Breaking down barriers between Pacific islands to spur economic development, visioning 21st century skills that island youth must have for jobs locally or globally, action needed to reverse the non-communicable disease pandemic sweeping the region, and reinventing governance systems for governments to successfully navigate the future of their nations — these are among priority issues that Dr Transform Aqorau believes need to be on the agenda for island leaders.

But for the most part they are not in the conversation.

“There isn’t enough discussion about the future,” said Dr Aqorau, who took up the Solomon Islands National University’s vice-chancellor position in January.

Dr Aqorau was in Majuro recently for the official opening of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement or PNA Office. He was the founding chief executive of the PNA Office from 2010-2016, guiding it from a decision of the leaders on paper to establish the first office of the PNA to becoming one of the most powerful fisheries organisations in the world.

“This is a conversation that isn’t just for universities,” he said. “Governments need to be discussing their vision for the future and work in tandem with national universities.”

It was not simply a theoretical exercise. The conversation could have much needed practical impact on islands in the region, he said.

PNA model ‘has clout’
The PNA model had shown the clout of a regional effort and the governance systems that supported the vision of the nine nations involved in PNA, he said.

“All Pacific islands need to create opportunities in agriculture, fisheries, tourism and other areas,” he said. “It’s difficult, but in the region, we should ask ourselves: What kind of collective brand can we create?”

He thinks the Pacific could offer itself to visitors as a tourism package, not in competition with one another.

“What did we learn from covid?” he asked. “Those that relied on one thing, such as tourism, struggled.”

“We shouldn’t see ourselves as separate. Instead, we should see ourselves as a single economic bloc (and by doing so) we could help ourselves more (during times like the covid pandemic).”

Tourism and trading blocs would work to the advantage of different islands, combined with technology and educational initiatives.

“In our Blue Continent, we should tear down national barriers and work together,” he said.

‘What future for our children?’
“If we don’t do these things for the people, respect for governments as institutions will decline. We need to be asking: What is the future we want for our children?”

Pacific youth should have global skills so they are citizens of the world, Dr Aqorau said.

Seeing NCDs undermine the health of people across the Pacific is great concern too Aqorau. “We need to manufacture our own healthy snacks and alternative foods from our own resources,” he said.

Governments need to get behind incentivising production of island “super foods” and phasing out imported junk food to attack the health crisis “so our next generation can live healthy like their forefathers”, he said.

“These are conversations with impact,” said Dr Aqorau. “They create jobs.”

He expressed worry about the present levels of governance in the region.

“Current structures of government are not working,” he said. “I don’t see their ability to manage this change unless there is a foundational change in the way governments are designed.”

Worsening corruption
He said he saw worsening corruption undermining governance in the region.

“I see increasing alienation of people and increased power in small groups of elite,” Aqorau said, adding that in the present governance environment there was “no way for youth and women to be involved.”

PNA was a shining example of governance that benefited people in the region, he said.

But in the area of resource extraction aside from fisheries — logging and forestry, fossil fuels, mineral mining and deepsea mining — there were no comparable levels of governance.

“PNA shows there is a lot that we can do with forestry, deep sea mining and other extraction resources,” he said.

“We need governance systems in place so we are not exploited. But it’s happening [exploitation] in forestry.”

In the context of the geopolitical competition that is putting additional stress on governance in the islands, Dr Aqorau offered this suggestion to donors.

“Instead of donating things we don’t need that add a level of burden on island countries, support constitutional reforms in governance.”

Dr Aqorau believes that “it won’t always be like this. Young people will demand change”.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Pacific Islands Forum has launched a new longterm strategy to address present and future challenges faced by Pacific peoples.

The “2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent” was endorsed by regional heads of governments as the curtains fell on the 51st Forum Leaders’ summit in Suva.

“As Pacific leaders, our vision is for a resilient Pacific region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion and prosperity, that ensures all Pacific peoples can lead free, healthy and productive lives,” the 2050 strategy’s leaders’ vision states.

Forum chair and Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said the new regional blueprint “is about who we are”.

“The 2050 Strategy is about what we share in common, our challenges and our opportunities about what we need to do together. This is why the 2050 Strategy focuses on our people,” Bainimarama said.

“It is our people who have sent us here to deliberate on their behalf and we owe them strategic response to their greatest challenges especially our youth, our children and grandchildren, who will inherit this strategy and our collective ambitions.”

Bainimarama said the “climate crisis, socio-economic development challenges, slow economic growth and geopolitical competition” were major issues faced by the region”.

‘Must work together’
“We must work together. The 2050 Strategy will serve as our guide for the decades to come, setting out our longterm vision, key value to guide us and key thematic areas and strategic pathways that will pave our shared trajectory as a region.”

He also acknowledged that successful implementation of the strategy will require that “our dialogue and development partners, regional agencies, and international agencies understand and align their development plans to the strategy and engage with us on this basis”.

According to the strategy, the Blue Pacific is about Pacific peoples, their faiths, cultural values, and traditional knowledge.

The 36-page document outlines 10 commitments across seven interconnected thematic areas most crucial for the sustainable longterm development of the region.

The focus areas include political leadership and regionalism, people-centred development, peace and security, resource and economic development, climate change and disasters, ocean and environment, and technology and connectivity.

Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna said the new plan was about Pacific regionalism “which is not an easy thing to progress”.

“Pacific regionalism is more than a set of activities,” Puna said.

“It is vital that the 2050 Strategy guide our collective activities and actions as we address our challenges and exploit our strengths and our opportunities.”

With the 2015 strategy now endorsed, the forum will focus on its delivery and implementation.

“My promise is to ensure that we take the strategy forward as it is intended,” Puna said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz