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The Government of Kiribati, represented by Hon. Nabuti Mwenikarawa, Minister of Finance & Economic Planning and Ms Teea Tira, Secretary of Finance & Economic Planning and National Authorising Officer, and the European Commission, represented by Mr Roberto Ridolfi, Head of the Commission Delegation for the Pacific, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, held discussions from March 2006 until August 2007 with a view to determining the general orientations for cooperation for the period 2008-2013.

Niue is the world’s largest single raised coral atoll which rests on a seamount with the surrounding ocean depths reaching up to 4000m. Niue is located in the Southwest Pacific Ocean at latitude 19o south and longitude 169o west. The total land area for Niue is 259km2, with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 39,000km2. Niue is free governing state from New Zealand since 1974 with its own Parliament made of 20 elected members from the 14 village communities and 6 urban seats. These members of parliament deliberate and manage the affairs of the country in a Westminster Parliamentary system. The annual budget over the last 5 years averages just over NZD $14m with the New Zealand Government providing just over a third, while the remainder is financed from the national economy. The economy is largely dependent on overseas aid, with no realistic prospect of economic self-reliance. However, there is a modest export production mainly comprising of taro and coconuts to New Zealand. Agriculture, fisheries and forestry are at subsistence levels with current government policy focusing on ecotourism and private sector development.

Niue as a Party to the Rio Conventions, namely the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Combating Desertification, and the Framework Convention on Climate Change, is preparing its National Capacity Self Assessment Report to identify the capacity gaps on the implementation of the Conventions. The thematic assessment component of the National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA) Project reviews the status of implementation for each of the three Rio Conventions at the national level. It further analysis the capacity constraints on the implementation and proposes potential opportunities for building the three levels of capacity development at the country level.

According to the GEF/GSP Resource Kit for National Capacity Self-Assessment (2005), analysis of cross-cutting issues is one of the basic steps in the NCSA process. The objective of this analysis is to assess capacity issues, needs and opportunities that cut across the conventions. This includes identification of common needs and possible synergies that could be achieved in the country by addressing requirements across two or more themes. This analysis also aims to identify capacity needs that are common to both national and global environmental management, and possible synergies between them. Result of the cross-cutting analysis is often a list of priority national capacity needs and opportunities for synergies. The cross-cutting analysis may also identify possible capacity development actions that can be refined in the action plan.

Niue's progress to achieving the Millennium Development Goals has been steady. The commitment shown by the Government of Niue has enabled the achievement of 6 of the 8 goals enshrined in Niue's MDG Report 2006. These are MDG 1: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; MDG 2: achieve universal primary education; MDG 3: promote gender equality and empower women; MDG 4: reduce child mortality; MDG 5; improve maternal health; and MDG 6: combat HIV/AIDS and non-communicable diseases. The overall result for achieving sustainable development shows that every Niuean citizen has access to basic essential services such as running water, power, roads, education, medical care, housing, telephone, television and internet services. Despite the current efforts to sustain development growth at the backdrop of MDG achievement, Niue faces massive human resource depletion as a direct result of depopulation and this has put a huge strain in the Government's development efforts. The 2006 census recorded a total population of a mere 1625 with a 10% decline of 163 people leaving for further prospects in New Zealand.