Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa says the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is focused on how they will approach the next seven years to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Addressing the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development in New York on behalf of AOSIS, PM Fiame said world leaders needed to leave nationalism behind and urgently put action to the rhetoric they had been propagating for the past eight years.

“Climate change, the global financial crisis, the covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions have taught us that we are even more closely connected than we wish to acknowledge, and that choices made on one end have far and wide reaching devastating impacts on those of us who are many, many miles away,” told the UN High Level Political Forum.

“If we are going to uphold and deliver on our strong commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ and ‘reaching the furthest behind first’ we will have to leave nationalism behind and urgently put action to the rhetoric we have been propagating for the past eight years.”

PM Fiame said it was “time to stop kicking the can further down the road and doing bandage fixes”.

“We have to begin to earnestly address our global development issues, if we are going to begin speaking of a ‘summit of the future’ and ‘for future generations’.

“The sad reality is if we do not take care of today, for many of us, there will be no tomorrow or future.

‘We can do this together’
“We believe we can do this together, as the international community, if we return to the strong resolve, we had following the MDGs and knowing that if nothing drastic was done we would be worse off than we were as a global community in 1992 in Rio when we spoke of “the future we want,” Fiame said.

Faced with continuous and multiple crises, and without the ability to address these in any substantial and sustainable way, SIDS were on the “proverbial hamster wheel with no way out”, the Samoa Prime Minister said.

Therefore what was needed was to:

“Firstly, take urgent action on the climate change front — more climate financing; drastic cuts and reduction in greenhouse emissions, 1.5 is non-negotiable, everyone is feeling the mighty impacts of this, but not many of us have what it takes to rebounded from the devastation.

“This forthcoming COP28 needs to be a game changer, results must emanate from it — the Loss and Damage Fund needs to be fully operationalised and financed; we need progressive movement from the global stocktake; and states parties need to enhance NDCs.

“Secondly, urgent reform of the governance structure and overall working of the international financial architecture. It is time for it to be changed from its archaic approach to finance.

“We need a system that responds more appropriately to the varied dynamics countries face today; that goes beyond GDP; that takes into account various vulnerabilities and other aspects; that would look to utilise the Multi-Vulnerability Index, Bridgetown Initiative and all other measures that help to facilitate a more holistic and comprehensive insight into a country’s true circumstances.

‘More inclusive participation’
“This reform must also allow for a more inclusive and broader participation.

“Thirdly, urgently address high indebtedness in SIDS, this can no longer be ignored. There needs to be a concerted effort to address this.

“As we continually find ourselves in a revolving door between debt and reoccurring debt due to our continuous and constant response to economic, environmental and social shocks caused by external factors,” Prime Minister Fiame said.

“I appeal to you all to take a pause and join forces to make 2030 a year that we can all be proud of,” she said.

“In this vein, please be assured of AOSIS making our contribution no matter how minute it may be. We are fully committed. We invite you to review our interregional outcome document, the ‘Praia Declaration’ for a better understanding of our contribution.

“And we look forward to your constructive engagement as together we chart the 10-year Programme of Action for SIDS in 2024,” she said.

Fiame said the recently concluded Preparatory Meetings for the 4th International Conference on SIDS affirmed the unwavering commitment of SIDS to implement the 2030 Agenda as they charted a 10-year plan for a “resilient and prosperous future for our peoples”.

A ‘tough journey’
“We do recognise that the journey for us will be tough and daunting at times, but we are prepared and have a strong resolve to achieve this. However, we do also recognise and acknowledge that we cannot do this on our own.”

The summit marks the mid-point of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will review the state of the SDGs implementation, provide policy guidance, mobilise action to accelerate implementation and consider new challenges since 2015.

The summit will address the impact of multiple and interlocking crises facing the world, including the deterioration of key social, economic and environmental indicators. It will focus first and foremost on people and ways to meet their basic needs through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

This is the second SDG Summit, the first one was held in 2019.

Republished from Pacnews.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The United States government’s overseas development aid arm US Agency for International Development (USAID) opened two new offices in Papua New Guinea and Fiji last week, pledging to assist Pacific island countries in addressing the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The last USAID office in the region was closed over 25 years ago.

The haste with which the US re-established these offices with its Administrator, Dr Samantha Power — a former Harvard professor, flying from the US to officiate in the ceremonies in Suva and in Port Moresby in PNG on August 15 has also got some sceptics in the region questioning its motives.

