The Secretariat of the  Pacific Community

Serving the Pacific Islands

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CORPORATE NEWS

The late Ratu Sir Kamisese Kapaiwai Tuimacilai Mara, left us on Sunday, 18 April 2004. 
     An era has come to an end and Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara leaves behind a legacy that cannot be matched for a long time yet. SPC gratefully acknowledges with sincere gratitude the vision, commitment and contribution of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to its regional service.
     The region benefitted from his vision and leadership. Ratu Mara was a statesman who believed and was committed to his calling because of the love and dedication that he had for his country and the region. Indeed his demise is a loss not only to the nation of Fiji, but to the region and internationally.
     We, the staff of SPC, wish to express our most sincere and deepest sorrow to  Adi Lala Mara, her family, the people, and the government of Fiji
for the passing of this visionary leader, a statesman of the highest order and a champion of regional cooperation.

  Further information: Read SPC tribute to His Excellency The Right Honourable Ratu Sir Kamisese Kapaiwai Tuimacilai Mara, GCMG, KBE, CF KStJ, MSD

Last year SPC had talks with PI countries and territories and with international agencies  – in particular UNDP and UNFPA – and CROP organisations, about how SPC could help countries and territories meet their Millenium Development Goals. The outcome of these discussions was that SPC decided to establish the SPC MDG Task Force. On 21 April, Yves Corbel, Deputy Director-General, called an internal meeting with heads of programmes and sections to discuss SPC's contribution to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Pacific region. 
     What are the MDGs? A little background...
     In September 2000, the members of the United Nations (UN) adopted the Millennium Declaration. Following consultations among international agencies, including the World Bank, the IMF, the OECD, and the specialised agencies of the UN, the General Assembly defined the MDGs as a commitment from the international community to an expanded vision of development – one that promotes human development as the key to sustaining social and economic progress in all countries, and recognises the importance of creating a global partnership for development.
     The goals have been set up so as to provide a framework for measuring development progress.
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
     Most Pacific Island countries have expressed their intention of integrating the MDGs into their national plans. As well, the Pacific Island territories regard several of the MDGs as appropriate devices for measuring their progress as well as a guide for planning in a number of social sectors.
     SPC is considered by most of its PICT members as the best available source of technical assistance for meeting their development objectives. SPC has incorporated into its recently adopted corporate plan  the aim of strengthening the PICTs’ abilities to collect, analyse, disseminate and effectively use data to assist themselves in advancing toward achievement of the MDGs.
     The MDG Task force in SPC
    Building on SPC’s existing highly skilled and experienced staff, the task force endeavour will be directly supported by the following SPC programmes: 
• Statistics (including PRISM and the ADB poverty analysis projects)
• Population/Demography (including the PopGIS and UNFPA projects)
• Public Health (Surveillance, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS & STI sections)
• Pacific Women’s Bureau
• Regional Population and Reproductive Health Advocacy  
     Task Force role
     The MDG Task Force will hold regular coordination meetings within SPC to improve communications within our organisation. As well, it will focus on building strong specific communication links with national, regional and international stakeholders.
     The Task Force will work out how SPC can offer a wider range of services to the PICTs. SPC will strengthen its advocacy role, in particular in the fight against poverty/hardship, for better health and gender equity and, more broadly, in the integration of population parameters into plans, policies and budgets.
     SPC believes that it has the mandate from its members and has the capacity in terms of breadth of activities, skills and experience to take a leading role, through the MDG Task Force, in the current regional effort to achieve the MDGs.
     First objective set
     SPC has been requested by the CROP organisations and the UN agencies to put together the MDG regional report. This report needs to be ready for publication, after country endorsement, in early November 2004. The regional report is going to be the MDG task force short term objective, which will be followed by assistance provided to countries to develop their national reports with tailored indicators.

Further information: Yves Corbel, Deputy Director-General, Tel: +687 262000