As delegates from around the world meet at United Nations headquarters in New York for a major gathering on the status of women, the Pacific is gearing up for its own conference on the advancement of women later this year.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) will host the 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women at its headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia, from 16 to 20 August.

The Triennial provides the opportunity to gauge progress in gender equality in the region, and serves to identify gaps in progress and measures necessary to address them.

The theme for the 11th Triennial, Progress and prospects: National level implementation of the Pacific and Beijing Platforms for Action, ties in with the main theme of the 54th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 54) in New York.

Mission d’évaluation de l’application de la loi sur la parité en Nouvelle-Calédonie, en Polynésie française, et à Wallis et Futuna

Ce rapport présente les résultats d’une mission d’évaluation de l’application de la loi sur la parité hommesfemmes en politique en Nouvelle-Calédonie, en Polynésie française et à Wallis et Futuna. Télécharger le rapport

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Support from the family and wider community is critical in encouraging young people to develop as agricultural entrepreneurs.

This is a key message from a survey of young people in Fiji, Tonga and Kiribati. Spiritual guidance is also important in youth development, with the church playing a leading role in influencing young people’s behaviour and activities, especially in engaging them in agricultural activities.

The survey was conducted in November 2009 as part of the activities of the Pacific Agriculture and Forestry Policy Network (PAFPNet). It was aimed at discovering what features of their environment encourage young people to participate in agricultural activities.

It is often said that young people are our future leaders and the most productive age group of our region’s labour force. Yet many struggle to find formal employment after leaving school or college and increasing migration of young people from rural to urban areas in search of work puts pressure on already stretched infrastructure and services.

The European Union (EU) has signed an agreement granting FJD $ 2 Million to the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) for a project to strengthen the cultural sector in six Pacific Island countries. This SPC project is called "Structuring the Cultural Sector in the Pacific for Improved Human Development" and resulted from a call for proposals for projects under the theme "Investing in People" Thematic Programme.

Countries to benefit from the project include the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The project, spanning 30 months from when the agreement is signed, is divided into four components which include:

1) The development of cultural policy in six countries;

2) The promotion of cultural industries to the European Union and intra-ACP through the development of a marketing strategy bringing public, private sector and civil society organisations together;

3) The mapping of threatened cultural heritage sites and

4) Exchanges between Pacific and Caribbean museums.