In addressing poverty, UNDP focuses not just on poverty of incomes but on poverty as a denial of choices and opportunities for living a tolerable life. Our assistance is therefore directed primarily to the creation of employment and sustainable livelihoods, the advancement of women, empowerment of disadvantaged groups, protection and regeneration of the environment, and the improved governance of development. At this time of particular economic difficulty, perhaps the most critical development issue confronting Pacific island countries is how to generate enough remunerative income-earning opportunities for their people. The populations of these countries are predominantly young and some are growing considerably faster than the national economy. Formal sector jobs now cater for only a minority of workers, but a growing proportion of people want a cash income.
Young people are particularly at risk of unemployment.
In some countries, there are more than seven times as many young people seeking work each year as there are new jobs available and the gap between supply and demand seems almost certain to grow. Another way to meet Pacific islanders' aspirations and to counter poverty is to increase opportunities for self-employment and to stimulate informal sector growth. UNDP welcomes the production of this Pacific Development Directory for it will help address another key difficulty in this region, that of informing people about avenues of assistance to Pacific island countries and coordinating this assistance more efficiently. Governments here receive a high level of aid yet there has been for some time concern over the ineffectiveness of this aid to remedy development concerns. As in other parts of the world, development agencies in the Pacific need to work together in order that their resources can have sufficient impact on particular problems.