South-South cooperation among Pacific island countries - a regional overview

High level Meeting on Cooperation for Child rights in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Beijing, China, 4-6 November 2010

Dr. Jimmie RodgersDirector General, Secretariat of the Pacific Community

This presentation• Brief overview of the Pacific islands region

• Examples of existing regional cooperation / South-South cooperation mechanisms amongst Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs)

• Examples of South-South cooperation between Pacific, Asian and Caribbean regions

• Further strengthening South-South cooperation on child protection & welfare & child rights - where to from here?

Pacific Islands Region‘Small Islands – Big Challenges’

Pacific islands – a region of contrasts and disparityCountries 22

Total Area 36, 000,000 square kilometresTotal land area Approx. 551,000 sq. (1.5%)Total population 9.5 million peopleUnder 18 years 50 percentMelanesia 5 countries, 87% of Pacific populationMicronesia 7 countries, 6% of Pacific populationPolynesia 10 countries, 7% of Pacific populationLanguages > 1,200 (PNG more than 800)Pop. Doubling time 40 years

Pacific Populations / land areas

Sub-region No. Of countries

Land Area (sq. Kilometres)

Pop. density

% distribution of land

Melanesia 5 540,239 11 97.9

Micronesia 7 3,214 158 0.6

Polynesia 10 8,231 73 1.5

All PICTs 22 551,684 81 100

Total area 36,000,000

% of land 1.5 %

Pacific characteristics

• Land Area distribution Population Density

Impact of Pop. on Education

• Education Enrolment a challenge in the Melanesian sub-region.

• 10 - 40 % no Primary School Enrolment

• 40 - 70 percent drop out at Primary School

• 40 - 70 percent drop out at Junior Secondary school

• Inadequate alternative education structure to accommodate non-entry to or drop outs from formal education system

South-South Cooperation & regional cooperation defined

• In the Pacific South-South cooperation is not a term that is used often to describe cooperation between island countries

• The more commonly used terms are:– Regional cooperation or Regional mechanisms

• In this presentation regional cooperation carries the same meaning as South-South cooperation

• Regional cooperation is NOT an Option, IT IS AN IMPERATIVE

Examples of South-South Cooperation between PICTs

• Regional Cooperation mechanisms that underpin social, cultural, trade, economic and political relationships between countries:– Melanesian Spearhead Group ( Papua New Guinea,

Solomon islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia)– Micronesian Chief Executives Summit (MCES) comprising

heads of governments of CNMI, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands and Palau

– Micronesian Presidents’ Summit (MPS) comprising the Presidents of FSM, RMI and Palau.

Examples of South-South Cooperation between PICTs

• South-South cooperation on trade and economics– Small Islands States (SIS) feeder shipping service for

Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu using Fiji as the hub port(4 countries)

– Fiji – Tuvalu Trade Agreement to enhance export of agricultural produce from Fiji’s Rotuma island into Tuvalu (2 countries)

– Parties to the Nauru Agreement secretariat (8 countries)– Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) (14

countries)

Examples of South-South Cooperation between PICTs

• South-South cooperation at Political leaders’ level– Pacific Islands Forum – comprises heads of governments

from 16 countries. This is the body that we need its endorsement for multi-country commitment to support child protection & welfare and child rights

• South-South Cooperation at the parliamentarian’s level– The Pacific Parliamentary Assembly on Population and

Development (PPAPD) – this is an assembly comprising members of parliament from fourteen Pacific island countries with common interest in population and development issues.

Examples of South-South Cooperation between Pacific regional organisations [PROs]• South-South Cooperation at regional organisation’s level

– Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) – this comprises the coordinating body for eleven Pacific regional organisations.

– SPC is the largest technical / scientific agency with programmes in agriculture, aquaculture, biosecurity, culture, disaster reduction, education, energy, fisheries, forestry, gender, geoscience, ICT, human rights, maritime boundaries, media, parliamentarians on population and development, public health, statistics and demography, transport, water & sanitation, youth, and cross-cutting areas including food security and climate change

Examples of South-South Cooperation between PICTs and PROs

• South-South cooperation at the regional level– The Pacific Plan for strengthening collaboration and

integration among Pacific island countries and territories. Areas of cooperation cover:

• Fostering economic development and promoting opportunities for broad-based growth

• Improving livelihoods and the well-being of Pacific peoples• Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change• Achieving stronger national development through better

governance• Ensuring Improved social, political and legal conditions for

stability, safety and security

Examples of South-South Cooperation between the Pacific and other regions

• Cooperation and exchange of information between SPC and ASEAN on Pandemic preparedness

• Cooperation between SPC, ASEAN and SAARC through the Regional Steering Committee for GFTADs [Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Trans-boundary Animal Diseases] for Asia and the Pacific

Examples of South-South Cooperation between PICTs and other regions

• Cooperation between SPC and the Caribbean Community covering a range of areas including youth development, mainstreaming gender, developing cultural linkages, sharing education policies, collaborative health development, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and climate change.

