Shining our spotlight on our Pacific People that work for our Pacific environment is this Q and A series from your Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
This week we introduce you to one of three staff members of SPREP that have been with us since it was formed in 1992. Ms Lupe Silulu is our Records and Archives Officer.
Over the years Lupe has seen many changes as the Secretariat moved from an office in Vaitele, Samoa to its new headquarters in Vailima, Samoa. Lupe originally shared information by postal mail, and fax to share information with our Members and Partners to applying the new technology we see today to share information email and other online platforms. She has also seen the growth of the organisation over the years.
A vital member of the SPREP and our Pacific Environment team, Lupe works in the Knowledge Management Unit along with four others to help ensure information is stored and shared.
Q. Can you please tell us about an environmental challenge that you work to address?
A key part of address environmental challenges is to support the coordination, and sharing of, information. I work to ensure information requested is efficiently made available especially when referring to past environment projects, documents and decisions made by the Secretariat and Members. We may find it in physical paper form (past) or sometimes electronic versions as we now print only when necessary.
Q. How do you work with our Members to address this?
The majority of official communication is through email, which is very efficient, we disseminate official correspondence such as our circulars that keep our members up to date on what is happening at SPREP and the work we have been undertaking with our Members. An important role we also play is to keep the contact details of our Members valid and current, so information is shared with all.
It’s a great feeling when we receive positive feedback from those we help, especially when we are able to produce a requested document within a day at most.
Q. What would you say are your biggest highlights in working with our Members?
Having the opportunity to be part of the Secretariat team serving our Members at our Annual SPREP Meetings when they were hosted in different Member countries. Now we have moved to have them every two years with the Executive Board Meeting every other year, there is still that great sense of achievement when we play our role at these events. Another highlight for me is that feeling of accomplishment when we are helping our Members as we work behind the scenes, making sure a flow of information continues.
Q. What are you working on at the moment?
We strive to keep up to date with the latest technology and as such we are now working with our SPREP ICT team on migrating Outlook E-files to an Electronic Document Records Management System (EDRMS). This is a records management system that will help file and store all of SPREP’s official records.
Q. What would you say are your highlights of working at SPREP?
I enjoy working with colleagues from different nationalities, we have diversity at SPREP which we always celebrate - we get to share our culture and life experiences that make us who we are. We are also fortunate to have the privilege of technology and resources to do our work in this day and age, and if you visited our headquarters in Samoa, you would have seen our backyard – we are blessed to have a nature hike that can be done and always look forward to walking the Robert Louis Stevenson mountain with members of our team and visitors.
Q. What words of advice do you have to help make our Pacific environment a better one?
We are guardians of the land, sea and air. Respect our environment and it will take care of you.
Should you wish to contact our Knowledge Management Team please do so at [email protected]