Integrated Atolls and Outer Islands Development
Thematic Area:
Poverty Alleviation and Equitable Human
Development
Participating Countries:
Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall
PROGRAMME BRIEF FOR ICP 5: 1992 - 1996
A. SUMMARY
Programme
Title: Integrated Atolls and Outer
Islands Development
Thematic
Area: Poverty Alleviation and
Equitable Human Development
Participating Cook
Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall
Countries: Islands,
Palau, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
1.0
BACKGROUND
More than 60 % of the total Pacific populations eke out an existence from fragile ecosystems in atolls, in widely dispersed and resource-poor outer islands and in the marginal rural fringes of the region’s rapidly urbanizing main islands.
Atoll countries. Around 200, 000 people inhabit the region’s
predominantly atoll countries (Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia,
Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Tokelau and Tuvalu) under conditions of marked
distress brought about by the shift from subsistence to cash economy and the
requirements imposed by an expanding population on the severely limited
resource base.
Remote Outer Islands. More than a million people live under the
same harsh conditions in 584 remote outer islands, a significant number of
which are atolls and small islands, located in the relatively larger Pacific
island countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu).
Rural Villages in Urban Centers. Close to 2 million Pacific islanders live in
the outlying rural and coastal villages of each country’s main island. A large portion of them come from the outer
islands, attracted by new opportunities in the main island. Neither the government nor the business
sector has enough jobs to absorb the majority of them. The crowded villages have become, in many Pacific
countries, a source of social problems.
During the extensive consultative
process among UNDP, national governments and regional organizations, special
emphasis was given to the needs of atolls and the outer islands.
Tremendous efforts have been exerted
at national and regional levels over the previous two decades or so to check
the foregoing trends. National
governments have created agencies to administer basic services in the outer
islands. NGOs, both local and
international, have completed national efforts to reach each country’s remote
rural areas with much-needed services.
Major regional organizations have
undertaken activities aimed at improving the quality of life in the atolls,
outer islands and other marginal rural communities. The South Pacific Commission (SPC) has implemented an integrated
rural development project in an outer island in the Cook Islands and starting
another in Kiribati. Its Community
Education Training Center (CETC) continues to train Pacific rural women in
various community development skills.
The University of the South Pacific (USP), through its extension
centers, the Institute of Rural Development in Tonga and the Atoll Research and
Development Unit, has sought primarily to provide skills to rural manpower and
improve technologies in atolls. Consistent
with previous efforts in support of rural development, the European Commission
will launch a three-year project starting 1992 with institutional support to
USP/IRD and direct financial support to selected NGOs and government bodies in
the Pacific ACP countries.
UNDP, through its various sectoral
regional projects, has also directed assistance to the atolls, outer islands
and rural communities throughout the region.
UNDP assistance at the regional level has included rural training and
employment, rural youth development, water supply for the outer islands,
artisanal fisheries, energy, primary health care, etc.
Aside from these sectoral projects,
UNDP has supported the region’s most comprehensive application of the
integrated approach, the Integrated Atoll Development Project (IADP), which covers
the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands,
Tokelau and Tuvalu. The project has
identified, tested and disseminated improved technologies and implementation
approaches suited to the atolls in areas such as agriculture, marine resources,
water and sanitation, transport, renewable energy, ecological resource
management and income generation.
Promotion of these technologies has been part of an integrated programme
which also applies participatory methodologies in working with national and
local governments, as well as non-governmental organizations involved in rural
development, and the atoll communities themselves, including its indigenous
institutions.
UNDP now seeks to extend these
methodologies and project benefits to other countries with atolls and outer
islands.
