Three high-level United Nations meetings in Vanuatu this week aim to tackle the region's development challenges and the effects of the global economic recession.
The head of the UN Development Programme, Helen Clark, and the UN's Under-Secretary-General, Noeleen Heyzer, are keynote speakers.
Annell Husband reports.
"Ministers and senior officials from the 14 Pacific small island development states begin a two-day meeting this morning in Port Vila to review the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy, a sustainable development plan. The meeting coincides with the International Labour Organisation's two-day summit on employment and economic challenges. Outcomes from both meetings will be discussed at the Pacific Conference on the Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis, which begins on Wednesday. The three-day event is expected to draw more than 220 delegates to discuss how to protect the region's people, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable, both from the current financial recession and future crises."