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The present report has been prepared in compliance with the request made by the General Assembly in paragraph 130 of its resolution 61/222 that the Secretary-General submit to the Assembly at its 62nd session a comprehensive report on developments and issues relating to ocean affairs and the law of the sea. It is also submitted to States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, pursuant to article 319 of the Convention, to be considered by the Meeting of States Parties under the agenda item entitled "Report of the Secretary-General under article 319 for the information of States parties on issues of a general nature, relevant to States parties, that have arisen with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."

The UN Development Assistance Framework for the Pacific Subregion (UNDAF) represents the first regionwide response to the UN operational reform process, and is a product of several partnerships in development, including between two UN Country Teams in Fiji and Samoa covering a total of 15 UN agencies, offices and programmes3, and between the UN and the governments of 14 Pacific island countries. While the UNDAF will guide the majority of UN agencies’ work in the Pacific, a minority of activities fall outside of its objectives, due to the unique mandates or ongoing programmes of specific UN agencies. Programmes outside of the UNDAF are listed by agency and country in Section 3.

Indicators perform many functions. They can lead to better decisions and more effective actions by simplifying, clarifying and making aggregated information available to policy makers. They can help incorporate physical and social science knowledge into decision-making, and they can help measure and calibrate progress toward sustainable development goals. They can provide an early warning to prevent economic, social and environmental setbacks. They arc also useful tools to communicate ideas, thoughts and values. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 recognized the important role that indicators could play in helping countries make informed decisions concerning sustainable development. At the international level, the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) approved its Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable Development in 1995. The first two sets of CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development (hence- forth CSD indicators) were developed between 1994 and 2001. They have been extensively tested, applied and used in many countries as the basis for the development of national indicators of sustainable development.

It has been over twenty years since UNCLOS came into existence and twelve years since it came into force, in addition to fourteen years since the historic "Earth Summit" was convened in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, yet the Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are finding it extremely difficult to deal with many cross-cutting and multiple issues relating to ocean management. The challenge for the Pacific SIDS is clear, successive international, regional and national initiatives emphasizing sustainable environmental development and ocean management have no real impact at the rural communities' level. This paper examines the challenges facing Solomon Islands in the development of an Integrated National Ocean Policy, and offer recommendation guidelines as to how to design an Integrated National Ocean Framework so as to contribute to the effort to ensure that all benefits derived from the oceans are sustainable and reach through to the local communities.