Programme Review & Strategy Development in the Pacific

Every five years, in cooperation with Governments, UNFPA undertakes a programme review and strategy development (PRSD) exercise, aimed at establishing a strategic framework for a new Country Programme based on emerging national needs and an assessment of lessons from past experience. This is a comprehensive and time-consuming exercise. The outcome is a set of recommendations for a general strategic framework for UNFPA's next five-year Country Programme of assistance. In the case of both the 14-country sub-regional "South Pacific Programme" and the Papua New Guinea country programme, the 1992-1996 cycle was extended by one year, so it is expected that the programme for the next funding cycle will cover the 1998-2001 period.

The South Pacific sub-regional PRSD

The South Pacific Programme of UNFPA overseen by the regional office in Fiji covers 14 island states. Programme review and strategy development for this multi-country situation of geo-cultural diversity and differential levels of development, despite some obvious commonalities, is both complex and challenging.

Participants at the Regional Strategy Development Workshop in Nadi, Fiji

• Sectoral analyses were undertaken, through field research and desk reviews by CST advisers and national consultants, in the first half of 1996, resulting in about 40 indepth situational reports on the population and development, reproductive health (including family planning and sexual health), gender, and advocacy and information, education, and communication areas.

• Given the emphasis on reproductive health for programme funding, national priority workshops were organized in nine selected Pacific island countries during the second half of 1996.

• Special regional focus group meetings on youth and on gender were sponsored by the UNFPA Representative in Fiji, on 15-16 October, and in Samoa, on 10-11 December to identify and debate the key issues and problems in these two priority concerns.

• In addition to these extensive consultations and documentation, assessments were commissioned on UNFPA-funded regional projects and of the 1992-1996 programme activities as a whole. A Background Paper was also prepared by the UNFPA field office.

• Against this background of preparation, a formal PRSD mission was organized. The mission members consisted of Dr. Atiqur Rahman Khan, Adviser in the CST Bangkok as Team Leader and expert on Reproductive Health; Ms. Trinidad Osteria, Professor and Director of the Social Development Research Centre at the De La Salle University, Philippines, as consultant on Gender, Population and Development; Ms. Delia Barcelona, Programme Officer in the Technical and Evaluation Division, UNFPA New York, as expert on Population Advocacy and IEC; and Mr. William House, Adviser in the CST Suva, as expert on Population and Development Strategies and rapporteur of the mission. The mission which was mounted on 2-28 March, 1997, was coordinated by Ms. Etta Tadesse, UNFPA Representative to Fiji. Ms. Eriko Hibi, Programme Officer in the Asia and Pacific Division, UNFPA HQ, joined the second part of the PRSD mission.

• The PRSD team members visited Fiji, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to undertake field observations and to consult with senior officials in government, UN agencies, bilateral donors and the NGOs, before settling down to the task of digesting and synthesizing the vast amount of information.

• A culminating event in the PRSD exercise was the holding of a Regional Strategy Development Workshop in Nadi, Fiji, on 20-22 March under the sponsorship of UNFPA. Attended by over 50 senior government officials, representatives of NGOs, regional organizations, bilateral donors and UN agencies, with the PRSD team members as facilitators, the Workshop was the first ever sub-regional consultative meeting convened to discuss the preliminary findings and conclusions of a PRSD mission and to participate in strategy development for the next programme framework. An Aide Memoire summarizing the key issues and proposed strategies was endorsed by Workshop participants.

• Based on the consensus achieved at the Regional Strategy Development Workshop and the Report of the PRSD Mission, the UNFPA Representative has submitted a Country Programme document for approval and funding. The programme cycle for 1998-2001 then begins with the development of sub-programmes and the formulation of national and regional projects in consultation with governments and other organizations.

Ambassdor Alik Alik of the Federated States of Micronesia opening the UNFPA Regional Strategy Development Workshop. On his right : Mr. Savenaca Siwatibau, Head of ESCAP Pacific Operations Centre; left: Ms. Etta Tadesse, UNFPA Representative for the South Pacific

In Papua New Guinea, which has a separate UNFPA country programme, the process of forward planning started with a comprehensive programme evaluation in November 1996 by a team of consultants comprising Dr. Berit Austveg, Evaluation Officer, UNFPA Headquarters; Ms. Ann Larson, Senior Lecturer, Tropical Health Programme, University of Queensland, Brisbane; and Ms. Vineeta Rai, Adviser on Gender, Population and Development in the Country Support Team, Kathmandu. The resulting evaluation report of programme activities in 1992-1996 provided a firm basis for the PRSD exercise in 1997.

The second part of the Planning process was a review of various population sectors and the country situation. Undertaken during 20 April to 7 May, by a joint team of three CST Suva advisers and a national consultant on gender issues, Ms. Kathy Lepani, working in close collaboration with UNFPA field staff and national counterparts, the review exercise produced a number of analytical background papers focused on the major areas of reproductive health, family planning and sexual health; population and development strategies; gender; and advocacy and IEC. These sectoral reviews were meant to provide an assessment of the current national situation, particularly in terms of needs, capacity, available resources, the activities of other donors and likely future developments. An executive summary of the major findings was circulated to various development partners and national counterparts by the UNFPA Representative for their comments.

This led logically to the strategy development phase. A follow-up mission was undertaken by Mr. William J. House, Adviser on Population Policies and Development Strategies; Dr. Salesi Katoanga, Adviser on Reproductive Health/Family Planning and Sexual Health; and Mr. Laurie Lewis, Adviser on Population Statistics in Papua New Guinea from the 25 May - 13 June 1997. The CST advisers were again joined by Ms. K. Lepani to cover gender issues while Ms. Susan Aradeon, the short-term consultant on the UNFPA Population Education Project, had responsibility for the Population Advocacy and IEC sector. Ms. Cathy Amos, Mr. Matthias Lasia, and Mr. Homolpi Warom of the National Planning Office were also assigned to work closely with the team during the follow-up strategy development exercise.

The team of CST advisers and consultants, in close consultation with the UNFPA Representative, developed a detailed Review and Strategy Options Paper encompassing a review of the current country population programme in Papua New Guinea, the priority issues to be addressed and the proposed strategies for the next programme cycle in 1998-2001, emphasising those areas that might be supported by UNFPA. A Strategy Development Workshop was held on 10 June, attended by government and NGO representatives and other concerned UN and bilateral development agencies. The Workshop endorsed a set of issues and proposed strategies which were submitted to the Government in the form of an Aide Memoire by the UNFPA Representative. After formal endorsement of the Aide Memoire, the UNFPA Representative will present a proposed programme framework for the next funding cycle to UNFPA Headquarters for review and approval. It is expected that the programme for the next four years will build on the m! ! omen tum generated by the present programme activities.