2.0
PROBLEM TO BE ADDRESSED
The programme seeks to provide outer island and rural families with
technologies, skills and institutional support to help them improve their
quality of life and thus enable them to:
·
grow more food, provide for their basic needs, start cash
earning activities and still preserve vital island resources;
·
strive for community self-reliance, determine their own
vision, choose their goals for a better life, forge links with the national
government and other development bodies in collective and determined efforts to
contribute to their own and their country’s welfare;
·
sustain these efforts with the involvement of their own
local and traditional institutions, the various island-based government bodies
and other development entities formed to assist them achieve their goals; and
·
pursue these family and community goals guided both by the
time-tested values of their own culture and the enduring values of self-worth
and dignity which make creative and productive work possible towards human
fulfillment.
3.0
MAJOR PROGRAMME COMPONENTS
3.1
Programme Design
The programme will enhance community, national and regional
capabilities for the planning, implementation and management of participatory
grassroots development as core strategy for the integrated and poverty-focused
development of atolls, outer islands and marginal rural communities.
Specifically, the programme will provide technical assistance,
training, financial support and the specialized services of field workers and
volunteers primarily at the island community level, to enhance existing
capabilities of rural families to plan, implement and manage activities for
their own sustained well-being.
Similar programme inputs will be directed to relevant agencies,
institutions, and NGOs at the community, national and regional levels to ensure
the effective provision of their support to rural communities.
Key Inputs at Community Level
Technical assistance and intensive training for community-based
development planning and implementation. The programme will assign project staff and field workers to
assist island leaders and the whole community arrive at a common understanding
of the local situation; determine their own collective vision for the future,
taking into account the need to conserve and protect precious land and marine
resources; assess problems and possible solutions based on existing resources
and local potential; evolve and implement plans in accordance with their own
priorities and vision of a developed human community. The community will be assisted to acquire the specific skills
required to carry out these development tasks.
Funding support for small-scale projects. The community will be further encouraged to
identify and carry out small scale projects which can increase income, ensure
wise use of local resources and provide opportunities for as many people as
possible to acquire or further improve their ability to plan and manage family
and community projects. Income
generating revolving funds with simplified and decentralized management will be
established.
Simple and improved technologies. The programme will promote improved
technologies in atoll agriculture, fisheries and other productive sectors. The rural people themselves will be
mobilized to identify the need for technologies, test improvements or
innovative features and acquire new skills to demonstrate the suitability and
sustainability of specific technologies to their own island.
Review of tasks, structures and provision of special skills training
to upgrade local development administration. Government bodies, such as the Island
Council, Island Development Committee, the various central government
functionaries based at the island, (Island Clerk, Chief Administration Officer
and staff of sectoral agencies) and NGO workers will be assisted to link their
day-to-day activities in relation to the community plan. The program will provide much-needed inputs
for assessing their respective roles and tasks in relation to plan
implementation. This will also help
determine the specific requirements for administrative reforms or training
inputs which will be provided by the programme to enable government bodies and
other entities to assist the island community carry out their development plan.
Full-scale mobilization of traditional leaders and indigenous
institutions. Indigenous
institutions and traditional leaders will be systematically encouraged to take
a more active role in carrying out development activities. They will be provided with timely and
adequate information, training and other programme inputs. Their partnership roles with government
bodies will be formally recognized to foster accountability for overall
development goals. The programme will
identify cultural values and practices which can further provide motivation for
the community to work for their general well-being, increase productivity and
nurture the environment.
Fielding of community organizers, development motivators and
volunteers. The program will
assign community organizers and development motivators/volunteers to specific
organizations or institutions at the island level to help these entities carry
out the community plan. They will be
drawn from the UNV and DDS programmes and national volunteers
organizations. They will impart
motivational and organizing skills to the community. They will be intensively trained by the programme before entry
into the community. In time, these
volunteers and motivators will also be transformed by the programme as valuable
cadres for participatory and sustainable development in the atolls, outer
islands and marginal rural communities.
Training support for the National Core Team of Trainers. The programme will provide training and
other technical assistance for the creation of an inter-agency team of trainers
at the national level. This team will
eventually take over the training role for outer island development planning
and implementation. Given the manpower
shortage in small island countries, a strong national core team ensures
inter-agency cooperation not only in training, but also in the delivery and
monitoring of services in the outer islands.
