About us

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work to translate that commitment into practical action, especially for the most disadvantaged children.

In the Pacific, we work in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. These 14 Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) span a vast 30-million-square-kilometer area of the Pacific Ocean.

Approximately 14 per cent of the estimated 2.57 million population are aged 0–5 years, and 40 per cent are under 18. Due to the uniquely challenging context of small, culturally diverse populations living across remote islands, most PICTs struggle to provide equitable, high-quality social services, particularly to vulnerable and remote communities.

The PICTs are repeatedly affected by natural and climate-related disasters, which complicate the structural challenges they face. Such vulnerabilities have an impact on their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), infrastructure and provisions for safe water and sanitation, agriculture, food security, tourism income, educational outcomes and often exacerbate the spread of disease.

Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu are classified as Fragile States according to World Bank/OECD criteria. All 14 PICTs have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
 

Our history

UNICEF has been working in the Pacific for more than 50 years. In the beginning, however, budgets and staffing levels were relatively insignificant compared to today. UNICEF programming was primarily managed through other United Nations agencies, particularly the World Health Organization, and focused on providing supplies for health and water projects.

The first major expansion of UNICEF’s involvement came in the mid-1970s with the initiation of a project supporting school curriculum development, jointly implemented with the United Nations Development Programme. This project marked UNICEF’s first dedicated effort to actively engage in the Pacific.

Further expansion of UNICEF’s involvement in the region began in the late 1970s and continued through 1985, as direct relations with Pacific governments were established and a multi-sectoral, multi-dimensional UNICEF programme was developed.

By mid-1985, UNICEF was involved in approximately 72 projects across 14 countries within four programme areas: child health, water supply and sanitation, nutrition, and early childhood education. To fully realize the potential impact of these activities, UNICEF began evolving a new programme strategy and developing a multi-country programme for the Pacific.

Between 1984 and 1992, the UNICEF Pacific multi-country programme was managed by the UNICEF office based in Manila, Philippines, with one Resident Programme Officer stationed in Suva, Fiji. In January 1993, the Suva office became a sub-office of UNICEF Philippines. In 1997, the Suva office was established as the hub for a dedicated Pacific multi-country office.

Today, UNICEF Pacific is a fully-fledged multi-country office based in Fiji, with country offices in Vanuatu, Kiribati, Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Solomon Islands.