First meeting for RIF Taskforce
PRESS STATEMENT
Tuesday 13th February
First meeting for RIF Taskforce
The Regional Institutional Framework (RIF) Taskforce will convene for the first time this week in Suva, Fiji.
The RIF Taskforce meeting will be held back-to-back with a Pacific Plan Action Committee (PPAC) meeting tomorrow (Wednesday 14th February) at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
“The development of an appropriate regional institutional framework is going to play a significant role in effectively translating the Pacific Plan’s aspirations into tangible outcomes,” says Forum Secretariat Secretary General, Greg Urwin.
A review of the existing regional institutional arrangements was commissioned by PPAC last year, and a consequent report presented to Forum Leaders at their October 2006 meeting held in Nadi, Fiji.
The report recommended, among other things, the reorganising of regional institutions under three pillars: a political and general policy institution; a sector-focused technical institution; and academic and training organisations.
“Leaders agreed to establish a RIF Taskforce to work through the issues that had been identified,” explains Mr Urwin. “The Taskforce will report back to Leaders at their 2007 meeting later this year.”
The RIF Taskforce comprises representatives from all members* of Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) agencies.
At their meeting tomorrow, the Taskforce will discuss progress to date, as well as the appointment of a RIF Manager to be based at the Forum Secretariat.
“Ms Lourdes Pangelinan has been offered the position of Manager Regional Institutional Framework (RIF),” says Mr Urwin.
“I am confident that her wealth of experience and knowledge in the region will contribute greatly towards advancing the reform of the Pacific’s regional institutional framework.”
Ms Pangelinan will assist the RIF Taskforce develop a mechanism that is appropriate for the new forms of regionalism in the Pacific under the Pacific Plan for consideration by the Taskforce and Leaders at the 2007 Pacific Islands Forum.
(Ends)
For more information, contact Mue Bentley, Media Officer, Pacific Plan on email
Tuesday 13th February
First meeting for RIF Taskforce
The Regional Institutional Framework (RIF) Taskforce will convene for the first time this week in Suva, Fiji.
The RIF Taskforce meeting will be held back-to-back with a Pacific Plan Action Committee (PPAC) meeting tomorrow (Wednesday 14th February) at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
“The development of an appropriate regional institutional framework is going to play a significant role in effectively translating the Pacific Plan’s aspirations into tangible outcomes,” says Forum Secretariat Secretary General, Greg Urwin.
A review of the existing regional institutional arrangements was commissioned by PPAC last year, and a consequent report presented to Forum Leaders at their October 2006 meeting held in Nadi, Fiji.
The report recommended, among other things, the reorganising of regional institutions under three pillars: a political and general policy institution; a sector-focused technical institution; and academic and training organisations.
“Leaders agreed to establish a RIF Taskforce to work through the issues that had been identified,” explains Mr Urwin. “The Taskforce will report back to Leaders at their 2007 meeting later this year.”
The RIF Taskforce comprises representatives from all members* of Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) agencies.
At their meeting tomorrow, the Taskforce will discuss progress to date, as well as the appointment of a RIF Manager to be based at the Forum Secretariat.
“Ms Lourdes Pangelinan has been offered the position of Manager Regional Institutional Framework (RIF),” says Mr Urwin.
“I am confident that her wealth of experience and knowledge in the region will contribute greatly towards advancing the reform of the Pacific’s regional institutional framework.”
Ms Pangelinan will assist the RIF Taskforce develop a mechanism that is appropriate for the new forms of regionalism in the Pacific under the Pacific Plan for consideration by the Taskforce and Leaders at the 2007 Pacific Islands Forum.
(Ends)
For more information, contact Mue Bentley, Media Officer, Pacific Plan on email
- CROP agency members include: American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, USA, Vanuatu and Wallis & Futuna.
