Aiwo District, Nauru (September 5, 2018) - Pacific Island Forum Leaders met with the Heads of the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) in Nauru – discussing the role of CROP in Building a Strong Pacific, as part of the 49th Pacific Islands Forum.
Ahead of the Forum Leaders’ Retreat, the meeting with CROP Heads is an opportunity to assess regional progress over the past year, and for CROP Heads to provide advice on the key regional priorities and issues that Forum Leaders will be considering.
Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and Chair of CROP, Dame Meg Taylor said “we have seen a renewed sense of Pacific collective action in recent years, driven by theFramework for Pacific Regionalism and the Blue Pacific. Both have provided renewed impetus for CROP to act together on regional priorities including climate change and resilience, sustainable oceans management and governance, fisheries, and regional security.”
CROP Heads presented an inaugural Annual Report to Forum Leaders. CROP’s work over the past year has included establishing the Pacific Resilience Partnership; designing the Pacific Resilience Facility; tackling marine pollution through the Pacific Marine Litter Action Plan; implementing the Regional Fisheries Roadmap; and supporting the development of the first Pacific Sustainable Development Report.
CROP also worked collectively to support member country engagement with the Forum’s Dialogue Partners including the 8th Pacific Island Leader Meeting (PALM 8) with Japan, and the 4th Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers Meeting. It also worked with Forum members at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23), and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Dame Meg said “the past year has seen strong collaboration and engagement by CROP but there is always room to take this further. This will continue to be a focus in 2019 including stronger collective engagement between CROP Heads and Governing Council Chairs; the development of a CROP strategic work agenda setting out the role, approaches and resources of CROP agencies to deliver on Leaders’ decisions; and a stronger focus on joint communications on the Blue Pacific and Pacific priorities.
CROP Heads Annual Report to Pacific Island Forum Leaders can be accessed here.
CROP membership consists of the following Pacific regional inter-governmental orgnisations: Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO); Pacific Community (SPC); Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA); Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP); Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS – Chair of CROP); Pacific Power Association (PPA); Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP); South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO); and The University of the South Pacific (USP).
For more information, please email: media@forumsec.org
