Church Group Calls for Pacific Broadband Expansion.

We, the members of SIGNIS Pacific (World Catholic Association for Communications) call upon the leaders of the Church in the Pacific to encourage governments and other authorities to foster growth of communications infrastructure that will assist with the development of our region. Specifically we ask our Church leadership to see the value of new communications services, e.g. high-speed broadband and wireless applications as ‘tools’ of ministry to assist our people in the areas of health, education, social welfare and a myriad of pastoral outreach applications, e.g. relationship counseling, religious education etc. Increased capacity, particularly for remote outer islands and isolated villages, is vital if our people are to share in the considerable benefits these technologies bring to human development.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), of which the Pacific Communications Ministers are representatives, met in in February, 2009; June 2010 and the International Telecommunication Centre in Tonga and Noumea in April, 2011. Both groups challenged Pacific leaders on the issue of affordable access of both domestic and international connectivity in the Pacific programme to ‘connect the unconnected’.

We are painfully aware that there remain vast areas in our region that have meagre electricity supply and in some cases none at all. We acknowledge that services whilst developed in urban areas remain under-developed or even non existent in rural areas and outer islands. These obstacles are considerable but not insurmountable when we take into account the rapid expansion of television, radio and telephone services in the last 20 years. The Church can play a major social role in promoting the prioritization of these technologies as means of social communications; as gifts of God.

Not withstanding advances in technologies and their availability to some parts of our nations and the fact that we are linked to the rest-of-the-world through this communications eco-system, we remain overwhelmed with major social problems, e.g. governance, poverty, education, health, trade, culture, etc. Communications can and does play a vital role in overcoming the obstacles that prevent us from moving forward.

We call upon the leaders of the Pacific Church  to keep the challenge on governments and other agencies to live up to their plans and promises.  to demand that the implementation of these plans and policies be done in a way that will be beneficial to all sectors of society.  to demand that there be real civil society participation in the processes by which broadband infrastructure develops.  for the Church to commit to use such technologies in an exemplary way.

This Declaration was drawn up at the SIGNIS Pacific Assembly, Noumea, on 2 - 5 May, 2011 by delegates from , Islands, Federated States of , French Polynesia, , , Northern Marianas, Palau, , , , Tonga, and Wallis & Futuna.

We are fortunate to live and work in one of the most diverse and stimulating regions of the world. Although our nations are scattered over a vast area with hundreds of languages and varied cultures we are committed to ministering to our people with and through communications systems of the highest standard. Therefore, we call on all the Pacific Government and Communication Organisation for their commitment to build a sustainable and inclusive information society for the Pacific.

For further information contact:- Fr. Ambrose Pereira SDB, President,SIGNIS Pacific, [email protected]