What the review
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committee said
The South Pacific Conference Review Committee was set up by the Ninth South Pacific Conference in Noumea last year to assess results of recent changes in both the regular conferences and the SPC, and to make recommendations. It met during the year under the chairman ship of Tofa Lauofo Meti, of Western Samoa. Its membership com prised a representative of each of the participating governments (Aus tralia, NZ, Britain, the US, France, Western Samoa and Nauru) and a representative from New Guinea, Fiji, and the US, French, British and NZ Pacific territories. It was the first review of the SPC since 1957.
The review committee recommended that because of the delay that may be caused in amending the Canberra Agreement which is the charter of the SPC, the suggestions it made in its report should be implemented immediately by convention, and put into the agreement later.
The conference accepted the review committee's report and recom mended that course of action.
Main recommendations of the report are: • Conference should elect its own chairman and deputy. ® It should adopt its own rules of procedure and agenda. • Both conference and session should have a draft three-year budget forecast before them when discussing the budget of the forth coming year. • Budget contributions by participating governments should “at least be increased as necessary to meet rising costs,” and also to allow for “at least a modest growth” in the works programme. Contributions should continue to be voluntary. • Although the Research Council was not operating, it should not be abolished. • The commission’s role as a regional development co-ordinator and “clearing house” for territories needing help should be strengthened, and the commission should be empowered as a negotiating entity recog nised by the various UN specialised agencies. Territories would, how ever, still be able to deal directly with agencies.
The report commented that the environment in which the SPC operated was undergoing increasing change, and if it was to be strengthened, the SPC had to adapt to the changes, in the fields of economic, social and health development.
The SPC remained the only organisation with a charter for region wide activities, and it was the only organisation which regularly brought together all the territories, States and administering powers for the purpose of identifying and solving problems, and sorting out priorities.
It was in these activities that the SPC could be best strengthened.