INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Recent years have witnessed a continuing expansion of Cook Islands activities in international affairs, including a broadening of its membership in both regional and global international organizations and participation in an increasingly wide range of bilateral and multilateral treaties. 

In interdependent and interconnected world, no single country can survive on its own or solve global problems on its own.  The Cook Islands uses its membership of these organisations to help contribute to  the solutions and to seek assistance for areas where support is required.

International Organizations

1. UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, (1976), Bangkok, Thailand - ESCAP (Cook Islands is an Associate Member)
2. Asian Development Bank, (1976), Manila, Philippines  - ADB
3. World Health Organization, (1984), Geneva, Switzerland  - WHO
4. Food and Agriculture Organization, (1985), Rome, Italy  - FAO
5. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, (1985), Paris, France - UNESCO
6. International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal, (1986), Quebec, Canada     - ICAO
7. Global Environment Facility, (1994), Washington DC, USA - GEF
8. World Meteorological Organization, (1995), Geneva, Switzerland - WMO
9. Codex Alimentarius Commission1, (1998), Rome, Italy  - no specific acronym
10. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change2, (1995), Geneva, Switzerland - IPCC
11. International Seabed Authority3, (1996), Kingston, Jamaica  - ISA (as a Party to UNCLOS and the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part IX, we are a member of the Assembly, the supreme decision making body of the Authority).
12. African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States4, (2000), Brussels, Belgium - ACP
13. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (2006), Paris, France - IOC

Regional Organizations

1. Pacific Islands Forum, (1971), Suva, Fiji  - PIF
2. Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, (1979), Honiara, Solomon Islands - FFA
3. Pacific Commission, (1980), Noumea, New Caledonia  - SPC
4. South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, (1990), Suva, Fiji  -  SOPAC
5. Pacific Islands Development Programme, (1990), Honolulu, Hawaii - PIDP
6. Pacific Regional Environmental Programme, (1995), Apia, Samoa  – SPREP
7. University of the South Pacific, (197?) - USP
8. South-Pacific.Travel, (1997), Suva, Fiji     – SPTO
9. Pacific Power Association, (1992) Suva, Fiji - PPA

Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific

Fiji School of Medicine (FSM)

FSM is a premier medical institute in the South Pacific educating Health Care Professionals since its establishment in 1885 as Suva Medical School to train vaccinators.  The institute has produced motivated and skilled health care professionals for the Pacific including several notable professionals serving in Pacific and overseas.  The school now provides training in a number of the health science disciplines including dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, radiography, laboratory technology, dietetics and environmental health.  

http://www.fsm.ac.fj

Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)

The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) strengthens national capacity and regional solidarity so its 17 members can manage, control and develop their tuna fisheries now and in the future.  Based in Honiara, Solomon Islands, FFA's 17 Pacific Island members are Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.  FFA was established to help countries sustainably manage their fishery resources that fall within their 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). FFA is an advisory body providing expertise, technical assistance and other support to its members who make sovereign decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional decision making on tuna management through agencies such as the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

Since 1979, FFA has facilitated regional cooperation so that all Pacific countries benefit from the sustainable use of tuna – worth over $3 billion a year and important for many people’s livelihoods in the Pacific.

http://www.ffa.int

Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC)

The Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) is an intergovernmental, regional organisation with 21 member countries, including 18 Pacific island countries and territories, as well as Australia and New Zealand. SOPAC?s work is carried out through its Secretariat, based in Suva, Fiji.  SOPAC was established in 1972 under the Economic and Social Division of the UN as a project called the Committee for Coordination of Joint Prospecting for Mineral Resources in South Pacific Offshore Areas (CCOP/SOPAC), to promote offshore mineral and petroleum prospecting. The secretariat became autonomous in 1984 with the funding of its member countries, donor countries and international agencies to steer its annual operations. While the initial focus of its work was on marine mapping and geosciences, recent years have seen a broadening of this scope to include hazard assessment and risk management, environmental vulnerability, oceanography, energy, water and sanitation and information and communication technologies.

http://www.sopac.org

Pacific Islands Development Programme

The Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) conducts a broad range of activities to enhance the quality of life in the Pacific islands. The founding mission of PIDP, established in 1980, is to assist Pacific islands leaders in advancing their collective efforts to achieve and sustain equitable social and economic development consistent with the goals of the Pacific islands region's people. PIDP began as a forum through which island leaders could discuss critical issues of development with a wide spectrum of interested countries, donors, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.

http://www.eastwestcenter.org/pacific-islands-development-program/

Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS)

The Pacific Islands Forum, formerly the South Pacific Forum until a name change in October 2000, was founded in August 1971 and comprises 16 independent and self-governing states in the Pacific. The Forum is the region’s premier political and economic policy organisation. Forum Leaders meet annually to develop collective responses to regional issues.

http://www.forumsec.org.fj

Pacific Power Association (PPA)

The PPA is an inter-governmental agency to promote the direct cooperation of the Pacific island power utilities in technical training, exchange of information, sharing of senior management and engineering expertise and other activities of benefit to the members.   The PPA's objective is to improve the quality of power in the region through a cooperative effort among the utilities, private sector and regional aid donors.

http://www.ppa.org.fj

Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)

SPC is an international organisation that provides technical assistance, policy advice, training and research services to 22 Pacific Island countries and territories in areas such as health, human development, agriculture, forestry and fisheries. All of these areas are critical to the eight million people of the Pacific, who continue to face challenges from their remote locations and scarce resources, as well as new challenges from growing populations, decreasing food security and the effects of climate change.

http://www.spc.int

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)

SPREP is a regional organisation established by the governments and administrations of the Pacific region to look after its environment. The Pacific island governments and administrations saw the need for SPREP to serve as the conduit for concerted environmental action at the regional level. The establishment of SPREP also sends a clear signal to the global community of the deep commitment of the Pacific island governments and administrations towards sustainable development, especially in light of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in the form of the Plan of Implementation, the Millennium Development Goals and Declaration, the Barbados Plan of Action and Agenda 21.

http://www.sprep.org

South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment

SPBEA is an intergovernmental, regional organization set up in 1980 to assist the region and member countries to develop assessment procedures towards national / or regional certificates.   The Board administers two regional senior secondary school qualifications, the Pacific Senior Secondary Certificate (PSSC) and the South Pacific Form Seven Certificate (SPFSC), beginning in 1989 and 2004 respectively. These two qualifications replaced New Zealand based qualifications.

http://www.spbea.org.fj

south-pacific.travel

south-pacific.travel (formerly the South Pacific Tourism Organisation or SPTO) is the mandated inter-governmental body for the tourism sector in the Pacific region, with the mission to "Market and Develop Tourism in the South Pacific".
south-pacific.travel members include the Pacific Island nations of the Cook Islands (Cooks), Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Solomons, Tahiti (French Polynesia), Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea (PNG).  The People's Republic of China is also a country member of south-pacific.travel. 
In the early 1980 ’s an informal association of South Pacific national tourism organisations was formed, which subsequently became the SPTO and is now known as south-pacific.travel. 

http://spto.org

University of the South Pacific (USP)

The University of the South Pacific is the premier institution of higher learning for the South Pacific region, uniquely placed in a region of extraordinary physical, social and economic diversity.   Established in 1968, USP is the only university of its type in the world. It is jointly owned by the governments of twelve island countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Samoa. The University has Campuses in all the twelve member countries.  The University also offers programs through Distance and Flexible Learning in a variety of modes and technologies throughout USP's fifteen campuses.

http://www.usp.ac.fj