What we do
For more than a decade now, Pacific People and their organizations have continuously been trying to tell the world that their situation demands a different development model and strategy and that the best people to design, implement and voice them are the Pacific People themselves. The Disabled People of the Pacific and their organizations are saying the same thing by establishing the Pacific Disabled Forum.
The following information is provided to support the call for a development model that is relevant for the Pacific.
- The strength of Pacific cultures which have provided the basis for social safety nets in the past are now coming under increasing strain as individual and group expectations are altered by education, communication and the cash economy
- The Pacific Islands have a character quite distinct from surrounding large landmasses. The hereditary and present nature of Pacific ecology requires a special colour to the type of response required in dealing with disability issues in these islands. It has taken more than a decade to search out and try to establish a regional response to the needs of Disabled population which is Pacific in essence and character
- The distances between countries in the region are wide. The population are comparative small and there is a wide range of disparity in the population size of member countries
- The uniqueness of their development in terms of their geographic isolation, smallness in size, extensive culture and ethnic diversity is unique
- The combined factors of a fragile environment, high population growth and low economic growth in the Pacific requires a different model of development
- This Regional Response, which is known as the Pacific Disability Forum, is the latest attempt to address disability issues in the situations described above.
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