Barbados conference and Agenda 21 --- Capacity 21 programme.
Following the Barbados conference, UNDP have been funding, and SPREP coordinating, a program designed to respond to the particular needs for South Pacific Islands to strengthen their institutional capabilities. This program known as "Capacity 21" was designed, as the name suggests, to give small island countries the capability to implement the Agenda 21 Program of the Rio Summit. Capacity 21 promotes the role of NGOs and customary landowners and helps them to come together with other stakeholders in developing frameworks for integration environment and development. This has involved a series of participatory workshops in most PICs. However despite initial enthusiasm, the Capacity 21 Program seems to have lost its momentum in most PICs. The Tongan case study reports that there has been little progress in pursuing the call for improved collection, analyses, and presentation of environmental data and information. As result, periodic analysis reporting of environmental conditions and trends has not been undertaken. There is neither a programme of action to this effect, nor have resources been set aside for this activity. The situation is essentially the same for the other PICs. The project was criticized by some government officials as being too superficial and failing to establish a meaningful and continuing interchange of activity.
Source: Synthesis paper on institutional arrangements and mechanisms in Pacific islands, unpublished, para 395.
