Assessing Development Challenges in the Pacific Least Developed Countries (LDCs): Reviewing the Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) towards the MDG Summit and the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs (LDC IV)

Aug 3-6, Vanuatu Provident Fund Conference Centre
Port Villa, Vanuatu

Of the 49 current LDCs in the world, 5 are in the Pacific – Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. They are some of the smallest nations in the LDC group, with populations ranging from 10,000 to 500,000. These Pacific LDCs are geographically distant from each other, and from the rest of the world. Pacific regional cooperation has been very active for the past 50 years. There are at least 10 inter-governmental regional organizations active in the Pacific, and their programs are aimed to cover all of the 8 MDGs – regional programs in economic policies and trade, in education, health, water and sanitation, environment, gender/women, governance, and in coordination and partnership.

Regional cooperation can assist in mainstreaming MDGs tailored to the particular needs and circumstances of individual countries and regions. In the Pacific, poverty as defined in the MDGs is not all that relevant, but there is widespread poverty of opportunities, for income and for quality education. Universal education has been or is being achieved but there is a need to lift the quality of basic education to meet the challenges of globalization. HIV/AIDS is becoming a serious concern, as are other diseases like malaria.

In the Pacific, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), regional organizations and other partners are helping LDCs contextualize and mainstream MDGs, using the national planning and review exercises as entry points. This is being done in Vanuatu, where country-specific targets have been developed, in the Solomon Islands, through its National Recovery and Reform program, in Kiribati, through the review of its national Development Strategic Plan and in Samoa, with plans to do the same for Tuvalu. This ensures that MDGs are pursued in an integrated manner, while enhancing the national planning process itself.

There have been concerns raised at the UN General Assembly by members of the Pacific LDCs that many of their issues are considered too small for the international system to handle and that many of them tend to get swept under the carpet. This is a challenge that the Pacific LDCs continually face.

The impact of climate change has increased poverty and unpredictability in the region. Droughts, flooding, sea level rise, frequency of cyclones have battered the narrow agricultural base and pushed back the developments achieved in the past decades. These developments are a serious challenge to the attainment of the MDGs. The high costs of food and increase in price of energy are exacerbating the challenges; for many of the Pacific small islands, energy accounts for a third of their national budget. Acquiring adequate technology to harness alternative sources of energy is needed to free up domestic resources to address all of the MDGs.

In this context, together with the aforementioned background, LDC Watch in cooperation with local partner, the Vanuatu Association of NGOs (VANGO) and the UN Millennium Campaign (UNMC) is organizing the regional Pacific LDC Assembly in Port Vila on 3-5 August 2010. The Assembly is strategically placed to feed into the 41st Pacific Islands Forum scheduled on 3-6 August 2010 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Attachments:

Pacific Regional Consultation Concept Note

Pacific Regional Consultation Tentative Programme