Governments in the various Pacific Island states and territories, along
with their development partners and a range of regional organisations,
have been participating in the multi-sectoral international development
agenda that is enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs have some serious omissions in so far as they relate to key
relationships between population, economic growth and sustainable
development. These include an absence of reference to: population
growth, population structure, fertility, migration, urbanisation and the
development of appropriate data bases and information systems for
developing policy frameworks and implementation plans. This paper
reviews contemporary Pacific Island populations in the context of
demographic factors that will impact on the achievement of the MDGs in
the region. Some long-standing fictions are challenged in an attempt to
ensure that persistent fact-less follies do not continue to misinform public
policy and thus detract from the region?s progress towards informed and
sustained development in Pacific populations.