Participants at Meeting on Youth Issues
The launching of the United Nations publication, "Time to Act, The Pacific Response to HIV and AIDS", and the review of the South Pacific Commission Pacific Islands AIDS and STD Prevention Project called for a regional strategy to address the problem of STD/AIDS in the Pacific.
The Adviser on Population Education was requested by the SPC to participate in the Working Group Meeting to draft a Regional Strategy for the Prevention of AIDS/STD from 25-27 September at their headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia. The main objective was to develop a draft Pacific-specific strategic document for the prevention and control of AIDS/STD based on the findings of the "Time to Act" study and other experiences of members of the working group.
The Regional Training and Research Centre (RTRC) in Reproductive Health was established at the Fiji School of Medicine (FSM) in April 1996. It is a project funded by UNFPA, executed by WHO and implemented by the FSM.
A workshop on Safe Motherhood & Reproductive Health was held targeted at middle level health personnel involved in clinical work. The course was organised at a hotel, Suva from September 2-13, 1996. There were 16 participants (6 doctors and 10 nurses/midwives); eleven (69%) of these participants were women. Professor Staffan Bergstrom, Professor in International Health, Karolinska Institute, Sweden, was the chief resource person. The main objective of this training course was to update knowledge, attitudes and skills of health workers in maternal and reproductive health.
This was followed by a workshop on Research Methodology in Reproductive Health on September 23 - October 2. This workshop had 14 participants, (5 doctors, 6 nurses/ midwives and 3 health educators/programme officers). The main objective of the training course was to update knowledge and skills of health workers in reproductive health with special reference to research methodology. The course covered several issues for research, the main principles of and techniques in research (clinical and operational), how to prepare research proposals, introduction to the use of computers in research and presentations by funding agencies in the region.
Each participant prepared a research proposal and presented it to the group for critical evaluation and modification. All participants are expected to carry out these projects in their own countries.
Hosted by the Ministry of Youth, Employment Opportunities and Sports, Government of Fiji and sponsored by the UNFPA, a regional focus group meeting was held to identify and debate the key issues and problems faced by youth in the Pacific, and reach a consensus on the priorities and strategies on how to address the emerging issues. The participants stressed that youth should be actively involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of development activities that have a direct impact on their daily lives. The outcome of the workshop will constitute the basis on which youth-related interventions could be considered by concerned nationals and multi-lateral agencies such as UNFPA.
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Participants at Meeting on Youth Issues |
Participants came from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Western Samoa. They were not "youth" themselves but were involved with youth in some way as programme planners. Resource persons/facilitators were drawn from the UNFPA/CST and South Pacific Commission, and some of the participants themselves served as facilitators. Mr. Jim Ah Koy, Minister of Youth, Employment Opportunities and Sports, Government of Fiji, addressed the closing ceremony.
It was unfortunate that time was so limited. Not counting the discussion of the final recommendations, there was only a day and a half to cover such a wide range of interesting, relevant topics. As for the follow-up to this meeting, the participants were encouraged to pursue the actions recommended with their respective Governments.
From 25 to 29 November, 1996 the 10th Session of the Committee on Statistics was convened. The session was attended by the government statisticians or representatives of 30 member or associated members of ESCAP. The CST was represented by Mr. Laurie Lewis, Adviser on Population Statistics.
Wide ranging discussions were held on a number of topics, many of interest to the Pacific island countries. These included the reports by countries on statistical developments in the past few years and a report by the SPC of its recent South Pacific Conference of Statisticians. Special consideration was given to statistics relevant to the sustainable development of nations in the region and supporting the themes of ESCAP, notably gender statistics; poverty estimation; critical problems in economic statistics; science and technology estimation; and environmental statistics.
The Southpac News wishes to convey its congratulations to Mr. Timoci Bainimarama, the Government Statistician in Fiji, for his re-election as Vice-Chairperson to the Committee.
Thirty participants attended a regional focus group meeting on gender, population and development at the Women's Centre in Apia, Western Samoa, on 10-11 December. Sponsored by the Ministry of Women Affairs, Government of Western Samoa, and UNFPA, the meeting considered gender issues from the perspective of Pacific countries. The issues identified as the most pertinent and urgent were: gender equity and the status of women; women in decision-making positions; women in development; reproductive health and reproductive rights; men and women as equal partners in development; women and environmental management; and eliminating impediments to gender equality.
Countries which sent delegates were Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Western Samoa and Vanuatu. Representatives of UN agencies in Apia and Suva, non-governmental organizations, and regional organizations were invited to send observers. Ms Noumea Simi, Assistant Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Government of Western Samoa was the resource person. The Conference was coordinated by a team from the UNFPA Suva Office led by Ms Etta Tadesse, UNFPA Representative.
The participants endorsed a Statement of priority issues and recommendations for a plan of action. It is expected that the strategies and recommended actions from the regional meeting will assist governments and international organizations in promoting gender issues and developing programme activities in population and development.
While the endorsement of the Statement was the highlight of the meeting, the group discussions on the nature, underlying causes and differential conditions relating to the priority issues on gender relations in the island countries were most helpful in the identification of practical solutions. The Statement noted: "As women's status, roles and needs vary widely from country to country and from sub-region to sub-region [in the Pacific], not all women throughout the region accord equal priority to these issues and, depending on their geographical location and social situation, often identify other issues as more pressing such as provision of clean and safe water, adequate housing, and transport. This makes generalization of any kind problematic."