The Region's Scorecard

The blossoming of the flowers of national development aren't usually that obvious, or directly beneficial, to people at the grassroots.

Multi-million dollar schemes implemented by governments and other agencies from far distant capital cities, at best, may improve local water supplies, produce a communal village telephone, or build a new or better road.

But the pace and quality of the daily lives of the seven million inhabitants of the Pacific Islands aren't obviously that much benefited, whether they be people on isolated islands or, increasingly congregated in the huddles of the region's fast growing towns and cities.

Compared with the quality of life in Africa, Asia, the Middle East or Latin America, Pacific Islanders do, however, appear to be generally better off. The latest United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Report puts six of Oceania's 14 independent countries in the ³middle-income category‹Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Federated States, Samoa and Tonga.

Only two of the 14, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, are rated as "lower-income" places.

Twelve are rated as "developing countries" with four‹Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomons and Tuvalu‹being "least developed."

What do these ratings really mean? Really, no more than life in any of the rated, isn't exactly hell.

The Pacific Islands, however, don't rate highly in UNDP's ultimate wellbeing scorecard, its Human Development Index of 175 countries, based on figures for life expectancy, adult literacy, schooling, and productivity. The list begins with Norway, followed by Iceland, Sweden and Australia, and at the end three African countries.

Of the Pacific islands, Samoa leads at 70, followed by Fiji, 81, with the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea being the region's tail-enders at positions 123, 128 and 132 respectively.

But again, what does this mean at the grassroots? In thousands of small villages, not very much; daily life continues with little change except that the burden of the cost of imported fuel, schooling and a few imported foodstuff, records a steady rise.

Yet around the islands, some real changes for the better are being felt at the grassroots, rural and urban. There's a growing list of projects designed to give people opportunities for improving their lives.

They've been initiated by such United Nations' agencies as the World Health Organisation, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) and the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) working with government departments and non-government organisations (NGOs). All are tailored to fit local needs and conditions.

Islands Business writers Mere Tuqiri and Samisoni Pareti found out about what some of these enterprises are achieving.