Further strengthening south-south cooperation – where to from here?

• Child protection and welfare in Pacific island countries and territories (2011 and beyond)– Conduct an audit of all exiting South-South cooperation

mechanisms between PICTs with the view to systematize the inclusion of child protection and welfare and child rights into these mechanisms over time

– Work with Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and CROP to include child protection and welfare and child rights as a high priority in the Pacific Plan

– Seek endorsement by Forum leaders and SPC Conference – 2011– Seek to include child rights in other existing regional mechanisms

Further strengthening south-south cooperation – where to from here?

• Achieving MDGs with Equity - PICTs– Develop and monitor a ‘minimum core data set of

development indicators’ to measure development progress in the region

• It is crucial for this meeting to agree on a ‘standard minimum core data set of outcome indicators on child protection, welfare and rights’ that can be used by all countries in the Asia-Pacific region to measure development progress in this area.

– Provide direct support to island countries to mainstream child protection and welfare and child rights issues as integral parts of each of the MDG targets

Achieving MDGs with Equity – a quick snapshot of MDG 4

• MDG-4 Child Health

4.1 Under five mortality rate (per 1000 live births)

4.2 Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live

births)

4.3 Proportion of 1 year old children immunised against measles (%)

Data Sources

Latest Latest Latest Next

Cook Is 26.1 (2001) 11.9 (2001-05) 98 (2001) Health-Admin

Fiji 22.4 (2002) 17.8 (2002) 76.4 (2002) Health-Admin

FSM 47 (2001) 40 (2001) 84 (2001) Health-Admin

Kiribati 69 (2005) 52 (2005) 76 (2001) Health-Admin

Marshall Is 46 (DHS 2007) 33 (DHS 2007) 54.1 (DHS 2007) 2012 (14)

Nauru 38 (DHS 2007) 38 (DHS 2007) 80 (DHS 2007) 2012 (14)

Niue 19 (2006) 7.8 (2006) 99 (2002) Census/Health-Ad

Palau 38.9 (2005) 20 (2003-05) 99 (2002) Health-Admin

PNG 88 (2000) 64 (2001) 53 (>1995) Health-Admin

Samoa 24.7 (2006) 20.4 (2006) 99 (2002) Census/Health-Ad

Solomon Is 37 (DHS 2007) 24 (DHS 2007) 80.6 (DHS 2007) 2012 (14)

Tokelau n/a 33 (1997-2000) Health-Admin

Tonga 21.9 (2006) 19 (2006) 95.8 (2002) Census/Health-Ad

Tuvalu 36 (DHS 2007) 31 (2007) 74 (DHS 2007) 2012 (14)

Vanuatu 30 (MICS 2007) 25 (MICS 2007) 37 (MICS 2007) 2012 (14)

Further strengthening south-south cooperation – where to from here?

• Children and Disaster Risk Reduction – PICTs

– Incorporate child protection and welfare and child rights into the regional disaster management strategy

– Work with PICTs to incorporate child protection and welfare and child rights into their national disaster management strategy

Further strengthening south-south cooperation – where to from here?

• General Strategies– South-South cooperation needs to expand beyond the Pacific

borders and Asian borders to include the other– Expand South-South cooperation beyond trade and finance

to include areas such as child friendly education, vocational education, child friendly legal services

– South-South cooperation in child rights need to:• be supported by evidence based programming and monitoring

and evaluation framework• involve strong community participation• build strong families

Further strengthening south-south cooperation – where to from here?

• General strategies

– Establish a mechanism to progress South-South cooperation between countries of the Asia-Pacific region (such as an ‘Asia-Pacific South-South Cooperation Taskforce on Child protection and Welfare and Child Rights’ with a terms of reference to pursue enhanced cooperation commencing with a small number of priority areas)

– Such a mechanism can perhaps be supported by UNICEF, SAARC, ASEAN and SPC and other agencies as appropriate.

Conclusion• In the Pacific islands region, South-South cooperation in any

field of priority between island countries is an imperative, not an option

• In the Asia-Pacific region, South-South cooperation provides an excellent platform for countries to share experiences, best practices and help each other move forward together

• This high level meeting provides the opportunity for countries in the Asia Pacific region to take the next step and move from talking into action together

• Thank you for your attention