SPC’s new Deputy Director-General

Fekitamoeloa Katoa...hopes to make a positive contribution to the work of SPC.

Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu took up the position of Deputy Director-General (Suva) of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in mid-April.
‘Utoikamanu is from Tonga and joins SPC directly from the roles of Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations in New York and also Ambassador to the United States, Venezuela and Cuba, and High Commissioner to Canada. Below she shares her thoughts on her new role and the challenges facing Pacific Islands countries and territories.
You’ve just joined SPC. What are your first impressions?
“Very positive first impressions. We have a very good team on the ground working together to fulfill the vision of the organisation as mandated by the member states.”
What do you see as the most pressing issues in the short-term for the region?
“The challenges that Pacific countries face in their social and economic endeavours have been further compounded by recent global events including the financial and economic crisis, which has impacted here on levels of remittances and overseas development aid, tourism and demand for goods and services. High energy costs and rising food prices, with their impact on food security, also bring issues that cannot be resolved without concerted effort. And, of course, there is the challenge of climate change, which we have to address now even though the projected effects may not be immediate.”
And in the long-term?
“The countries in the region have committed to implementing several internationally agreed frameworks including the Millennium Development Goals for 2015, which cover eight areas including reducing poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, improving maternal health, combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability. At a regional level, we have the Pacific Plan, agreed on in 2005, which focuses on economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security. Each country in the region, at a national level, also has its own national development plans or strategic plans focusing on specific areas of interest. The challenges to achieving these goals include availability of finance and human resources.”
You’ve come to SPC from an international perspective. How much influence can small islands nations have on the international scene on issues such as climate change and fishing that directly affect them?
“The level of influence that small islands nations have on the international scene depends very much on the support within the group, as well as support from friends of the Pacific, including other small islands nations from outside the region, as well as our development partners. There are 14 countries in the Pacific, including New Zealand and Australia, that are members of the United Nations, so we when we group together, there are 14 voices and 14 votes—it is not an insignificant number. The working together of the group in pursuing common interests such as climate change and fishing levels, as well as other development issues, has yielded concrete results.”
What do you see as the key issues for women living in Pacific Islands countries and territories? Are there still stumbling blocks in their path to equality?
“There are common benchmarks in regard to the empowerment of women through legislative reform and the integration of gender into the national and regional economy. However, countries in the region are at differing levels of achieving these commitments. There is empirical evidence that progress in the advancement of women in education stimulates economic growth and lessens poverty as well as reducing malnutrition and child mortality. 
“The majority of women in the Pacific live in rural areas, so there is a need to strengthen investment and support in the informal sector, such as through micro-credit and small business development. Support is also required in improving access to credit, land ownership, professional skills and vocational training to secure economic opportunities and employment in the formal sector.”
SPC’s fundamental aim is ‘to make a difference in the lives of Pacific Islanders’. How do you think you can best contribute to this aim? 
“I hope to make a positive contribution to the work of SPC in fulfilling its commitments to its member states. I am bringing to the team over 26 years of experience in working with issues in the Pacific, as well as in the international community in areas including diplomacy, the Millennium Development Goals, human rights, gender empowerment, administration and management, governance, economics and sustainable development.”


* For further information, contact Angela Templeton (angelat@spc.int) or visit SPC’s website: www.spc.int