In collaboration with Pacific governments, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has to date developed joint country strategies for 20 of its 22 island member countries and territories. These strategies outline, in one integrated document, the full scope of SPC’s assistance to individual Pacific Community members over a defined period, based on the country’s own priorities and national development strategy.

SPC Director-General, Dr Jimmie Rodgers, says “For SPC, the joint country strategies underpin our working relationship with our members. They describe the services our programmes will provide in each country, from training and technical assistance to policy advisory services, and above all, they identify priority areas and activities very clearly. This is important when there are limited resources, and when new challenges are emerging.”

To date, joint country strategy missions have been completed for American Samoa,  the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.
Two more missions remain for 2010 - Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia.

SPC is working with other regional agencies and development partners to explore ways of cooperating in developing and implementing the joint country strategies.