rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

Australian non-government
organisations
Relevant Australian NGOs with representative
offices in Vanuatu include: Save the
Children Australia; Oxfam; and the International
Women’s Development Agency (IWDA).
These are significant for their youth programs
working on health and life skills issues — in
the case of the first two, intersecting with
substance use prevention activities. IWDA is
working on sexual and reproductive health
programs. Other agencies include World
Vision, which focuses on rural training and
capacity building. CARE Vanuatu was only
established in 2008 and has focused on
emergency preparedness. 1007
17.7 International
involvement
Vanuatu is the current chair of, and provides
the secretariat office for, the Melanesian
Spearhead Group, which advocates
for free trade and acts as a regional policy
focal point for its Melanesian members.
This group provides significant leverage in
negotiating the terms of trade agreements,
which in turn have the potential to impact
on the outcome of revision and enforcement
of trade regulations. 1008
New Zealand
The 2008–09 NZAID bilateral program in
Vanuatu is worth NZ$17 million, with the
program focusing on education, governance
and economic development. 1009 NZAID identifies
urban drift and youth unemployment
as emerging issues. Support for the judiciary
and the Department of Corrections are an
important part of the NZAID program relevant
to this analysis. The program also supports
the Sanma Counselling Service, which
works to address domestic violence issues. 1010
203
1007 For a detailed list of Australian NGOs working in Vanuatu, see Appendix 18.5.
1008 Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Vanuatu Country
Brief, available at: (accessed
January 2009).
1009 NZAID, Vanuatu program overview, available at: (accessed March 2009).
1010 Ibid.; details available at: (accessed July 2009).
Vanuatu