to enjoy the
> full confidence of all our member countries," she said. Major donors
> to SPC (which operates on an average US$ 25 million yearly budget) are
> Australia (about a third), France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom,
> several United Nations programs and the European Union. The financial
> resources are used primarily for programs in public health,
> agriculture, forestry, marine resources and fisheries as well as
> social development. "SPC's efforts are increasingly focused on
> achieving wise, efficient and cost-effective utilization of land, sea
> and human resources across the Pacific region," Pangelinan said. This
> includes using modern technologies to cater for the growing needs in
> the Pacific region, which faces challenges in terms of land use, food
> security, ocean level rise, alarming population growth rates, a
> growing number of HIV/AIDS cases and the difficulties of competing in
> a globalized economy, to name a few. However, in the age of
> globalization and state-of the-art technologies at one's fingertips,
> the focus remains on people. This often involves striking a difficult
> balance: that of using the latest technologies and, at the same time,
> preserving the Pacific's customs, cultures and traditions. "We're all
> called to be responsible stewards of the region's resources. We are
> committed to a guardianship role and will continue to provide the
> governments and administrations of the Pacific region the best
> information, advice, assistance, training and research services they
> need to help them make informed decisions about their future
> development and well- being," SPC's Suva-based Senior Deputy Director
> General, Dr. Jimmie Rodgers, said. "The fate of future generations of
> Pacific Islands people will depend upon the wisdom of decisions made
> by today's generation of Pacific leaders and decision makers," Rodgers
> said. As for the future, Rodgers sees a mix of determining factors
> that will shape the Pacific region's future. "Where SPC will head will
> be, in part, determined, by factors from outside the region. In part,
> it will also be determined by what member countries see as priorities.
> SPC being a technical organization, our focus will still be in the
> area of sustainable management of Pacific island resources. That is
> our theme: to provide this guardianship and advisory role," he told
> Oceania Flash. As for further integration of Pacific services, or the
> concept of a "Pacific Union," many bridges still remain to be crossed.
> "A lot of people are also talking about the concept of Pacific
> regionalism. But a concept similar to that of the European Union is
> still for our countries to decide. Already, there are moves towards
> common trade agreements within the Pacific. Those, in a sense, are
> examples of mechanisms, on a small scale, that show how island
> countries can get better benefits as a group, rather than as
> individual countries. "At the moment, there are four to five regional
> organizations, providing support to member countries. It's conceivable
> that those technical organizations could improve their cooperation and
> we've already started doing this through our CROP (Council of Regional
> Organizations of the Pacific). So it's conceivable that this
> mechanism, maybe in five, ten, twenty years down the track, will
> provide more effective, more collaborative approach to regional
> issues. As to the question of integration of these organizations, that
> is a question that members will have to consider in terms of benefits
> and disadvantages." SPC Members The Secretariat of the Pacific
> Community implements programs that benefit 22 Pacific Island countries
> and territories. These are: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated
> States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati,
> Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands
> (CNMI), Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Pitcairn Islands, Samoa,
> Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and
> Futuna. The 27 members of the Pacific Community include the above
> Pacific Island countries and territories plus the five remaining
> founding countries: Australia, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom
> and the United States of America. SOURCE: Pacific Islands Report
>
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