In the face of limited reach by the state, traditional authorities, NGOs and churches in a number of Pacific Island Countries continue to play an important and active role in delivery of formal and non-formal education (e.g. vocational education), health services and a variety of local services like. At the sub-national level, many Pacific Island Countries have traditional and customary governance systems in place which are not in coherence with the formal sub-national governance systems.

While CSOs play an increasingly important role in some Pacific Island Countries, the effectiveness and operations of civil society organisations is by and large limited. The development of civil society organizations in the Pacific is still at a nascent stage. Many countries lack enabling laws and legislation not just for CSOs but, more broadly, for guarantees of freedom of speech, assembly, association and religion. There are no institutionalised mechanisms to ensure civil society engagement with governments and majority of the CSOs face serious capacity problems such as lack of stable funding and reliance on unpredictable project funding from donors.

Building demand for good governance requires developing the capacity of the various local governance institutions and stakeholders to enable them to effectively participate in governance processes and exercise their rights. In support of the governance objectives of the Pacific Plan, the UNDP Pacific Centre will support a number of initiatives aimed at facilitating the harmonization of traditional governance and local government systems; enhancing citizens voice through social accountability initiatives; enhancing the outreach and quality of public service delivery at the local level; and developing the capacity of civil society organizations at the regional and national levels to articulate civil society’s priority concerns, and participate more effectively in various governance processes to advance the achievement of MDGs in the Pacific.