> UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC 'OUTSTANDING,' SAYS EUROPE'S NIELSON SUVA, Fiji (Oct. 5, 2002 - PINA Nius Online)---The University of the South Pacific was today hailed as an "outstanding institution of high level teaching and training" by one of the world's most influential international development leaders. European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Poul Nielson, delivering a public lecture at the regional university's Suva campus, said: "The USP is able to supply to the region well-equipped leaders and managers who have the potential to impact significantly ... on the quality of life and peace of the region's people." Nielson, a former Danish government minister, academic, and company chief executive, visited the university as he continued his busy five-nation visit to the Pacific Islands. Nielson oversees the European Commission's approximately 6 billion Euros a year in development assistance around the world. This includes about 2 billion Euros a year under the European Union (EU)-Afri
can, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) group> '> s aid, trade and development partnership. Nielson said Europe is proud of its partnerships working with University of the South Pacific (USP) in helping human resource development in the Pacific Islands. These include USP implementing the near 1 million Euros Public Sector Management Training Project funded under the 7th European Development Fund regional cooperation program; and the 5 million Euros Pacific Human Resource Development Program, which USP is about to implement under the 8th European Development Fund regional program. The Pacific Human Resource Development Program aims at providing quality research and training in priority areas such as tourism, public-sector management and employment creation. Nielson told members of the 12-nation university's Laucala campus community and the Suva public attending the lecture that "the EU has fully recognized the importance of the University of the South Pacific in tertiary education and research studies, as a center of e
xc
Pacific. "We also recognize the capacity that the USP has in conflict resolution and in shaping the policies of the Pacific countries on many subjects." Addressing students attending the lecture, he said: "Good governance is closely linked to peace, and peace is a pre-condition for prosperity. "On the other hand, bad governance is a breeding ground for troubles and conflict. In the curriculum of the university, political ethics and peace building-principles occupy an essential place. "You, the USP students, are the ideal 'vehicle' to carry these principles of good governance, democracy, transparency and accountability into your respective countries. The message has to be spread everywhere and the USP has the capacity to do so." Explaining why the EU is now "the major actor" in international cooperation and development assistance, Nielson said that "the people of the EU believe that it is politically and morally unacceptable that more than 1 billion men, women and children of the world's population have to su
bsist on less than one Euro per day; that they have insufficient food, no access to clean drinking water, inadequate education and training facilities; not enough doctors, nurses and medical drugs." Nielson is visiting Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia. Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Website: <http://www.pinanius.org> SOURCE: Pacific Islands Report
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Dec 12 2002 - 08:00:42