On Friday morning 20th November 2015 the new Secretary General of the Pacific Island Development Forum Mr. Francois Martel participated in his first Senior Officials Committee meeting that was held at the ICT Center in USP, Suva.
Mr Martel took up his post on Monday 26/10/15 as the first permanent Secretary General of the Pacific Island Development Forum following his appointment at the 3rd PIDF Summit in September, 2015.
The Senior Officials Committee (SOC) is a Committee of representatives of all Pacific countries and territories that have attended a PIDF Summit. It also includes representatives of various Pacific non-governmental and private sector organisations. The SOC provides operational oversight of the day to day activities of the PIDF. The Chair of the SOC is His Excellency Patterson Oti, Solomon Islands High Commissioner to Fiji.
Under the recently approved Charter of the PIDF the SOC will cease when the Member’s Representative Council (MRC) is established. The MRC will assume operational oversight of the day to day activities of the PIDF from the SOC. Its members will comprise three representatives of public sector, private sector and civil society organisations in all the PIDF Members countries who are members of their National/Local Sustainable Development Boards.
Yesterday’s SOC meeting heard preparations that are underway by the PIDF Secretariat to assist Pacific countries as they participate at the upcoming Paris Climate Negotiations (COP21). The meeting was also briefed on the upcoming France and Oceania Summit scheduled in Paris in the lead up to COP21 and other important policy and operational issues of the PIDF.