UNDP and USP Partnership to Enhance Sustainable Development

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UNDP and USP Partnership to Enhance Sustainable Development in the Pacific

09 March 2011
[Suva, March 9] The University of the South Pacific (USP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday launched a long term partnership to strengthen sustainable development in the Pacific. The partnership focuses on four key pillars: increasing knowledge sharing between the two organizations; starting an internship programme for USP students with the UNDP; sharing technical expertise and jointly raising awareness in the Pacific on development issues.

Speaking at the launch last night, the Vice Chancellor and President of USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra said that the partnership would result in enhancing sustainable development in the Pacific.

“Better educated and well-rounded graduates are best placed to make decisions that enable development over the long-term. By addressing the concept of sustainability in all academic areas, the University, with its technical and academic expertise, is training the youth of the region to be mindful of the impacts of their decisions on future generations,” said Professor Rajesh Chandra.

“Most of the regions’ leaders and professionals have been educated at the University, and we remain committed to ensuring not only the provision of higher education and knowledge, but also assisting countries in policy and technical areas,” said Professor Chandra.

Toily Kurbanov, the UNDP Resident Representative ai said the USP and UNDP shared many similarities, that included both being started in the 1960s (UNDP in 1965 and USP in 1968), both being owned by member countries and both being committed to development and to building and spreading knowledge in their constituencies.

“UNDP and USP share common understanding that most effective public awareness effort, most sustainable capacity building and most promising policy discussions will be those that have foundation in interactive exchange of ideas, in an open debate that brings together all arguments and allows to build consensus or at least to find points of agreements,” said Mr Kurbanov.

“We see our partnership with USP being an opportunity to devise better ways to respond to the ever expanding challenges of the region – the partnership should help ensure our policy advice is grounded on solid development evidence and on sound analytical research,” he said.

The launch was followed by a panel discussion on “Temporary Special Measures: a Priority for Increasing the number of Women in Pacific Parliaments”. The panel discussion concluded that while Pacific countries should still implement long-term strategies to address cultural, social and economic barriers to women’s election to Pacific parliaments, temporary special provide a quick, short-term option for immediately increasing women’s representation.

ENDS

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