Non-Govern
pp. 46-47 · Read in the full issue
FSPI has come a long way in 34 years
MENTAL organisa tions (NGOs) in the Pacific Region are growing in strength and numbers as agents for change. One NGO that has come a long way in its 34 years of working in the Pacific is the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International
(Fspi).
Today FSPI is one of the largest non government development agencies in the Pacific, coordinating information and training, as well as technical and financial assistance, to remote, rural communities in more than 8 Pacific Island countries.
FSPI’s origins are with the grassroots people of the Pacific, starting in 1965, when two Australian philanthropists founded The Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific (FSP) and incorporated it in the United States.
Initially, the focus was to identify criti cal development needs in the newly inde pendent and emerging nations and match them to alternative funding sources in Europe and the United States.
The seeds of non-governmental devel opment management were thus planted and eventually grew into fulltime country offices coordinating official development assistance to communities on behalf of donor governments and other international
funding agencies.
The field offices matured over the years and eventually became some of the most effective independent national NGOs in their respective countries.
In 1991, these now autonomous and independent NGOs with common roots, bonded back together again in a voluntary alliance to create a new Pacific regional NGO now known as The Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International, or FSPI.
The slight but significant name change symbolises the way Pacific people have taken control of their own development in equal partnership with like-minded agen cies outside the region.
New members have joined the network and today FSPI represents 11 independent NGO affiliates operating in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati, Tuvalu, as well as Australia, USA and Europe.
An FSPI Secretariate office is based in Port Vila, Vanuatu with a staff of 5 profes sional and technical staff.
FSPI affiliates respond to needs identi fied by communities in their respective countries. The result is an integrated pro gram tailored to the conditions and need of each country.
Projects vary from assisting communi ties to harvest their own forest resources in an environmentally sustainable manner, to training communities in self-help health care and disease control.
Collectively, however, FSPI provides an international forum for the members to co-manage similar sectoral projects coop eratively and cost effectively, to share lessons learned and training and technical resources, to provide cross-cultural work
ing opportunities for staff, and to cooper ate with larger development partners both within and outside the region, including
the larger inter-governmental agencies
like SPREP, SOPAC, SPC and the Unit ed National agencies.
To date, FSPI manages a variety of regional projects that are implemented by its member affiliates and funded in part
nership with the European Community,
AusAID, British Aid (DFID), NZODA, and other private donors.
A sample of FSPI managed regional
projects include:
- The South Pacific Community Eco- Forestry Project (SPCEF): a pilot pro gram assisting rural people to sustain ably utilise forest and tree resources, including the establishment of communi ty based eco-timber export industries in SI, Vanuatu and Fiji. - Youth to Youth for Health: a peer
counselling training project to provide
sensitive sexual and reproductive health information to young people in Vanuatu and Kiribati. - Community based Conflict Manage ment for Natural Resource Development: working with communities in PNG and Fiji to develop a toolkit based on tradi tional and modern methods of preventing conflict to help communities communi
cate during the planning and implemen
tation of projects in a way that will miti gate issues of disagreement. - Island Consulting; a small business arm established by FSPI and several international consultants to introduce more Pacific I slanders into the develop ment consulting profession. Drawing on FSPI partner staff and other registered associates. Island Consulting contracts its management services to donors and agencies for various consulting needs, and supervises teams to carry out required work in the region.
For more information, contact: FSPI Executive Director PO Box 951 Port Vila, Vanuatu Ph: (678)22915 FX: (678) 24510 Email: [email protected] ■