The Cook Islands is a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand. Since 1965 the relationship has remained an evolving one of partnership, freely entered into and freely maintained, with both countries respecting the right and freedom of the other to pursue their own national policies and interests. Comprising 15 islands with a total land area of approximately 240 sq. km., the country is spread across 2 million sq. km. of ocean. Distinct regional differences in social, cultural, and economic activities exist between the two groups91 of southern and northern islands that make up the Cook Islands.
The Cook Islands is an upper middle-income country with high living standards and the best socioeconomic indicators of the countries in the UN Pacific programme. All of the MDGs were achieved. Extreme hardship and food poverty is not known, but there is growing inequality between the main island, Rarotonga, and the remote outer islands.92
70 per cent of the Cook Islands’ 15,000 people live on Rarotonga. The remainder live in the eight populated outer islands of the Pa Enua. The population growth rate is zero with natural increase balancing net migration. Depopulation is a critical development challenge for the Cook Islands and affects all sectors, and particularly the Pa Enua. The population has declined since the 1970s and the construction of the Rarotonga International Airport. The steady outmigration of the Cook Islands population increased in 1996, which led to a large reduction (approximately 50 per cent) in the public service, resulting in former Government employees moving to New Zealand and Australia. Today, the number of Cook Islanders living overseas is about nine times the resident population.
The economy of the Cook Islands is driven by tourism (accounting for 60 per cent of GDP93), fishing licenses, black pearl sales, and offshore banking. Growth is constrained by a shortage of workers, dispersion of a small population, isolation, and the high costs of doing business. The Cook Islands is highly vulnerable to external economic and environmental shocks. Global downturns and natural disasters, including cyclones, have an impact on visitor numbers.
Free and compulsory education is provided in the Cook Islands with corresponding high rates of enrolment and literacy. Infant mortality is the lowest in the Pacific. Teen fertility remains the highest in Polynesia. One hundred per cent of births are attended by a skilled attendant, and no maternal deaths have been recorded since 2001.94
Women have consistently been represented in political life and the Cook Islands has the highest proportion of female parliamentarians in the Pacific. Women’s economic participation is also high, although there is a recognised gender pay gap.
The Cook Islands has a low HIV burden with four confirmed cases. The high rates of STIs, low condom use, and young age of sexual debut are all risk factors for AIDS prevalence in the country95. Non-communicable diseases are the main causes of morbidity and mortality and there is inequitable access to healthcare for people in the Pa Enua.96
Since the 1950s the daily maximum and minimum temperatures of Penrhyn in the north and Rarotonga in the south have increased at a rate consistent with climate change models. Sea levels in the Cook Islands have risen slightly higher than the global average. Future climate change projections anticipate a continued daily temperature increase, more extreme rainfall (particularly in the southern islands), ocean acidification at levels threatening to coral systems, and more intense tropical cyclones.97
Treaty Ratifications: CEDAW, CRC, CRPD, OP-CEDAW, OP-CRPD, ICADS, CCPWCNH, CSICH
Resident and Non-resident Agencies: FAO, IFAD, ILO, OHCHR, UNDP, UN Environment, UNFPA, UNESCAP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNISDR, UN Women, WHO, WMO
Coordination: Cook Islands UN Joint Presence Office
Te Kaveinga Nui – National Sustainable Development Plan 2016-2020, “To enjoy the highest quality of life consistent with the aspirations of our people and in harmony with our culture and environment”
- 91Population and Development Profiles: Pacific Island Countries, UNFPA, 20
- 92MDG Tracking Report, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, 2015.
- 93 ADB, 2016.
- 94WHO Country Cooperation Strategy Cook Islands, 2013-2
- 95Global AIDS Progress Report, Ministry of Health, 2015.
- 96WHO Country Cooperation Strategy Cook Islands, 2013-2
- 97Current and future climate of the Cook Islands, Pacific Climate Change Science Program, 2011.
| Alignment of country development priorities | ||
| UNPS Outcomes | Country Development Strategy
Priority/Pillar |
Identified Priorities 2018-2022 |
| Outcome 1:
Climate Change, Disaster Resilience, and Environmental Protection |
3. Promote sustainable practices and
effectively manage solid and hazardous waste.
4. Sustainable management of water and sanitation.
11. Promote sustainable land use, management of terrestrial ecosystems, and protect biodiversity.
12. Sustainable management of oceans, lagoons, and marine resources.
13. Strengthen resilience to combat the impacts of climate change and natural disasters. |
· Upgrade the sanitation system and improve and maintain the quality of lagoon water (main drinking water supply).
· Explore desalination of water to prepare for future natural hazards. · Develop agricultural infrastructure as most food is imported and heavily processed. · Promote organic, container, and home farming to bolster food security and improve nutrition. · Enhance production of traditional food products such as taro and banana (which are more resilient to climate change). · Develop sustainable fisheries, especially in the northern islands. · Support water management and removal of algae in the lagoon to increase potential for tourism and water-based recreational activities. · Make fundraising processes easier and capitalise on national accreditation systems, such as the Ministry of Finance’s accreditation as an implementing agency for the Adaptation Fund. · Explore further accreditation possibilities. |
| Outcome 2: Gender Equality | 9. Accelerate gender equality, empower all women and girls, and advance the rights of youth, the elderly, and disabled. | · Strengthen the National Council of Women to expand women’s participation in the public and
private sectors. · Promote greater involvement of women and girls in economic growth. |
| Outcome 3:
Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Empowerment |
2. Expand economic opportunities,
improve economic resilience and productive employment to ensure decent work for all.
5. Build resilient infrastructure and information and communication technologies to improve standard of living.
6. Improve access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable modern energy and transport.
10. Achieve food security and improved nutrition, and increase sustainable agriculture.
15. Ensure a sustainable population engaged in development by Cook Islanders for Cook Islanders. |
· Help develop attractive economic initiatives to maintain healthy population growth.
· Assist policy development for the economic development of outer islands, particularly the southern islands. · Provide technical training to the Cook Islands’ labour force. · Find innovative solutions to boost labour supply in shortfall areas such as agriculture. |
| Outcome 4:
Equitable Basic Services |
1. Improve welfare, reduce inequity and
economic hardship.
7. Improve health and promote healthy lifestyles.
8. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities. |
· Invest in early childhood education and build knowledge of healthy lifestyles from an early age.
· Invest in integrated mental health, domestic violence, and suicide prevention services. · Focus on non-formal education and TVET to target capacity development. · Support professional development of teachers in the area of ICT. · Increase the supply of basic services (health and education) to the Paenua and among vulnerable groups. |
| Outcome 5:
Governance and Community Engagement |
16. Promote a peaceful and just society
and practice good governance with transparency and accountability.
14. Preserve our heritage and history, protect our traditional knowledge, and develop our language, creative, and cultural endeavours. |
· Explore E-governance as a model for active civic participation.
· Strengthen the use of information, technology, and communication as well as statistics for inclusive development. · Help to strengthen culture, language, and traditional knowledge as priority focus areas, especially with the NSDP 2018-2022 specifying culture as a key pillar for development. |
| · Support links between Government and the umbrella CSO Group (Cook Islands Civil Societies Organization, or CICSO) given that
there are 94 registered NGOs within the organization. · Provide further statistical training pertinent to labour movement and population. · Strengthen institutional governance as well as evidence-based capacity building. · Provide legal and technical advice on drafting of legal bills such as the in-progress Family Bill. |
||
| Outcome 6:
Human Rights |
||
