Attachments
Introduction to the Pacific region
Context analysis
The ten large ocean island states in the Pacific under the purview of the United Nations Multi-Country Office (MCO) in Fiji have a total population of 2.2 million people in a region that covers an area of around 85 million square kilometres. There are key differences in geography, size, history, culture, economies, and political systems across the region.
Wide ranging economic, social, environmental, and political challenges present threats to the region’s development, including the achievement of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Pacific is amongst the lowest in the world. Only eight of the countries are ranked in the Human Development Index, and there are significant differences in classification across the region. For example, Palau and Fiji are in the high human development category; while Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu are classified as Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Most Pacific Island countries (PICs) remain heavily reliant on official development assistance, overseas remittances, and imported goods.
Levels of hardship and poverty differ widely across the PICs; with particular vulnerabilities for women and persons with disabilities (17 percent of the population).
The key challenges facing the labour market in the Pacific are informal and subsistence economies, high youth unemployment rates, and strong gender inequalities. Migration and labour mobility are increasingly important to the development of the region with Pacific Islanders described as one of the most mobile groups anywhere in the world.
The monetisation of PIC societies, linked to the pursuit of economic growth industries such as mining, tourism, agricultural production, and manufacturing, has led to a more individualistic culture whereby traditional family ties are now less reliable as social safety nets, which requires alternate long-term solutions to the provision of equitable basic services.
Vulnerable and marginalised groups – defined as those living in hardship and those marginalised socially and politically, as well as through inadequate economic opportunities – include the poorest 20 percent of the population, vulnerable migrants, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community, persons with disabilities, children, and older persons, with women and girls being the most marginalized ones among these marginalized groups.
Legal provisions have not been blended or harmonised with customary law practices in all countries, and national legal and policy frameworks and institutions across the Pacific lack the capacity and other resources to be fully operational, effective, and inclusive in a way that is compatible with governments’ existing human rights obligations.
Located on the south-western part of the Pacific Rim of Fire and close to the equator, the Pacific region is among the most vulnerable in the world to the effects of climate change, extreme weather events, and natural disasters. As coastal dwellers, Pacific Islanders are highly susceptible to sea level rise, threatening the existence of atoll nations – Kiribati, Marshall Islands (RMI), Tokelau, and Tuvalu.
The Pacific has the highest fossil fuel dependency of any region. Policy coordination, public engagement, and legal enforcement to ensure environmental protection and natural resource management are not consistent across the region, making evident the need for greater awareness of the contribution of natural resources and environmental health to the region’s prosperity.
Although all countries elect their governments through democratic elections, reliance on chiefly systems and religious structures remains widespread. Challenges include political instability, weak or non-existent local governance structures, and poor delivery of government services outside of urban areas. Despite modest progress over recent years, the Pacific continues to have high rates of child and maternal mortality and malnutrition; and high unmet needs for family planning and sexual and reproductive health services. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across the Pacific is amongst the highest in the world.
Household level data shows large inequalities in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) with improved levels of sanitation directly related to household income. The majority of primary school aged children are enrolled in school; however, learning attainment, survival, and completion rates remain low.
While there is progress toward gender equality and women’s empowerment, discrimination towards women and girls in the Pacific remains a key development challenge. Progress to achieving gender equality in the region has been slowed by structural and underlying social, cultural and economic barriers, including harmful social norms and exclusionary practices; lack of gender perspective integration into legal and policy frameworks; limited resourcing for addressing gender inequality issues combined with limited capacity within governments to develop and implement gender-responsive policies and programs, added to the weak leadership in terms of mercurial political will to address gender equality beyond rhetoric.
The Pacific region has the world’s lowest levels of women in parliament, and the highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV). Women typically perform a greater share of unpaid care and domestic work and have a much more restrained access to the labour market and to social protection.