It will be more economical and cost-effective in the long run to field
this team from island to island with a definite work plan and a specific role
in relation to community plans and projects, than for each agency to send an
individual agent on his own from one island to the other.
Integration of community-based planning process into existing
government systems. The
programme will assist national planners, programme managers and budget officers
to integrate the island-based planning approach into the government’s planning,
programming and funding process. In
addition, the programme will encourage national agencies to created formal or
ad hoc bodies, as appropriate, with mandate to improve the planning,
implementation and coordination of programmes and projects designed for the
outer islands and other rural communities.
Support to policy formulation on rural development. Based on the experience with the
implementation of participatory planning and project implementation at the
island level, the programme will assist the relevant ministries identify policy
gaps, revise existing policies or recommend new policies to ensure adequate
guidelines for the concerned sectors and agencies. National agencies will be encouraged to utilize the island
development plan for the systematic delivery of integrated services to each
outer island.
Technical assistance to national NGOs. Aware that most NGOs at national level have
chapters in the outer islands, and that most of these NGOs have fairly large
women membership, the programme will extend technical assistance to NGOs to
refocus their activities in support of their outer island counterparts’ role in
carrying out the community-based development plan. The possibility of helping form new NGOs to complement the
government’s role with regards to outer island development will be explored
with the relevant ministries and agencies.
These NGOs can take the more innovative roles in testing rural
development approaches due to their flexibility.
Partnership with regional organizations and projects. The programme will involve existing regional
organizations and projects to provide expertise and timely assistance to
individual countries for the refinement of programme methodologies; policy
formulation; technical support for field workers and volunteers assigned in
outer islands; assessment of administrative procedures in support of community
participation; framework for assessing cultural factors in development
planning, implementation and management; and innovative approaches to the
design of income generating projects.
3.2
Areas of Programme Focus
Replication and expansion. The programme will continue to implement the activities which
have been initiated to replicate and expand the IADP methodologies within six
participating countries and to new countries with isolated and resource-poor
outer islands. The project atoll within
each country will continue to serve as training and demonstration area for the
integrated approach.
Major thrusts. The key activities will revolve around these
methodologies: participatory island profiling and development planning; small
scale high impact projects; consolidation of an integrated institutional
framework for sustainable development with focus on the roles of traditional
institutions; social preparation for the adoption of improved technologies in
atoll and small island agriculture, and other aspects of the mixed subsistence
and cash economy with strong relevance to ecological and cash generation
objectives; and the intensive training and fielding of the national core team
of trainers.
Regional capability-building
support. The programme will assist
regional agencies and institutions develop further their capability to support
area-focused and participatory development processes.
Aware of the unique problems and
challenges posed by atolls and the outer islands in the region, the program
will explore with regional institutions, governments and donor agencies the
feasibility of establishing, within an existing institution, a Pacific Center
for Integrated Rural and Island Development, modeled perhaps, after the
UN-assisted Center for Integrated Rural Development (CIRDAP) based in
Bangladesh.
The programme will explore with the
USP Continuing Education Programme the possibility of setting up within
existing extension centers an Island and Atoll Life Training Center which will
serve as repository of technologies and skills needed both to improve community
livelihood and to enhance ecological resources.
The programme will conduct regular
assessment and experience sharing sessions, at regional and country levels,
with all regional organizations and NGOs involved in atoll, outer island and
rural development. It will also provide
technical assistance and networking support to regional organizations and NGOS.
Toward regional institution building,
the programme will carry out the following activities:
·
provision of technical assistance to USP Institute of
Rural Development, USP Atoll Research Development Unit, and the SPC community
Education Training Center for the development of curricula for participatory
development and technology promotion;
·
active collaboration with SPC, Forum secretariat and
European Commission to facilitate the use of programme networks for relevant
projects; share project implementation experiences; and extend mutual
assistance in the application and monitoring of participatory methodologies for
IRD;
·
provision of technical assistance, including training
inputs for trainers, field workers and programme planners of development-oriented
NGOs with a regional mandate or network, e.g. the Pacific YWCA.