Addressing Pacific youth at a ceremony at the University of the South Pacific, also attended by the Pacific Island Forum’s Secretary-General Henry Puna — a former prime minister of Cook Islands — Power said USAID was setting up an office in the Pacific to help them to directly “listen, learn, and better understand” the challenges that Pacific Island countries were facing.

“Our new mission here in Fiji and our office in Papua New Guinea — are not going to come in and impose our ideas or our solutions for the shared challenges that we face” she told an audience of students and academics from the region.

USP is one of only two regional universities in the world largely funded by regional countries. She described the two missions as “reinvigorated (US) commitment to the Pacific Islands”.

At a number of times during her 20-minute speech, Power emphasised that USAID only gave grants and they did not give loans.

“As we increase our investments here in the Pacific, I want to be very clear — and this is subject to some misunderstanding — so please, I hope I am very clear,” she said.

Not forcing nations
“The United States is not forcing nations to choose between partnering with the United States and partnering with other nations to meet their development goals.

“That said, we do want you to have a choice. It’s not a choice that we will make for you, but we want you to have options.

“We want Pacific Island nations to have more options to work with partners whose values and vision for the future align with your own.”

Although Dr Power did not mention China in her speech, this could be interpreted as a reference to the Chinese presence in the Pacific and the “rules-based order” the US and its allies claim to promote in the region.

She immediately added to the above comments by pointing out that USAID only gives grants.

“We are very interested in economic independence, and independence of choice and not saddling future generations with attachments and debts that will later have to be paid,” she said.

“And we will engage with you openly, transparently, with respect for individual dignity and the benefits of inclusive governance, the benefits of being held accountable by your citizens, and we will join you in seeking to combat corrupt dealings that can enrich elites often at the expense of everyday citizens.”

Training farmers in new techniques
Another area where they would allocate funding would be training farmers in new techniques to grapple with changing weather patterns and encroaching salt water.

She also announced the launch of a new initiative, a Blue Carbon Assessment, to quantify the true value of the marine carbon sinks across the Blue Pacific continent.

Referring to Dr Power’s comments about reinvigorating the US’s commitment to the region, Maureen Penjueli, coordinator of the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), told IDN that this was a way to frame the US as a partner of choice by allowing the islanders to determine what is a priority in terms of their development.

“The US is not the only development partner that is suggesting this,” she added, “Australia’s recent Development Policy attempts to frame themselves is no different.”

Referring to US ally Australia’s aid policies, she pointed out that for decades there has been accusation of tied aid, “boomerang aid” by many of our development partners — or how aid is an extension of foreign policy and therefore it is by its nature extractive — an iron fist in a velvet glove”.

“But its other implication is to subtly suggest that the US and its allies’ goals are unlike what China does, which is to ‘extract concessions’ through this relationship either through ensuring that Chinese companies get the contracts, Chinese labour is recruited (as well as) many other forms of accusation of Chinese engagement in the region,” Penjueli said.

During an interaction with the local media after her speech, a local television reporter told Dr Power that critics had been quick to say that the US was ramping up support in the greater Indo-Pacific region because it believed that American dominance was at risk.

“How do you respond to such an observation? And why should Pacific leaders choose US diplomatic support over Chinese support?”, the reporter asked.

“Lots of experience around the world is the recognition that governance and human rights, and economic development go hand in hand,” Dr Power replied.

“You can have economic development without human rights, but it’s almost impossible to have inclusive economic development that reaches broad segments of the population.

“So, we really believe that a development model that values transparency, that ensures that private sector investment is conducted in a manner that benefits broad swaths of the population rather than like a couple of government officials who take a bribe or pay a bribe.”

Grants at a time of a different model
Dr Power also added that USAID gave grants at a time when others were pushing a very different model, “which is much more about concentrating both political and economic power, which tends to stifle the voices of citizens to hold their leaders accountable, allows officials to do what they believe is right, but without checks and balances”.

USAID is representing the reopening of the two offices as a follow up to President Biden’s meeting with the Pacific leaders in Washington DC last year.

Its Manila-based deputy assistant director of USAID, Betty Chung, has told Radio New Zealand that currently there are just two staffers in Fiji but by the end of the year, they hope to have eight to 10 there, building up to about 30.

Also the USAID budget for the Pacific has tripled in the past three years.

In a joint press conference in Port Moresby, PNG Prime Minister James Marape has welcomed USAID’s renewed commitments to the region and said that Power’s presence completes what is President Biden’s 3D strategy — diplomacy, defence, and development — in the focus to revamp the US presence in PNG and the Pacific.

He also referred to recent defence agreements signed with the US but said that it should not be a one-way relationship on how they relate to the US. He asked Power and UNAID to assist PNG in preserving their forest resources.

