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NEW ZEALAND:


DEVELOPMENT GOALS


POST-2015 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND THE PACIFIC: NEW ZEALAND’S PERSEPCTIVE


While three out of the eight millennium development targets – on poverty, slums and water – have been met ahead of the 2015 deadline, much work remains to be done, especially on the environment


Paul Foster-Bell MP has been a List Member of Parliament based in Wellington Central for the governing New Zealand National Party since May 2013,. He is currently Deputy Chair of the Education and Science Select Committee and a member of the Local Government and Environment Select Committee. He was elected a Pacific Regional Representative on the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in late 2014.


New Zealand is a proud member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and is active in the international community. We punch above our weight when it comes to supporting developing nations, especially our small island Commonwealth friends of the Pacific, of which there are twelve (including the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau – all part of the Realm of New Zealand) leaving Australia and New Zealand aside.


In recent years, New Zealand has refocused its aid efforts and made major investments into sustainable economic development partnerships throughout the Pacific. Practical initiatives aimed at supporting economic development now make up over half of all our aid spending. There is not a complicated intervention logic behind New Zealand’s approach – indeed it is very simple – we are working around


18 | The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue One


Paul Foster-Bell MP


the Pacific to fund and support critical infrastructure, grow burgeoning private sectors, and help Pacific countries make the most of their natural resources in a well-managed and sustainable fashion. It is not just an accident of geography that we feel connected to the Pacific – our people-to-people linkages are strong. Over 7% of New Zealanders identify as being of Pasifika descent (Pasifika is a


term used in New Zealand to describe people living in New Zealand who have migrated from the Pacific Islands or who identify with the Pacific Islands because of ancestry or heritage), and over 60% of our aid budget is invested in the region. My Maori ancestors traced their origins, through whakapapa (lineage) and the sagas of the great Polynesian voyaging canoes, to the Pacific. And while three out of the eight millennium development targets – on poverty, slums and water – have been met ahead of the 2015 deadline, much work remains to be done, especially in the environmental area where often low-lying Pacific island states remain vulnerable. A key strength to our approach has been engaging with local communities to develop tailor- made solutions to problems, rather than simply imposing our plans upon others.


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