Transparency International Pacific Islands Regional Meeting. Suva, Fiji, 13-14 April 2005.

TI Regional Chapters Meeting recognises that corruption is still a major issue in the Pacific and that the fight against it must remain unrelenting. Monitoring of disaster funding when raised is now crucial, to ensure that funds are filtered right down to those they were meant for. Chapters were encouraged to concentrate on systems and processes and raising awareness rather than individual cases. The Education Workshop held prior to the PRM concluded that it was very important to start young children's education with integrity, ethics, and anti-corruption teaching.

The Pacific Islands Chapters of Transparency International met at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva Fiji on 13-14th April 2005. Chapters that attended were from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. There were also participants from the Cook Islands and Samoa and representatives from the TI Secretariat in Berlin present.

The meeting was opened by the Acting President of Fiji Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi who is a strong supporter of the Transparency movement. His theme was "Encouraging Open Government". The keynote speaker on the second day was Mr. Chen Bung Young, former President of the Fiji Law Society, who gave an inspirational talk on the issues of integrity in Fiji's legal system.

The conference was preceded by a workshop on "Teaching Integrity to Youth", involving discussions of educational matters ranging from awareness campaigns to primary and kindergarten children. The workshop concluded that it is very important to start young children's education with some ethics and anti-corruption teaching. The University of the South Pacific has introduced ethics as one of its core subjects and a number of TI Chapters have been instrumental in introducing anti-corruption curricula into kindergarten and primary schools. TI Vanuatu displayed some of the materials that it had developed for schools in cartoon form and the USP pledged its support for further work in this area.

The conference discussed the progress of each national Chapter. It was particularly pleased to hear that the Solomon Islands Chapter had been regrouped and was looking forward to a more participatory role in its country. The apparently parallel roles of Transparency Solomon Islands and RAMSI were discussed and the Chapter was encouraged to clearly delineate its area of interest as a representative of civil society.

Other Chapters reported progress but it was noted that corruption is still a major issue in the Pacific and that the fight against it must remain unrelenting. TI's policy of not getting involved in particular cases was reaffirmed. Chapters were encouraged to concentrate on systems and processes and raising awareness rather than individual cases.

The Pacific is particularly prone to natural disasters. Pacific Regional Chapters recognised their role in helping ensure that funds raised for disasters reached the people in need and not diverted to purposes other than they were intended. TI organised a successful regional meeting in Jakarta last week to discuss the dangers of corruption in the distribution of assistance in the South Asian region after the Tsunami.

Chapters discussed funding issues and were very grateful to the governments of Australia and New Zealand as well as other donors for on-going financial support that they were giving to TI Chapters in the region. Other fund raising issues were discussed with emphasis on the need to maintain arms length relationships with corporate members who provide valuable financial assistance but have the potential to create conflict of interest situations.

The conference offered its assistance to the Cook Islands and Samoan participants in exploring the possibilities of opening Chapters in their countries. This will be explored at greater length in the coming months.

The meeting welcomed the Pacific Plan which is in the process of formulation by regional leaders. It urged leaders to use the plan to ensure that some of the governance goals that the Pacific Islands Forum has set itself are actually reached. It was noted that there is some reference in the Plan to the role of non state actors but there was no reference to public participation in the wider sense. Also, given that the Auckland Declaration highlights the importance, among other things, of democratic values and human rights, there is no clear framework proposed through which these will be promoted.

The meeting discussed the National Integrity Systems (NIS) in the region and their effectiveness in fighting corruption. Chapters outlined progress in implementing recommendations in the NIS studies that had been completed in countries throughout the region. The United Nations Development Programme briefed the meeting on proposals that its Pacific Regional Sub-Centre was aiming to help Chapters to build capacity and better understanding of culture, ethics and public accountability. It requested proposals from TI Chapters for cooperative projects and also suggested that it would assist Chapters to brief their governments on the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

TI resolved to cooperate with other regional and national organisations and NGOs to support development in accountability and transparency throughout the Pacific.

Appreciation was expressed to the media, especially Fiji TV, Fiji Times, Daily Post and Fiji Sun for their coverage of the meeting.

Suva PRM Fiji Contact:
Apenisa Naigulevu
Executive Officer - Transparency International Fiji
Tel: 388 0336
Tel/Fax: 388 0986
Email : transparencyfiji@connect.com.fj