What Kind of Aid Does the Pacific Need (Part 3) - Jobs

Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. Broken record, yes? It’s what’s needed in the Pacific as lifestyles change, as communities develop. It’s doubtful policy makers thought too far ahead in terms of what would happen as economies transitioned due to trade. What would people do?

This is of particular concern for youth in the Pacific, specifically educated youth. Here is a whole subset of the labour force that is unemployed or underemployed - unproductive if you think in terms of its productivity potential. We need jobs for youth, and they need to be productive, allow for social protection AND promote the idea of sustainability. Ideally, they would also focus on transferable skills that can move across sectors and borders.

What Kind of Aid Does the Pacific Need (Part 2) - Responsive Government

Earlier this year, the ‘My World 2015’ data results were published - providing excellent insight into the priorities of everyday people on issues from healthcare to jobs to internet access. What was really nice to see was a breakdown of results by country, region, gender, age and even education level. You can view the results here.

The desire for ‘responsive government’ landed fourth on the list in the Pacific (second for men, fifth for women). It is an extremely important issue, particularly with respect to development and building resilience. Communities can and should take the lead because they know what is best for them, but government, particularly local government, still has a critical role to play. It develops policies, delivers essential services, and creates incentives to invest in and grow local economies. One of the challenges to local governments, however, is that they often have ‘unfunded mandates’ - responsibilities without the necessary financing to ensure they can do their job adequately.