The report “Urban Youth in the Pacific – Increasing Resilience and Reducing Risk for Involvement in Crime and Violence" was produced in response to a concern raised by the Forum Regional Security Committee (FSRC) about the involvement of a small but increasing number of urban youth in crime and violence and acknowledgment that the region can work towards building the resilience of young people.

The report aims to provide policy and programming options for Pacific governments and other stakeholders, including the United Nations, to prevent young people becoming involved in crime and violence, and to fulfill their potential as productive citizens.

The report covers issues like what factors push Pacific youth to become involved in crime and violence and what can be done to reduce the risk and increase the resilience of young people. The report highlights good policies and activities that address youth crime and violence. It contains case studies from six Pacific Island countries – the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

The reported has been divided in eight chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction and Methodology

Chapter 2: Pacific Overview and Recommendations

Chapter 3: Federated States of Micronesia

Chapter 4: Marshall Islands

Chapter 5: PNG

Chapter 6: Solomon Islands

Chapter 7: Samoa

Chapter 8: Tonga 

 

These checklists, specific to the Pacific Region, aim to facilitate the integration of human rights issues in natural disaster management. They can be used by all concerned actors in situations of humanitarian emergencies to ensure that human rights concerns are effectively incorporated in every stage of preparedness, response and recovery.

From 24 April to 01 May 2007, UNDP Pacific Centre, in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the University of the South Pacific, femLINKPacific and the Citizens’ Constitutional Forum convened a series of consultations on the topic of human security. This report is a collection of the consultations proceedings.

The overall objective of this workshop was to increase the awareness and skills of UN staff and national and regional counterparts, especially those involved in disaster relief and recovery operations and programming, about the relevance of human rights issues in disaster management. It is foreseen that an increased awareness will ultimately reduce the vulnerability of affected populations, vulnerable groups and individuals, enable transition to normalcy and contribute to increased risk reduction, all within a human rights-based framework.