The purpose of this report is to update the assessment of development status and trends in the Pacific region. The sub-title, "Creating opportunities", refers to what poverty means in a practical sense in the countries in the region. It also emphasizes the critical link between effective policies and the availability of sound and timely social data.

Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are two small states that have struggled to develop successful social policies since independence. This study traces their social histories and examines factors that have hindered progress. Future development requires a move away from traditional social structures and a focus on political stability and economic growth.

Volume 1 assesses the state of financial sector development in seven of the 12 Pacific developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It consolidates the findings of individual country reports on the Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu, and recommends strategies for developing sound financial systems in the areas of macroeconomic policy, banking systems, nonbank financial institutions, financial markets, microfinance, and land tenure systems. Volume 2 specifically analyzes the attempts by Pacific developing member countries' governments to strengthen and develop their financial systems in order to promote economic development. They emanate from a regional technical assistance project that had the objective of formulating strategies for financial sector development, which would be the basis of a policy dialogue between the governments and ADB. Recommendations are of special relevance to the operations and management of central banks.

This wide-ranging volume captures the diverse range of societies and experiences that form what has come to be known as Melanesia. It covers prehistoric, historic and contemporary issues, and includes work by art historians, political scientists, geographers and anthropologists. The chapters range from studies of subsistence, ritual and ceremonial exchange to accounts of state violence, new media and climate change. The ‘Melanesian world’ assembled here raises questions that cut to the heart of debates in the human sciences today, with profound implications for the ways in which scholars across disciplines can describe and understand human difference. This impressive collection of essays represents a valuable resource for scholars and students alike.