The Pacific Community (SPC) recently held its annual meeting in Pape’ete, where 25 member countries, including the Cook Islands, came together to discuss progress and set priorities for the future.

Representing the Cook Islands, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Tepaeru Herrmann, called for SPC’s services to focus more on national priorities, especially for Smaller Island States like the Cook Islands. “SPC’s support must be tailored to the unique development needs of each member state,” she emphasised.

Herrmann emphasised the importance of SPC resource mobilisation and service delivery efforts prioritising national level needs.

“Into the future, it will be important SPC supports Pacific members, particularly Smaller Islands States like the Cook Islands is of a be-spoke nature, tailored to the specific development needs of each member state.” 

Emile Kairua, Secretary of the Cook Islands Ministry of Cultural Development and Chair of the Culture Ministers’ Meeting and the Council of Pacific Arts and Culture was also part of the meeting.

He raised the importance of recognising culture’s cross-cutting role in regional development, highlighting how cultural initiatives are integral to the broader goals of sustainable development across the Pacific. 

He said the Cook Islands is one of four members bidding to host the four yearly cultural festival of arts (FestPac) in 2032 and if accepted, it will be forty years since the last time the Cook Islands hosted FestPac in 1992.

SPC held its annual governance meeting from November 5-6 in Pape’ete, bringing together 25 member countries to review SPC’s performance over the past year and to guide the institution’s priorities moving forward.

Dr Stuart Minchin, Director-General of SPC, highlighted several significant developments in his annual report, including ongoing support for SPC staff impacted by civil unrest in New Caledonia.

Dr Minchin also outlined the organisation’s progress towards institutional transformation, aimed at enhancing operational processes to create more accessible pathways, ensuring that SPC delivers programs and resources in a tailored and impactful way to meet each member country’s unique needs.

SPC remains widely recognised as the region’s leading organisation for science and technical expertise, covering 25 key sectors. At the core of its work is the SPC Strategic Plan 2022-2031, supported by four flagship initiatives—Climate Change, Food Systems, Oceans, and Gender Equality—with a proposed fifth initiative focused on Digital Transformation.

These initiatives are strategically aligned with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, while ensuring responsiveness to individual member countries' needs. However, the need to address specific challenges faced by Smaller Island States (SIS) was noted, with SPC encouraged to prioritise more targeted support for SIS members.

Reflecting its commitment to accessibility and responsiveness, SPC highlighted the accomplishments of its regional offices in Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. MFAI