The UN has been operating in FSM since 1947. The Federated States of Micronesia is a culturally and linguistically diverse nation of more than 600 volcanic islands and coral atolls in the western Pacific Ocean. The islands are grouped into four distinct, but unified states; Yap, Chuuk, Kosrae, and Pohnpei, each with their own constitution and elected government. A third of Micronesians live below the basic needs poverty line 98 and poverty has increased in three out of four states in the past decade. Inequality varies greatly between the states. Outer island and atoll communities have the lowest access to quality education, health care, energy, and telecommunications.
From 1947-1986 FSM was administered by the United States as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). Since 1986, the relationship between the two countries has been defined by the Compact of Free Association, under which the United States provides financial assistance and defence, and Micronesians have free movement to the United States. Under the terms of the Amended Compact, economic assistance will decrease over a period of 20 years and mandatory funding will cease in 2023.
FSM’s economy is aid dependent with a rising trade deficit, due to increasing demand for imported food, clothing, and consumer goods. Around half of the workforce is involved in subsistence farming or fishing for their livelihoods and this figure is growing.99 The country is among the least urbanised in the Pacific and most Micronesians live on or near the coast. The lack of transport and infrastructure within and between islands (including limited air travel) are barriers to development in the three priority sectors of agriculture, tourism, and fisheries.100
Since US Compact grants were first reduced in 2004, the FSM economy has performed weakly. The private sector has not grown at a rate sufficient to replace jobs lost in the public service, the largest employer in FSM. This has led to a wave of outmigration of skilled Micronesians to the United States, with an associated loss of human capital and longer-term productive potential.
Migration and a low fertility rate have resulted in negative population growth of -0.4 per cent per annum. Young people aged 10-14 are the single largest demographic group and face limited employment opportunities. The trend of young rural adults seeking work in urban centres is leaving behind the very young and the elderly and changing traditional structures of social welfare in ways that are not yet fully understood.101
One in three women experience physical or sexual violence.102 Efforts to reduce maternal mortality have not met national targets. Women have the highest rate of unemployment in the country (38 per cent in Chuuk Lagoon)103 and there are currently no women members of Parliament.
FSM is experiencing a high prevalence of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. The over-reliance on imported processed food, low levels of physical activity, and high consumption of alcohol are contributing to a growing epidemic of chronic disease, which the fragile health system cannot support. Leprosy and tuberculosis are common and STIs are hyper- endemic.104 Rates of young male adult suicide are among the highest in the world.
Complicated land tenure systems, a reliance on imported food and water during times of stress, lack of national planning, limited resourcing, and the remote nature of the islands make climate change a serious threat to all forms of development in FSM. The severe drought of the El Niño weather system 2015-2016 pushed the country into a State of Emergency.
Treaty Ratifications: CEDAW, CRC, CRPD, OP-CRC-ARC, OP-CRC-SC, CCPWCNH, ICADS, CSICH
Resident and Non-resident Agencies: FAO, IOM, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCAP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNISDR, UNOCHA, UN
Women, WHO, WMO
Coordination: FSM Joint Presence Office
FSM Strategic Development Plan 2004-2023, “Improving quality of life for all FSM people”
- 98An Atlas of Social Indicators, Children in the FSM, UNICEF, 201
- 99ibid
- 100FSM Development Framework, ADB,
- 101UNFPA Country Office, 2014.
- 102FSM Family Health and Safety Study, FSM Department of Health and Social Affairs, 2014.
- 103UNICEF Children in the FSM, An Atlas of Social Indicators, 2013.
- 104WHO Country Cooperation Strategy, FSM.
| 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 |
Infrastructure development | · Disaster Risk and Disaster Preparedness- UN development activities should be made in the
context of reducing disaster risk and increasing disaster preparedness. |
| Outcome 2:
Gender Equality |
Gender Equality | · UN to continue support for gender equality and help to mainstream gender across sectors.
· UN should continue to help address domestic violence as a human rights, gender, and health issue. |
| Outcome 3:
Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Empowerment |
Economic Growth
Food Security |
· Economic Empowerment: UN to focus on youth empowerment and creating job
opportunities for youth. · Food Security: UN to continue support for increased food security with a focus on local production that can also help combat the high incidence of non-communicable disease. |
| Outcome 4:
Equitable Basic Services |
Basic Health and Quality Education | · UN should continue support for strengthening health systems and the health workforce.
· UN should support communicable and non- communicable disease management as well as reproductive health. |
| Outcome 5:
Governance and Community Engagement |
||
| Outcome 6: Human Rights | · UN to continue support for human rights and help to mainstream human rights across all sectors. | |
| Cross-cutting | · UN should support actions for food security, basic health, and infrastructure that
simultaneously address the problems of climate change, water and sanitation, improved nutrition, and sustainable agriculture as well as reducing disaster risks and increasing disaster preparedness. |
|
