SPC celebrates 60th anniversary

SPC celebrates 60th anniversary

Monday 5 February 2007, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) - An early-morning flag raising ceremony at its headquarters in Noumea will mark the start of celebrations for SPC’s 60th anniversary on 6 February 2007. SPC’s members include all 22 Pacific Island countries and territories and four of its original founders. The flags of all 26 members will be raised in unison.

The day is also being commemorated by the issue of a special postage stamp by New Caledonia. First day covers will be available for collectors on 6 February from SPC’s Anse Vata office.

SPC has regional offices in Suva, Fiji, and in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, as well as project offices in 14 other island members. In Suva the day will begin with the raising of SPC’s flag and a tree planting ceremony, while the public are invited to see for themselves what SPC does by visiting an open-day display in Suva’s Civic Centre (February 6 and 7). Pohnpei will also mark the anniversary with an open day showing SPC’s activities in the northern Pacific and will host a lunch for government and regional representatives. An open day will be held in Noumea in June and SPC’s work will continue to be featured throughout 2007 in all island members, ending in November with the SPC Conference in Apia, Samoa.

SPC was founded in 1947 shortly after World War II by Australia, France, New Zealand, the Netherlands, UK and USA to coordinate their aid to the region. Today, it is a thriving, bilingual organisation with around 340 staff, a large number of whom come from the Pacific Islands. SPC’s role is to provide technical advice, training and research to its island members in areas such as public health, sustainable development of land and marine resources, and social issues (women, youth and culture). A strong focus of this work is to build the skills and capability of its members in these areas. Increasingly, SPC is developing strategic partnerships, regionally and internationally, to enhance the quality and quantity of services it can deliver and to ensure that as an organisation it has the capacity to read global trends and to respond.

Dr Jimmie Rodgers, SPC’s Director-General, says, ‘It is a tribute to its members, staff and development partners that SPC hasn’t lost sight of the purpose for which it was established 60 years ago. On this day, we can look back and celebrate what we’ve achieved, but we’ll also be looking forward to continuing to serve the people of this unique and wonderful region.’

© Scoop Media