Information Disclosure Policy: A Toolkit for Pacific Governments (July 2006)
### PACIFIC CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES The Pacific, with its diverse cultures and traditions, draws its strength from its people. The different island communities scattered throughout the Pacific's sub-regions are rich in cultural heritage. More tangibly, many Pacific island countries have a wealth of natural resources which, if efficiently harnessed, provide a strong economic base to be used to further the social development agendas of the region. There are some success stories already in the Pacific, with some countries beginning to move forward in implementing progressive reform programmes designed to promote more equitable and sustainable development. Nonetheless, many Pacific island countries continue to struggle to convert their natural wealth into sustainable economic growth and development outcomes. Today, five countries in the Pacific are still characterised as Least Developed Countries by the United Nations, namely, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.1 This classification stems partly from issues related to the small size and consequent vulnerability of many Pacific countries to external shocks. However, although there is very limited statistical information available in the Pacific, it is generally agreed that human development indicators in the Pacific are lagging. The majority of Pacific island countries were decolonised less than 30 years ago, such that it is often difficult to draw conclusions about the success of reform efforts. However, it is widely accepted that home-grown democratic institutions are sometimes weak and not yet deeply embedded in Pacific cultures. Westminster parliamentary systems were often imposed over entrenched traditional political systems of tribal elders, chiefs and "big men". Consequently, the concept of representative governance, underpinned by principles such as transparency and personal accountability, sometimes clashes with local traditions that prioritise community obligations over individual rights, accept secrecy on the part of elites as a sign of respect and view the Western concept of "nepotism" as a legitimate social duty. In practice, aligning these sometimes conflicting, but nonetheless valuable, principles continues to be a challenge.
Core characteristics of good governance 2 Participation - All men and women should have a voice in decision-making, either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their interests. Such broad participation is built on freedom of association and speech, as well as capabilities to participate constructively. Rule of law - Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly laws on human rights. Transparency - Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institutions and information are directly accessible to those concerned with them, and enough information is provided to understand and monitor them. Responsiveness - Institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders. Consensus orientation - Good governance mediates differing interests to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interest of the group, and where possible, on policies and procedures. Equity - All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being. Effectiveness and efficiency - Processes and institutions produce results that meet needs while making the best use of resources. Accountability - Decision makers in government, the private sector and civil society organisations are accountable to the public, as well as to institutional stakeholders. This accountability differs depending on the organization and whether the decision is internal or external to an organisation. Strategic vision - Leaders and the public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for such development. There is also an understanding of the historical, cultural and social complexities in which that perspective is grounded.
Service provision to outlying areas continues to pose a major challenge. The so-called "tyranny of distance" has been a major obstacle to maximising the participation of constituents who can be more than 1000km from the capital city. Poor participation from women and other marginalised groups is often a particular issue. The advent of community radio offers a new tool for promoting local community empowerment, particularly as Pacific island countries try to address the "digital divide" caused by the lack of access by most citizens to basic telecommunications infrastructure. Some countries, such as Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, have attempted to bridge the rural-urban divide in infrastructure, service-delivery and access to governance mechanisms by implementing decentralisation strategies. However, experiments with local government have generally been characterised by poor administration, little improvement in services and substantial leakage of funds at the different levels of government. Existing power structures continue to contain embedded gender inequalities. To date, nine Pacific countries are party to both the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women3 and the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality, and all have committed to the 1994 Pacific Platform for Action for the Advancement for Women and the 1995 UN Beijing Platform for Action. All these international commitments highlight the need to improve equal access and full participation of women in power structures. However, women remain marginalised in many Pacific countries and continue to struggle for equality. Law and order issues pose complex challenges for many Pacific governments. Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea continue to face serious security problems, while Fiji has had to deal with two coups and Vanuatu has been on the verge of police revolt in the recent past. These conflicts have had complex and multiple causes, but a lack of trust in government and a perceived sense of alienation from power structures have played a part. Regional responses may be of value, with the Pacific Islands Forum now mandated to tackle issues of security in accordance with the 2000 Biketawa Declaration, which highlights that the Forum must constructively address the underlying causes of tensions and conflict. The economies of the Pacific are also relatively weak. For example, while the GDP of Fiji was around $5.4 billion in 2005, the output of Niue was as small as $7.6 million.4 Limited budgets, coupled with unstable resource bases reliant on finite forestry and mining pose a problem for many governments. In this context, many Pacific islands continue to attempt to develop and implement strategies to sustainably harness their natural resources, while at the same time working on developing more sustainable industries. Economic development strategies are hindered by geography, as the size of many Pacific countries and their distance from key markets can make the cost of doing business very high. Pacific islands countries are also beginning to integrate into the global economy as the push towards globalisation becomes irresistible. In furtherance of the objective of better economic outcomes, many Pacific countries are putting considerable effort into developing better judicial systems, legislative frameworks and regulatory regimes. 1UNDP (2006) Governance for the Future: Democracy and Development in Least Developed Countries. 2Ibid. 3Although, only Solomon Islands has ratified the CEDAW Optional Protocol which sets up a communications procedure allowing individual women, or groups of women, to submit claims of violations of rights to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and enables the Committee to initiate inquiries into situations of grave or systematic violations of women's rights. 4Farr, M. (2006) "Island forum a test of Costello's skills", The Telegraph, 2 July.
Commissioned by the Pacific Media and Communications Facility, an Australian Government, AusAID initiative managed by MDI International in association with MC Media & Associates