Pacific youth in agriculture strategy 2011 – 2015 : echoing the voices of young people

Mainstreaming youth issues 1. All stakeholders must design programmes with youth participation in mind and actively seek the input of young people at all stages of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation process. Consideration must be given to the type of platforms that will encourage young people to express their views openly. 2. Appropriate consideration must be given to the different needs of men and women and the different demands on their time. The additional cultural and social barriers that women may need to overcome to access support and resources must be considered when designing activities to promote their involvement. Young people with disabilities may fi nd it especially diffi cult to access support to engage in agricultural activities and may need additional support from stakeholders to identify and realise opportunities in the sector and eliminate discrimination. 3. Governments in partnership with other stakeholders must develop mechanisms, where these do not already exist, to coordinate the activities of all stakeholders involved in supporting youth engagement in agriculture. This should include the establishment of a national Youth in Agriculture Steering Committee to provide a forum for coordination and joint planning initiatives where appropriate structures do not currently exist. Such strategic partnerships will help facilitate the sharing and better targeting of limited resources and support learning from successes and failures. 4. All stakeholders must support youth development and facilitate the participation of young women and men in decision-making processes by ensuring they are given appropriate opportunities and responsibility to contribute effectively to their communities and workplaces. Governments and partners should increase the use of attachments and internship programmes that provide effective mentoring and capacity building for young people. Such programmes can assist in developing the leadership skills of young people, ensure their active contribution to development programmes and provide important work experience to support their career progression.The findings and recommendations of this strategy suggest the need for a more concerted effort at the family, community, national and regional level to support the development of young people and encourage their participation in agricultural activities and enterprises..

Harmonisation of biosecurity laws in the Pacific

Given the importance of effective biosecurity systems for protecting plant, animal and human health, environments and livelihoods, PICTs are urged to review and update all their existing legislation that deals with the protection of livelihoods and the environment by: • developing consolidated, nationally appropriate legislation based on the regional harmonised bill, adapting it where necessary to suit national conditions; • undertaking national consultations and awareness on the content and coverage of the proposals; • ensuring the bill that is developed is assigned priority in the government’s legislative timetable.Given the importance of effective biosecurity systems for protecting plant, animal and human health, environments and livelihoods, PICTs are urged to review and update all their existing legislation that deals with the protection of livelihoods and the environment..

Alternative futures for the Pacific food system

The food system of the Pacific region is undergoing profound changes that will be felt for generations. The main pillars of food security – availability, access, and consumption of nutritious food – are being challenged by rapid population growth and urbanisation, shortages of arable land, and cheap, nutritionally poor food imports from burgeoning global trade. As a result, many Pacific Island countries and territories are now dependent on imported food, and the incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is among the highest in the world

Trade and health: how World Trade Organization(WTO) law affects alcohol and public health

The alcohol field is becoming more aware of the consequences of world trade law for alcohol policies. However, there is a need for greater clarity about the different effects of trade on alcohol-related harm. Methods A comprehensive review of all literature on alcohol and world trade [including World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes on alcohol], supported by amore selective review of other relevant cases, academic reports and the grey literature on trade and health. Results The burden of WTO law on alcohol policies depends upon the type of policy in question. Purely protectionist policies are likely to be struck down, which may lead to increases in alcohol-related harm. Partly protectionist and partly health-motivated policies are also at risk of being struck down. However, purely health-motivated policies are likely to be defended by the WTO—and to the extent that policy makers misunderstand this, they are needlessly avoiding effective ways of reducing alcohol-related harm. Conclusions WTO agreements contain genuine and substantial risks to alcohol policies, and various ways of minimizing future risks are suggested. However, the‘chilling effect’ of mistakenly overestimating these constraints should be avoided. Health policy makers should decide on which policies to pursue based primarily on considerations of effectiveness, ethics and politics rather than legality. As long as any effect of these policies on trade is minimized, they are overwhelmingly likely towin any challenges at the WTO

Food Security in the South Pacific Island Countries with Special Reference to the Fiji Islands

This paper analyses the status of food security in selected South Pacific Island countries

Cost-effectiveness of reducing salt intake in the Pacific Islands: protocol for a before and after intervention study

BackgroundThere is broad consensus that diets high in salt are bad for health and that reducing salt intake is a cost-effective strategy for preventing chronic diseases. The World Health Organization has been supporting the development of salt reduction strategies in the Pacific Islands where salt intakes are thought to be high. However, there are no accurate measures of salt intake in these countries. The aims of this project are to establish baseline levels of salt intake in two Pacific Island countries, implement multi-pronged, cross-sectoral salt reduction programs in both, and determine the effects and cost-effectiveness of the intervention strategies.Methods/DesignIntervention effectiveness will be assessed from cross-sectional surveys before and after population-based salt reduction interventions in Fiji and Samoa. Baseline surveys began in July 2012 and follow-up surveys will be completed by July 2015 after a 2-year intervention period.A three-stage stratified cluster random sampling strategy will be used for the population surveys, building on existing government surveys in each country. Data on salt intake, salt levels in foods and sources of dietary salt measured at baseline will be combined with an in-depth qualitative analysis of stakeholder views to develop and implement targeted interventions to reduce salt intake.DiscussionSalt reduction is a global priority and all Member States of the World Health Organization have agreed on a target to reduce salt intake by 30% by 2025, as part of the global action plan to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases. The study described by this protocol will be the first to provide a robust assessment of salt intake and the impact of salt reduction interventions in the Pacific Islands. As such, it will inform the development of strategies for other Pacific Island countries and comparable low and middle-income settings around the world.<br /

Incentives for retaining and motivating health workers in Pacific and Asian countries

This paper was initiated by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) after identifying the need for an in-depth synthesis and analysis of available literature and information on incentives for retaining health workers in the Asia-Pacific region. The objectives of this paper are to