The
programme will train and field community organizers, volunteers and mobilizers
in relevant sectors or existing organizations at national and local levels to
further enhance the capabilities of community organizations to carry out
projects generated through participatory processes. Such volunteers will come from national volunteer organizations
and from the UNV and DDS programmes.
Strong linkages will be forged with the UNV Participatory Development
Programme.
Their main task will be to provide
much-needed motivational and other inputs to enable specific sectors or
organizations to carry out critical activities in the context of the island
development profile and plan. All field
workers will be intensively trained prior to their assignment.
Both as participant and observer of
the evolving process, the field worker will also be the key implementor of a
participatory research component which will ensure in-depth process
documentation.
3.3
Linkages with Regional Institutions, Donors and
Other Regional Programmes
The program will provide the atoll and outer island focus to regional
development initiatives. It will direct
donors’ attention to the special needs and problems of rural communities. In turn, donors will be encouraged to use
the programme’s institutional and implementation networks to more effectively
channel assistance to specific target groups.
The programme approach adopted by UNDP for ICP5 will provide an
effective framework for strengthening interaction and substantive collaboration
with and among the other UNDP regional programmes and sectoral projects. This programme will assist them to formulate
social preparation and mobilization strategies for project penetration and
sustainability, provide them with the mechanisms to use NGOs for project
implementation and management, and to identify and train motivated field workers
and community organizations in the project island or area. It will also draw from the sectoral
expertise of the entire Regional Programme in designing and implementing
grassroots projects. The programme will
also provide technical assistance and backstopping to UNDP country projects
with outer island and rural focus. A
regular consultative process among all the regional organizations and
programmes focused on atolls and other marginal rural communities will be
initiated.
More specific regional institution
strengthening activities are described in Section 3.2.
3.4
Expected Impact/Target Beneficiaries
The primary beneficiaries/participants will be the people of the
atolls, other outer islands and the marginal rural communities of participating
countries in the Pacific. The
concentration of programme inputs is expected to maximize the effectiveness of
projects and programmes designed primarily to generate the sustained
involvement and well-being of the rural population. The planning and administration of development at all levels will
be improved and thus, better targeting of atoll and other island communities
both for service delivery and participation can be undertaken by all entities
pursuing rural development objectives.
3.5
Programme Sustainability
Programme
sustainability will be ensured by:
·
the improved technologies, skills and positive attitudes
acquired by the rural families through their active involvement in programme
activities designed to enhance local capabilities for self-reliant and sustainable
development;
·
the deep regard for preserving the life-support systems of
the atolls and other small islands, nurtured by lessons learned from the
programme about their fragility and sustained management;
·
the strengthening of local structures for development
administration (island councils, island development committees, development
coordinating committees, island clerks, chief administrative officers, island
executive officers, etc.) in support of family and community activities;
·
the active involvement of indigenous institutions and
traditional leaders (maneaba/maneapa, Unimane, toeaina, tikina, aumaga,
aliki/ariki, turaga ni koro, iroij, etc.) in community mobilization and
management of development;
·
availability of revolving funds to finance income
generating projects and improve further the community’s project management
skills;
·
the strengthened national core team of trainers able to
assess the specific training needs of particular social groups and to design,
conduct and assess training activities for each group, thereby ensuring the
pertinence of inputs and the increase in the pool of useful knowledge available
to the community;
·
DDS and UNV filed workers and other community organizers,
many to be drawn from the region itself, highly skilled in community work and
committed to making the programme take root among the people;
·
integrate package of support from national government
entities to the interrelated nature of community-expressed needs and problems;
and
·
a viable regional body, backstopped by a network of
training centers and other programme support institutions, able to further
build on national capabilities to guide and support a truly participatory
grassroots process involving the rural poor in the atolls, outer islands and
other marginal communities.