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1975 - 1995
After the establishment of the Office for the South Pacific, during the first two decades, half of the ILO’s initial technical cooporation programme during the first two decades was to promote employment and skills development for Pacific Island Countries. Almost all 22 South Pacific countries covered by the Office were brought under the technical assistance programme. The major donors for this programme were the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB subsequently renamed AUSAID), the Danish Development Agency (DANIDA), the Finnish International Development Agency (FINNIDA), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the European Union (EU), and the Government of New Zealand (which is now called NZAid). The main areas of the technical cooperation programme consisted of: manpower planning and manpower surveys; rural employment programmes; integration of sectoral policies; job creation through infrastructure building; irrigation schemes and building construction; labour based technology, training of local small contractors, forestry, construction of village wells, seawalls and springs, population planning, sectoral demographic studies, reconstruction of roads and river crossings and employment.
At the same time, to improve the population planning and human resources development, a number of projects were developed on sectoral reviews, education and family welfare, entrepreneurship development, skills development and strengthening of vocational training institutions such as the Fiji National Training Council (FNTC) now called the Training and Productive Authority of Fiji (TPAF), the Hospitality School of the Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT), the National Training Councils and Skills Training Institutions of thirteen countries, (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Marshall Island, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands, Palau, Niue, Tonga). Training standards such as trade testing and certification systems were introduced in almost all the South Pacific countries.
A number of technical cooperation programmes were also conducted to strengthen cooperative institutions ranging from policies and institutional capacity building to agriculture and fishing cooperatives.
Tourism training and logging training (with the assistance of EU and FINNIDA) were also covered by the ILO’s assistance programme.
Small enterprise development was quite prevalent by introducing the Start and Improve Your Business Project for South Pacific countries.
Women’s Micro-Enterprise Development, Vocational Rehabilitation, Labour Policy Administration and Tripartism, Occupational Safety and Health, support to Social Security Institutions (Provident Fund Institutions of the South Pacific countries) and Industrial Relations were other areas where substantive assistance were provided.
A New Reality 1995 - 2005
Since 1995 there has been a sharp reduction in the external funding (donors) of ILO’s Technical Cooperations Programmes. Since then, ILO has been facing a new reality with regards to providing assistance to all South Pacific Countries and consequently, ILO’s technical assistance has been diverted mainly to its members and prospective member States. There has also been a paradigm shift. Employment promotion strategies are diverted to the creation of models for the small islands economies. Emphasis has been given in the areas of skill development and employment promotion through direct support.
The employment challenge in the South Pacific countries is immense and growing. In most of these countries, the size of the informal economy, where workers bear a particularly high risk of becoming part of the working poor, is growing. Young people are particularly vulnerable with the risk of unemployment and underemployment and women and persons with disabilities are among those groups most affected by unemployment. Employment is the only sustainable way out of poverty and is critical to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Despite large stocks of productive natural resources, economic performance of most Pacific Island Countries since their independence has been disappointing. This is blamed on the poor development strategies and infrastructure, limited supply and high cost of skilled labour, lack of good governance and accountability, social disorders, uneven distribution of income and susceptibility to natural disasters.
Creating decent employment and income for increasing numbers of men and women will remain as the highest priority for all the Pacific Island Countries for many years to come. The Pacific Leaders meeting identified that “the greatest challenge facing the Pacific Island Countries – is job creation”.
The poverty study undertaken by the UNDP also identified that the percentage of people living below the poverty line has increased in many Island Nations. The highest priority will need to be given to create employment to provide decency and dignity of lifestyle for the projected 9 million people (2007) of the Pacific sub-region, for them to enjoy the benefit of economic and social developments.
The scope of employment promotion in the formal sector in these countries is extremely limited. Therefore, the development of the private and informal sector is crucial in finding new jobs for approximately 3.2 million job seekers in the sub-region. Structural adjustments and political/ethnic conflicts have made many people redundant and alternative job opportunities need to be urgently created (PNG, Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , Tonga ). The privatisation programme has become central to the economic reform programmes of PNG, Solomon Islands , and Vanuatu which may lead to further job losses from the formal sector.
In the case of PNG, the most optimistic projection indicates that 63 percent of the labour force will remain outside the formal sector by 2007. Eighty percent of the population of PNG live in rural areas. Unemployment in the urban areas is estimated to be 28 percent of the total labour force as recorded by the 1990 Census, but 42 percent is in the 15/19 age group. Similarly, Solomon Islands , Vanuatu and Kiribati have a large youth population. It is estimated that 100,000 people will enter the labour market in the Solomon Islands over the next ten years.
Creating jobs and the resettlement of people affected by civil conflict, displaced youth and women is the greatest challenge that the Solomon Islands Government is currently facing.
In Kiribati , almost 75 percent of the labour force is engaged in village work in the communal or social sector as well as agriculture and fishing. Many I-Kiribati still find employment in the global fishing industry and on fishing vessels or with international fishing consortium. Creating enough employment for youths is considered to be a major challenge for the Government of Kiribati.
These small economies are also being affected by global developments. Economic and social development is no longer dependent on decisions taken purely within the national state. These economies face challenges from the global markets, which have grown rapidly without a parallel development of economic and social institutions necessary for their smooth and equitable functioning. Consultations and the harmonisation of policies are therefore, necessary in supranational, regional and global areas. Shared values, trust and mutual expectations are essential to lower the cost of economic and social transactions. In an attempt towards that goal, the Pacific leaders have taken the initiative to develop the Pacific Plan of Action with greater focus on vocational training and regional trade to foster economic growth.
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