Fiji's case is a more serious one. Up until late last month, it had still not submitted its 1998-99 acquittals for Participation Programmes funded by UNESCO.

Laisa Taga

Fiji is one of three countries from the region which have effectively been blacklisted from getting UNESCO funding. The others are the Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands.

Action has been taken against Fiji and the Solomons for failing to account for how funds provided by UNESCO under its Participation Programme were utilised.

The Cook Islands case is less severe. It is not getting the funding because it has not provided the required work programme for the approved projects.

UNESCO is the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. It is an organisation which provides much development funding across the region, including through its Participation Programme. This is a funding mechanism which enables member countries to set their own priorities, provided they fall within the broad areas of UNESCO's development focus.

At the heart of all three countries' problems is what is known as their UNESCO National Commission, a local body which member states are supposed to set up and staff. Normally it is based in the education ministry and it's the body through which UNESCO works at a national level.

UNESCO encourages member states to make these national commissions representative bodies. They are supposed to have people from all the sectors-education, science, culture, communication (including the media)-sitting on them.

But in too many Pacific Islands states they are still run as little more than a government office operating out of the education ministry.

This is despite UNESCO's continuing efforts. It is keen to see Participation Programme funding available for both state and non-government activities. But the reality is that in most Pacific Islands states the government tries to hog most of it. This has now come back to haunt Fiji and the Solomon Islands, with their failure to account for previous funding they have been given.

LETTER FROM SUVA has been reliably informed that UNESCO will not budge until it gets the acquittals from Fiji and the Solomon Islands, and a work programme from the Cook Islands.

Fiji's case is a more serious one. Up until late last month, it had still not submitted its 1998-99 acquittals for Participation Programmes funded by UNESCO.

Despite numerous requests from UNESCO, the Fiji National Commission secretariat, housed in the Education Ministry, has not done this. This is the same secretariat that travels frequently to UNESCO meetings.

Now UNESCO has adopted a tougher stance, suspending all six projects for 2004-2005, totalling US$93,000.

One of the Fiji projects should have seen Fiji hosting a meeting of heads of cultural agencies and directors of museum from 17 UNESCO member countries, a meeting which was not held because of no funds. UNESCO allocated US$25,000 towards this.

Other projects suspended include:

• US$20,000 for Experimental, Mathematical & Information Technology Skills Workshop: A capacity-building project for Science Teachers.
• US$10,000 for Fiji's preparation for the 9th Pacific Festival of Arts in Palau.
• US$8000 for a Design for Young Peace Workshop.
• US$15,000 for Income-generating Initiative for Women and Youth using the medium of Culture and Arts.
• US$15,000 for Media Education for Fiji.
  

Fiji's failure to submit an acquittal for its 1998/98 projects could seriously dent its push to be elected to the UNESCO executive board.

A UNESCO insider says that failure to submit acquittals has been a major problem for most Pacific countries. And for Fiji in particular, he says, it could seriously affect its UNESCO executive board hopes.

This, he says, is an important body of UNESCO, because it recommends to the UNESCO General Conference what projects to be undertaken in UNESCO member countries.

Fiji has been quietly lobbying other member countries for support. Currently, Australia and Vanuatu are on the executive board representing Group IV countries. Group IV has 41 member countries, which includes all the Pacific countries, and is entitled to 12 seats on the executive board. Both Australia and Vanuatu's terms expire this year.

There has been a consensus that one of the two positions which go to the Pacific Islands is held by Australia or New Zealand and the other by an islands states. Vanuatu succeeded Samoa as the islands representative.

But there have been rumblings in the islands about Australia and New Zealand's dominant position and their automatic taking of a place. Questions have been raised over why they should get this special privilege.

You can be sure Australia and New Zealand will now quietly respond to this by pointing out the funding problems with Fiji, Solomon Islands and Cook Islands.

Executive board positions are expected to be decided in October when the UNESCO General Conference meets in Paris. Fiji is expected to send a strong delegation, perhaps headed by the Fiji National Commission chairperson Adi Teimumu Kepa, the education minister, to this meeting.

Let's hope the “blacklisted” islands do what is right and sort out their problems. Otherwise, the islands could continue to miss out.


14 VIE FOR SPC TOP JOB

Three well-known Pacific Islanders, according to the Coconut Wireless, have applied from the top job at SPC. They are among the 14 applications received at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in Noumea.

Reported to be putting their hands up are Dr Pao Luteru (Samoa), Dr Jimmie Rodgers (Solomon Islands) and Alfred Simpson (Fiji).

Luteru, who was until early this year an assistant secretary-general of the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) group, unsuccessfully bid for the ACP's top job. This is now held by veteran Papua New Guinea politician Sir John Kaputin.

Highly-qualified technocrat Luteru hopes this time he will have better luck with his bid.
Rodgers is a doctor by profession and a popular choice amongst SPC staff to replace Guam's Lourdes Pangelinan, whose third and final two-year term expires on January 6, 2006. He was in fact the popular choice of many staff last time, but lost out amidst some heavy duty politics. He is currently senior SPC deputy director-general based at Nabua, Suva.

Simpson is a former Fiji-based South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) director, and is now living in Australia.

According to that Coconut Wireless, of the 14 applications, six are from the Pacific Islands and eight from outside the region. Coconut Wireless also says all applicants are highly qualified.

So what's the next step? An SPC insider says the names of the applicants will be submitted to a panel whose members will be drawn from SPC member countries. The selection panel will go through the list and make a shortlist of five candidates.

The five candidates will then travel to Fiji for an interview sometime in July.

The insider says at the last CRGA (the Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations) meeting in Noumea, it was resolved that because of the importance of the position, all shortlisted candidates will need to have face-to-face interviews. This is unlike some instances previously where interviews were conducted by phone.

The decision made by the selection panel will then be submitted to the CRGA and to the South Pacific Conference when its meets in November in Palau.

“Ideally, we would like the panel to come up with one name to avoid the political gamesmanship that has always accompanied this position,” a regional observer says.

“If the panel decides otherwise and provides two or three names, what will follow will be quite interesting. The Polynesians will gang up with New Zealand, Melanesians will go into their grouping, so as the Micronesians, and the metropolitan powers will be throwing their cheque books around.

“So in the final analysis, it's likely the best person won't get the job because when it comes to the crunch, it's the numbers game.”