Samoa is a small group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and New Zealand.  Most of the population are concentrated on the main islands, Upolu and Savaii.  Samoa’s total land area is around 2841 square kilometres.

Democratic traditions and a strong social system based on village communities and extended family ties continue to play a major role in the maintaining of peace in the Samoan society.  The extended family, the aiga, is the foundation of the fa’a-samoa (a traditional way of life).  The head of each aiga is the matai (customary chief), who is elected by family members. Traditionally, the family matai is responsible for maintaining the family’s dignity and well-being by administrating family affairs.  More than 80% of the population lives under the matai system.  Particularly strong in the rural areas and at village level, it functions as a safety net in providing social and financial security.  Many of the Samoans who are resident abroad continue to contribute to their ‘social obligations’ by sending significant amounts of money to their extended family and churches.

The national system of government is based on the British Westminster model with a combination of traditional and democratic features.  Universal suffrage has applied since 1991, but with the exception of two seats reserved for voters considered to be outside the governance of the matai system (out of a total of 49 seats), only matai can stand for parliament.  The Human Rights Protection Party has been in power continuously for 18 years.  The coalition forming the opposition exists of the Samoan National Development Party and eight independent members.

The economy of Samoa has traditionally been dependent on development aid, family remittances from overseas, and agriculture and fishing.  Agriculture plays an important role in the economy of Samoa.  Village agriculture will provide food security and support to the agro-based industries, such as coconut cream, oil and desiccated coconut, which have been major export products in the past years.  The manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products.  Tourism is an expanding sector.  The Samoan Government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline, while protecting the environment.  Samoa’s development efforts in the area of trade both at the national and at international level are considered relatively advanced compared to the current situation in other Pacific island countries.  However, Samoa is ecologically fragile and vulnerable to natural disasters, such as cyclones and disease infestations.

The UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) ranks Samoa 70th out of 175 countries (Human Development Report 2003).  Based on the HDI, Samoa has one of the higher levels of social development rankings among the Pacific island countries, showing higher overall education and health standards relative to the other Pacific countries.

Gender issues such as the promotion and protection of women's rights, gender equity and women and HIV/AIDS are of high importance in the Samoan society.  The rate of participation of women in the country's labour force is relatively high.  Access to education and achievement in the formal educational system, is virtually equal to men.  Women occupy a number of senior positions in the public sector.  The church plays a key role in influencing public opinions and in education through the provision of schools at all levels.

The Government gives high priority to education and health in its economic strategy and the ministries of education and health, nongovernmental organizations, private sector, donors and multilateral lending agencies have coordinated to address education and health problems at all levels.

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