The state of human development in the Pacific: a report on vulnerability and exclusion in a time of rapid change
The State of Human Development in the Pacific: A Report on Vulnerability and Exclusion in a time of rapid change examines the stark realities of a region in which one in four people are now living below their national basic-needs poverty line; and also have limited access to essential services such as education and health services. Obesity, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases are on the rise throughout the region. The report presents a picture of a changing social and economic regional landscape, based on new data and analysis. Economies are shifting from traditional systems built on the exchange of products to market-led cash-based ones; young people are migrating from their villages to find jobs in cities and abroad, leaving women, the very old and the very young behind; traditional family and social protection systems are in decline; climate change is threatening agricultural production and traditional livelihoods and intensifying the impact of natural disasters.