ABSTRACT
In 2003, Pacific Islands Forum Leaders took the decision to review the Forum. They established an Eminent Persons Group of former leaders and diplomats who traveled the Pacific with a mission to find out, through extensive consultation, the sort of Pacific people wanted to live in. The Vision for the Pacific is for a region where peace, harmony, security and economic prosperity can, should and will be a reality: peace being, not only the absence of conflict, but also the pursuit of economic and social prosperity, something to be actively and creatively pursued. The process of developing and agreeing on peace is as important if not more than the final documentation which records that agreement—Bougainville and Solomon Islands are cases in point. It follows that ongoing assistance, once an agreement is reached, which is informed by this understanding, is crucial to giving long lasting peace a chance.