Pacific people need to watch
Pointing out that PNG is home to one-third of the world’s forests and 67 percent of global biodiversity, Marape said that he had asked Dr Power to take the message back to the US and particularly to Congress “who sometimes offer resistance to support to emerging nations” — to help PNG to preserve its forest resources to offset the US “huge carbon footprint”.

Referring to Dr Power’s undertaking that she came to the Pacific to listen, Penjueli said that people in the Pacific needed to watch how USAID could translate this listening exercise into grant-making and in which areas and how they do it.

“For Pacific Island governments, I do believe that they are in a better place, this gives them more options to consider if they (foreign donors) support their own development needs particularly in the current context of a climate emergency, post-pandemic debt stress economies and an ongoing Ukraine war.”

Dr Kalinga Seneviratne is a Sri Lanka-born journalist, broadcaster and international communications specialist. He is currently a consultant to the journalism programme at the University of the South Pacific. He is also the former head of research at the Asian Media Information and Communication Center (AMIC) in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific editor of InDepth News (IDN), the flagship agency of the non-profit International Press Syndicate. This article is republished under content sharing agreement between Asia Pacific Report and IDN.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The University of the South Pacific’s latest international ranking is a “testament to the excellence” that pervades the university, says USP vice-chancellor and president Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

He said this in a statement confirming USP had been ranked 401-600 out of 1406 institutions, with an overall score of 70 out of 100 in The Times Higher Education (THE) impact ranking for 2022.

“It is recognition of the sheer hard work and determination of our researchers,” Professor Ahluwalia said.

“It reaffirms USP’s standing as the premier education institution in the region and this ranking is a testament to the excellence that pervades our university.”

The impact ranking is the only global performance table that assesses universities against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where indicators are carefully calibrated to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across four broad areas — research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.

USP scored over 50 (out of 100) in research for SDGs 4, 13, 14, 16 and 17, reflecting the quality and relevance of its publications to the SDGs.

Under SDG four, USP scored highly at over 80 on Lifelong Learning Measures, which highlights lifelong learning opportunities through the provision of public resources, public events, vocational training events, education outreach activities beyond campus, and the existence of policy to ensure access to lifelong learning.

Environmental measures
Under SDG seven, USP scored high, over 70 on Energy Use Density, which is the energy used per floor space of university buildings in 2019.

Under SDG 13, USP scored 100 for Environmental Education Measures that demonstrate activities around local education projects and collaborations on climate change impacts, mitigation and adaptation, including disaster planning reflecting the engagement and collaboration by the university on climate change action locally, regionally and internationally.

USP scored highly at 75 under SDG 14 for Supporting Aquatic Ecosystems Through Action, which includes work on maintaining ecosystems and their biodiversity and over 85 for Local Ecosystem Maintenance.

For University Governance Measures, Working with Government, such as the provision of expert advice to government and participation in government research, and Percentage of Graduates in Law and Civil Enforcement-related courses under SDG 16, USP scored almost 80, 85 and over 75, respectively.

Finally, under SDG 17, which is considered the mandatory SDG, USP scored 100 percent for Relationships to Support the Goals, reflecting USP’s relationships with regional NGOs and international collaborations for SDGs.

The timeframe for data collection for the impact ranking 2022 spanned from January to December 2020 and in some cases, 2019, due to disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

Wata Shaw is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Alison Sykora

​Auckland University of Technology is 16th in the world in the newly released Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings that assess the social impact of universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Of the 17 goals, AUT ranked number two for Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) covering sustainable practices such as research promoting remote working, affordable housing, and investment in art and heritage.

In Gender Equality (SDG 5) AUT is ninth in the world, recognising the percentage of research by female academics, outreach to female students in areas including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and policies implemented to enable gender equality.

New Zealand universities have excelled in the rankings with University of Auckland achieving first place and Massey University placing number 38.

The rankings support AUT’s commitment to the United Nations SDGs, highlighted by the launch of its Sustainability Roadmap in 2018.

Chair of the AUT Sustainability Taskforce, Professor Thomas Neitzert noted that work in the area of sustainability is ongoing and in line with AUT’s deliberate focus on technological transformation, external impact and industry connections.

“Our students, stakeholders and community expect sustainability to be a priority for AUT. We believe advancing knowledge and understanding of the issues and opportunities around creating a sustainable future is essential,” said Professor Neitzert.

The Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

They use carefully calibrated indicators to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across three broad areas: research, outreach, and stewardship.

Alison Sykora is head of AUT communications.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz