Through e-governance and e-government initiatives, democratic governance will be strengthened in Cook Islands, Tokelau, Niue and Samoa.
Goal 2: Fostering democratic governance
Service lines
2.1 Policy support for democratic governance
The geographic isolation of Pacific Island nations from other nations and even within small island states poses an excellent opportunity to employ the latest technologies for overcoming vast distances. Through e-governance and e-government initiatives, democratic governance will be strengthened in the Cook Islands, Tokelau, Niue and Samoa. E-government projects implemented in the Cook Islands and Niue aim at enhancing efficiencies in government public services, e-tourism to boost Niue's tourist marketing strategy, and e-learning to increase the accessibility of rural villages and outer islands to information through ICT. For Tokelau, an e-government project covering all telecommunications is linked to an overall good governance programme including drafting the constitution, law frameworks, training of local authorities, and gender mainstreaming. An innovative approach to powering computer systems in school buses through solar panels and wind whilst delivering essential teaching materials and curriculum to teachers and students in isolated district schools will be a highlight of the Samoa e-government programme; as well as improving the usage of the Internet and computers through the localization of the Samoan language. Support to NGO computer and Internet societies and initiatives are ongoing as well as support for the ongoing development of ICT professionals through their linkages to and participation in various ICT networks in the region and globally.
The annual publication of the UNDP Human Development Report provides an excellent platform for broadening people’s appreciation of global issues. The NHDR for Samoa and the Niue Situational Analysis brings the discussion to the country-specific level and seeks to highlight constraints and opportunities for sustainable development.
For example, it is generally accepted in Samoa that the lack of opportunities for waged employment; enterprise development; access to social services; access to information; and exclusion from decision making processes are some of the key elements that constrain people's ability to achieve a higher quality of life and hamper their ability to contribute effectively to the development of their families, communities and country. These issues are unpacked in the National Human Development Report (NHDR), which was launched at the National University of Samoa (NUS) in July 2006. The NHDR is widely praised for its local authorship, a fact that has contributed greatly to the unveiling of many ‘sensitive’ issues that may never have been raised otherwise. The subject of human development is now institutionalized in the NUS as a core subject in various degree courses and the Report itself is compulsory reading for a number of courses at the University. A lively outreach and advocacy programme on the core messages of the NHDR will be launched in order for all Samoans to be informed of the many factors that affect sustainable livelihoods in Samoa, which is its theme, and influence national policies for future development, particularly towards meeting the MDGs.
Raising public awareness on justice and human rights issues is critical to the enabling environment for democratic governance. A rights-based approach to development programming is currently being applied by UNDP to all its development work. Through a partnership with numerous civil society organizations, UNDP Samoa and the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva, award small grants to civil society organizations and community groups for interpreting the meaning of human rights in the Samoan context, and other promotional activities. In 2006, five NGOs (4 Samoa and 1 Cook Islands) were awarded Assisting Communities Together (ACT) small grants under a new arrangement between the UNDP Pacific Sub-Regional Centre and the OHCHR.
UNDP supports Tokelau' s public sector reform process through upstream policy development and capacity building, aimed at preparing the country for decolonization in the near future. Nation-building activities such as the drafting of the Tokelau Constitution, strengthening of the justice system, holding a national competition for its national flag and anthem, as well as wide consultations with its people on the meaning of self-determination and decolonization were some of the activities supported by the governance programme. Support for the national Referendum on the Treaty of Free Association with New Zealand conducted in Tokelau from 11-15 February 2006, resulted in sixty percent of the voters saying YES, but this was not sufficient to meet the required two-thirds majority to win the vote. The voting was conducted in the presence of a United Nations monitoring mission, who deemed the election process credible and reflecting the will of the people.A second Referendum on the Treaty is planned for 2008 and UNDP will continue its support to areas needing strengthening.
Urban governance initiatives in Samoa will focus on the emergence of non-traditional villages piloting the Vaitele area on the periphery of Apia. A programme will be undertaken with technical assistance from the Regional GOVPAC programme to develop a suitable rights-based governing system for such an area and will be implemented by the Samoa Planning and Urban Management Agency (PUMA), as a pilot project for the region.
The mainstreaming of gender equality in all UNDP development programmes will be one of the major objectives of the Country Programme in order to ensure not only that the human rights of every citizen (men, women, boys and girls) are met through equal participation in production as well as benefits, but also to ensure that all citizens are able to share their views freely as they grapple with the winds of change brought about by globalization and crises of one kind or another.