Southeast, East, Northeast Asia and the Pacific Parliamentarian and CSO Forum on

1. Inequalities in the PacificChallenges and OpportunitiesPresentation by Resina Katafono, MDGs Regional Adviser, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Southeast, East, Northeast Asia and the Pacific Parliamentarian and CSO Forum on MDG Acceleration and the Post 2015 Development Agenda Manila, 20-21 November 2012

2. OUTLINE • SIDS vulnerabilities • Poverty • Gender • Youth • Persons with Disability Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

3. SIDS VULNERABILITIES • Geographical isolation • Small size • Remoteness • Limited natural resources • Aid dependence • Vulnerability to climate change & natural disasters Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

4. POVERTY: PACIFIC PERSPECTIVE • Poverty of opportunity/ hardship • Lack of access to basic services, lack of opportunities, lack of resources Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

5. POVERTY: PACIFIC PERSPECTIVE • National incidences mask sub-national disparities • Urban, rural, spatial disparities Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

6. POVERTY: PACIFIC PERSPECTIVE • Income inequality increased • Combating poverty constrained by low economic growth, lack of jobs, rising inflation • Pressure on traditional social protection systems Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

7. GENDER INEQUALITY • Gender equality in education • Slow progress on empowerment • Two times more men than women in non-agricultural sector • Lowest number of women in parliament (regional basis) • Pacific countries ranked in lower half of 2012 Women’s Economic Opportunity Index Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

8. GENDER INEQUALITY • Rural women at high risk of poverty • Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights still a challenge • Gender based violence relatively high and widespread Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

9. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Source: UNFPA Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

10. YOUTH • Youth bulge • High youth unemployment • Youth-in-transition profiles • Benefited from access to education and health but difficulty finding jobs • Denied access to basic services • Young people in special circumstances Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

11. PERSONS WITH DISABILITY • Among the poorest and most marginalised members of Pacific communities • <10% of children with disabilities access education • Women with disabilities worse off compared to men with disabilities or women without disabilities Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

12. REGIONAL RESPONSES • 2010 Port Vila Declaration on Accelerating Progress on the Achievement of the MDGs • 2012 Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration • 2010-2015 Pacific Regional Strategy on Disability Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

13. POST-2015 AGENDA • Account for vulnerable groups of countries, such as SIDS in the Pacific • Integrate strategies to address SIDS vulnerabilities with other policy instruments • Human-rights based approach to development • Support to strengthening national and regional statistical capacities • Disaggregated data Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

14. Thank You Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat