ABSTRACT
The Pacific Plan for Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Integration is the framework for the member states of the Pacific Islands Forum have been developing with the intention of addressing the challenges of globalization and security issues in the new millennium. This chapter discusses the origins of the Plan, its process and design. It assesses how the Plan proposes to implement its goals and it discusses some of its shortcomings. It notably examines, how during the process of design and elaboration of the draft, culture and gender, two important contemporary issues in the Pacific, have taken a back seat. The chapter discusses critique of two of the drafts of the Pacific Plan. The first, dated December 2004 which was the working document released for circulation by the Forum Secretariat until July 2005; and the second, the most recent draft version dated 11 July 2005. In addition, the Pacific leaders on the Eminent Person Group's (EPG) review 'fought' to have cultural identity.
