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This paper contributes to the current review of regionalisation and decentralisation that aims to improve the performance of the Secretariat and the governance of the Union. The current distribution of Secretariat presence is uneven throughout the world, and appears to be based more 011 historical accidents than a matching of resources with needs to achieve the goals of the IUCN Programme. The absence of any Secretariat presence 111 Oceania may be part of this accident of history, or does it reflect instead the absence of need? To answer that question we analyse the situation in the region, comment on regional capacities to address conservation needs, describe the current status of IUCN components in Oceania, identify where IUCN input would be most effective, and conclude that there is a strong case for establishing an IUCN Secretariat presence based in the Pacific islands subregion.

Tuvalu's overall development goal is to achieve the highest possible living standards within the constraint of its limited natural resources. The National Development Strategy1 (NDS) for 1995-1998 still serves as the Government's basic strategy document, pending the formulation of a new strategy for 2004-2007, the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS). The new Government plans to hold a National Summit in July 2003 to develop the NSDS.

The strategy of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Vanuatu addresses the underlying institutional constraints on Vanuatu's economic development. These include a lack of consistency and transparency in government decision-making; a high-cost, uncertain business environment; and a continuing lack of fiscal capacity to expand essential public services. In line with the Government's Priorities and Action Agenda (PAA),1 the strategy aims to help (i) build capacity for sound economic management and good governance, (ii) create an enabling environment for private-sector development, and (iii) reduce poverty by improving service delivery to rural populations. It will help increase economic growth to a rate that surpasses population growth. A summary statement of the strategy is in Appendix 1.

With the overarching objective of reducing poverty, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) strategy for Papua New Guinea (PNG) focuses on strengthening governance, supporting private sector development, and improving social conditions. PNG displays characteristics of ADB's Weakly Performing Developing Member Countries, underlying the difficult operating environment for ADB and other development partners.Weak public sector management and ineffective public services remain the main development problems. ADB's short-term priorities will be: consolidation (focusing on relationships with the Government and development partners), policy dialogue in key sectors, administration and implementation of existing projects and very selective identification of operations to deliver clear results. Based on lessons learned, e.g., in supporting private sector development, ADB will explore alternative channels for the delivery of assistance to achieve development objectives.