Development Programme

04 September 2020, Suva (Fiji) – The Pacific Community (SPC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Miles Young as the Director of the newly merged Regional Rights Resource Team and Social Development Programme.

The appointment follows the decision by SPC to merge the Regional Rights Resource Team (RRRT) and the Social Development Programme (SDP) to ensure more effective delivery of technical assistance to SPC members in human rights, gender equality and social inclusion, and youth and cultural development, as well as greater impact through SPC’s work in these areas.

Born and raised in Fiji, Young has over 20 years of professional experience as a legal development practitioner across the Pacific, Asia and Africa.  He takes on this new position following his directorship of RRRT from April 2018 to August 2020.  Miles holds degrees in politics and law from the University of Sydney in Australia, and will be based at SPC’s Regional Office in Suva, Fiji.

“I am honoured and excited to be leading this new division. By bringing together the mandates and the skills and experience of RRRT and SDP, the division will deliver better outcomes for the Pacific in the areas of human rights, gender equality and social inclusion, and youth and cultural development.  The division’s mandate also includes ensuring that SPC puts people at the centre of its work, whether in the fisheries sector, in the geoscience sector, in the land resources sector, or in any of the other areas in which SPC serves its members.”   

Practical work is now underway on combining office space, refining reporting structures and establishing a name for the combined division, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Media  contact:

Kalpana Nizarat [email protected] SPC RRRT Communications Officer, +679 3370733

Onorina Saukelo, [email protected], SPC RRRT Communications Assistant, +679 3370733