24 November 2014: A consultation among Pacific Island States determined that implementing the post-2015 development agenda will require tailoring development approaches to countries’ unique geographic, environmental, cultural and social contexts. Participants in the Pacific Consultation on Progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Post-2015 Development Agenda said such tailoring must take into account existing regional platforms for development cooperation, trade arrangements, and technology needs.

UN Development Programme (UNDP) organized the consultation in Suva, Fiji, on 17-19 November 2014, with support from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).

The meeting provided an overview of the two-year process leading to the current draft set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), considered lessons learned from implementing the MDGs, and discussed tailoring the post-2015 agenda to development realities of the Pacific.

Christelle Pratt, PIFS Acting Secretary-General, said implementation can occur through the existing Framework for Pacific Regionalism and the Forum Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination.

UNDP notes that education and health care remain key priorities for people in the Pacific region. Peter Batchelor, UNDP Pacific Centre, stressed that defining the way forward for implementing the SDGs in the Pacific will require harnessing new sources of financing, building local-level partnerships, making better use of data and statistics, and seeking greater benefits from trade and technology.

Anu Rajivan, ADB, called for a coherent financing framework for the Pacific, which will combine public and private funding sources to support development objectives. [UNDP Press Release] [PIFS Secretariat]