French Polynesia, Monday 11 November 2024 – The Pacific Community (SPC) held its annual governance meeting from 5-6 November in Pape’ete, bringing together 25 member countries to review SPC’s performance over the past year and to guide the institution’s priorities moving forward.
In his annual report, Dr Stuart Minchin, Director-General of SPC, highlighted several significant developments, including ongoing support for SPC staff impacted by civil unrest in New Caledonia. Dr Minchin also outlined the organisation’s progress towards institutional transformation, aimed at enhancing operational processes to create more accessible pathways, ensuring that SPC delivers programs and resources in a tailored and impactful way to meet each member country’s unique needs.
During discussions, Cook Islands Secretary Foreign Affairs & Immigration Tepaeru Herrmann emphasised the importance of SPC resource mobilization and service delivery efforts prioritising national level needs. “Into the future, it will be important SPC support to Pacific members, particularly Smaller Islands States like the Cook Islands is of a be-spoke nature, tailored to the specific development needs of each member state.”
SPC remains widely recognised as the region’s leading organisation for science and technical expertise, covering 25 key sectors. At the core of its work is the SPC Strategic Plan 2022-2031, supported by four flagship initiatives—Climate Change, Food Systems, Oceans, and Gender Equality—with a proposed fifth initiative focused on Digital Transformation. These initiatives are strategically aligned with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, while ensuring responsiveness to individual member countries' needs. However, the need to address specific challenges faced by Smaller Island States (SIS) was noted, with SPC encouraged to prioritise more targeted support for SIS members.
Reflecting its commitment to accessibility and responsiveness, SPC highlighted the accomplishments of its regional offices in Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. This decentralisation effort aims to enhance the availability of technical support and ensure SPC services are tailored to meet the bespoke needs of member countries. In line with this, member countries proposed appointing SPC-funded desk officers within national governments, following the model of the SIS Desk Officer at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. These officers would strengthen coordination between SPC and national agencies, streamlining access to SPC’s wide array of services and aligning with national priorities.
The meeting also heard from Mr Emile Kairua, Secretary of the Cook Islands Ministry of Cultural Development and Chair of the Culture Ministers’ Meeting and the Council of Pacific Arts and Culture. Mr Kairua underscored the importance of recognising culture’s cross-cutting role in regional development, highlighting how cultural initiatives are integral to the broader goals of sustainable development across the Pacific. The Cook Islands is one of four members bidding to host the four yearly cultural festival of arts (FestPac) in 2032 and if accepted, it will be forty years since the last time the Cook Islands hosted FestPac in 1992.
As SPC looks to the future, members reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to strengthening its resource mobilisation efforts through the Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity initiative and developing a partnership strategy. These initiatives will ensure SPC’s services align with its members' evolving needs, providing every country with access to the support and resources required for sustainable development.
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