The Pacific Connect Program aims to facilitate greater exchange of ideas and expertise between Australia and the Pacific, fostering enhanced collaboration and business opportunities, especially in the application of digital technology to support sustainable development.
Project summary
The Pacific Connect Program, delivered by the International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP) on behalf of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, aligns with the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals and supports the agenda of the Australian Government's foreign policy priority to step-up Australia's Pacific engagement.
The Program's objective is to contribute to economic development in six Pacific Island countries (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga) by building stronger relationships, promoting economic prosperity and facilitating economic development and entrepreneurship among people and businesses in Australia and the Pacific.
Opportunities to collaborate
The Program also engages and supports Pacific Islander entrepreneurs, particularly women, to progress their ideas by partnering them with an Australian entrepreneur or business.
This is achieved through the implementation of activities in the Pacific region that include Dialogues (small groups of Pacific Islanders and Australian equivalents together to explore opportunities to work on projects of mutual interest), professional development workshops, mentoring opportunities and projects developed through micro-investment funding.
Pacific and Australian delegates at the Pacific Connect 2019 Annual Ideas Exchange held at NSW Parliament House.
Evaluation and improvements lead to success
Since the Program's inception in September 2017, the UTS Institute for Public Policy and Governance (IPPG) has been playing a crucial role in monitoring and evaluating the Pacific Connect Program. For the last four years, IPPG monitored and evaluated the Program's outcomes and achievements, delivered internal reports and recommended changes to ensure the Program is meaningful and sustainable for those involved.
IPPG's role in evaluating the Program has been key to informing the future model of Program delivery and identifying activities that need to be prioritised or improved to achieve its outcomes. Those changes are taking into account the enduring necessity for the Program to be resilient and adaptable to the uncertainties that may arise from the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, the Program has supported the delivery of six projects and currently, another nine projects are in progress
The Program has also successfully delivered dialogues and workshops with specific themes of interest for each participating country; increased its online presence and expanded the network; partnered Pacific participants with Australian leaders, entrepreneurs and organisations, and; built Pacific women’s capacity and skills.
For more information, visit icdp.com.au.
Halo olaketa and um greetings to you all.
My name is Elizabeth and I am from Vanuatu originally, with maternal links to the Solomon Islands.
I am married and I am currently living in Suva. It has been three years since I have founded our small home-based business named Crafty3.
I have been part of the Pacific Connect family since late 2019 and since then it has really broadened my perspective concerning digital marketing and making your presence known in the digital space.
Through the Pacific Connect community that I have met up with coaches from certain businesses which have given a lot of insights and advice on how to run a small micro-business within this pandemic, and for that I am truly thankful.
The Pacific Connect family that I have managed to be part of this panel and jury association workshop on fabric printing and textiles as well as another workshop which is run in Port Vila and it has led to a lot of connections with the people around in the Pacific, as well as people which I have met online who are based abroad.
Plans for Crafty 3 for the future is to see what scale that we can increase by as well as to make connections with other customers who are abroad.
Otherwise by far we have had our hands full since it's nearly the festive season, otherwise we are very thankful and grateful to what Pacific Connect had done for Crafty 3.
Project timeframe
2017 – 2022
SDG targets addressed by this project
Gender equality:
5.5 – Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
Decent work and economic growth:
8.3 – Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services.
Partnerships for the goals:
17.9 – Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation.
17.16 - Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilise and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries.
Key contacts
- Paula Simoes dos Santos, UTS Institute for Public Policy and Governance
- Peter Lee, UTS Institute for Public Policy and Governance
- Simone Pensko, International Centre for Democratic Partnerships
- Tina Briggs, International Centre for Democratic Partnerships
