Times are tough – no more so than in parts of the Pacific where rising food prices and climatic events like floods, cyclones and other natural disasters are taking their toll on families who are struggling to make ends meet. 

Children, who comprise around 40 percent of the population, are especially vulnerable.

Around 18,000 under five years of age still die every year in the Pacific. Four out of five of these children don’t make it to their first birthday.

That’s why UNICEF NZ will be asking Pacific Island leaders at September’s Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland to put children first in development policy and programmes, to ensure their basic needs are met.

Why we need to Bang the Drum

• The Global Economic Crisis has already had a significant effect. The Asia Development Bank estimated that an extra 50,000 Pacific Island people would be living below the poverty line by the end of 2010 because of the Global Economic Crisis.

• Floods, cyclones and natural disasters and climate change are adding to the region’s vulnerability.  In the 1990s alone, natural disasters cost the Pacific Islands region around US$2.8 billion.

• Rising food and fuel prices will continue to impact on national and household budgets. Many countries rely on imported goods. The UNDP Pacific Centre has found that almost half of household expenditure among low income households goes on food, even in rural areas. Dramatic increases in food prices have been reported in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu. Early reports are that in some countries, children are being taken out of high school as parents cannot afford the fees or because they need to work to support the family. Some families are resorting to eating fewer meals and less nutritious foods.

• Continuing fiscal pressures may force Pacific Island governments to consider reducing spending on social services, compromising health and education - the cornerstones of a nation's economic growth.

Governments must put children first

Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Auckland in September must put children first by:

• Resisting pressures to trim social spending and pro-actively investing in health and education programmes to ensure children's basic needs are met; and

• Budgeting for social protection measures, such as targeted financial assistance for the most vulnerable families, the abolition of primary and secondary school fees, and school feeding programmes.

Closer to home, New Zealand's own development assistance needs to focus as much on sustainable human development as on economic growth. The gains from growth are seldom distributed evenly in communities so that there's an ever-widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. 

The New Zealand Government must continue to work with Pacific governments to ensure development programmes give priority to children’s  rights to quality health and education, fresh water, good nutrition and protection from violence.

What you can do

In the lead-up to the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland in September UNICEF New Zealand  will work to bring these issues to the attention of our leaders. In the meantime, you can:

• Keep informed of the issues and up-to-date with our work in the Pacific: www.unicef.org.nz/BangingTheDrum

• Twitter:  @UNICEFNZ ;Facebook.com/campaignersforchange

• Become a UNICEF Campaigner for Change – www.unicef.org.nz/CampaignForChange