General News
SM232                                      The 23rd Annual SPREP Meeting, Noumea, New Caledonia at the
                                             Headquarters of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community

23rd Annual SPREP Meeting News Bites - The meeting noted that SPREP has doubled its direct financial and technical support for Pacific members of the Secretirat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme over the 2009-2011 period, with SPREP’s direct financial support increasing from US$2.4 million in 2010 to US$4.3 million in 2011.

Support for SPREP Member regional level activities increased from US$7 million in 2010 to US$8.3 million in 2011.
The 23rd Annual SPREP Meeting approved a work plan and balanced budget of USD $18.8 million for 2013 and noted this budget has increased from USD $7.6 million in 2009.

Over this period, salary costs as a percentage of the total SPREP budget have dropped from 45% in 2009 to 27% in 2012, indicating that increased funding is directly supporting SPREP Member countries rather than building up staffing at SPREP.

SPREP Members thanked donors and partners for their increased confidence and trust of donors in SPREP’s improved performance and financial management.

The 23rd Annual SPREP Meeting was hosted in Noumea, New Caledonia at the SPC Headquarters from 30 August to 8 September, 2012.