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Setting the scene for week’s SPC discussion
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Posted on Nov 13 2006
[B]NEW CALEDONIA[/B]—More than 80 delegates from around the Pacific gathered in Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s conference hall yesterday morning for the opening day of the 36th Committee of Representatives of the Governments and Administrations meeting. Setting the scene for the week’s discussion, SPC Director-General Dr. Jimmie Rodgers began the corporate overview for 2006 by giving a report of his first 10 months’ activity, followed by presentations from the three SPC divisions: Land Resources, Marine Resources and Social Resources.
“I am very pleased to report to CRGA that SPC is open to change management, partly because the changes are more about fine-tuning than being radical in nature also because of the ‘Excellence of service’ of the organization’s staff, their individual and collective vision and commitment,” said Rodgers.
“In my view, however, there is an urgent need to repackage SPC’s services on the basis of three pillars. The three pillars are not new: the first is ‘increased focus on member priorities’; the second is ‘strategic engagement at national, regional, and international levels’; the third is ‘strategic positioning of SPC’ to accomplish the first and second pillars.”
Praising the corporate overview report, Tuvalu’s High Commissioner Seve Paeniu stressed it strategic nature and the emphasis on solutions because “the problems facing our islands have been well articulated for many years. This new direction provides a path to deliver practical solutions. I look forward to our discussions to get into the details of the ‘what’ and the ‘how.’”
When asked about his impressions of the first day of CRGA, George Maniuri from Vanuatu’s Department of Foreign Affairs said, “It is a serious endeavor to undertake. This is the first time I have attended an SPC meeting, but fortunately I have the good guidance of SPC’s management.
“So far the participation has been lively, well articulated and thought provoking. I look forward to tomorrow and the day after, when we will discuss policy agenda and policy response and SPC’s strategic positioning.”
SPC member countries and territories include American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, France, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States of America, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna.
Papers of the meeting are available on SPC’s website: www.spc.int. [I][B](PR)[/B][/I]
