Pacific Partnership for the New Urban Agenda

Welcome to the Pacific Partnership for the New Urban Agenda (PP-NUA) Community of Practice (CoP).

WEBINAR ON LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

FRAMEWORK FOR A BLUE AND GREEN ECONOMY

Background

Pacific cities, towns, and urban centres are considered as engines of economic development. These centres play a critical role in improving the livelihoods of urban residents and supporting developments far beyond their boundaries. The ability of local government to shape and create an enabling environment for Local Economic Development is essential for achieving SDGs and implementing the New Urban Agenda in the region; more so during COVID 19. Investments in urban infrastructure, skills and partnership development programs, market and credit access for SMEs, stimulating business and innovation, and promoting local resources and products are crucial for inclusive local development.

However, in many of our Pacific towns and cities, there are a number of institutional barriers that prevent effective LED. For the Pacific, we also need to take account of the predominance of the informal sector which accounts for the employment of the majority of people living in and around urban centres. Such a form of employment represents an opportunity for urban dwellers but at the same time, a source of risk for many vulnerable workers such as the women who constitute the majority of the informal sector. Therefore, discussions are required to explore how the institutional, legislative, and financial frameworks can promote LED in towns and cities.

This webinar is presented by the Pacific Partnership for the New Urban Agenda (PP-NUA). The objective is to inform participants about the outcomes of an action-based training program that has been piloted by local governments in Kiribati, the Cook Islands, and the Marshall Islands, and to explore how the experience from the pilot program might have relevance for other Pacific Island communities. The webinar will be held in the context of ‘Urban October’ as part of the conversation about the challenges and opportunities created by the fast rate of change in our cities and towns, and in observance of World Cities Day, the theme of which is ‘Better City, Better Life’ and the sub-theme for this year is ‘Valuing our communities and cities’.

CLGF Pacific LED Project

The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) has been funded by the EU to design and deliver a training and mentoring program on LED for Small Island Developing States - Kiribati (South Tarawa), the Cook Islands (ten outer islands), and the Marshall Islands. The overall objective of the project is to create and increase the sustainability of local economic development at the local level through the strengthening of Local Government Associations and Local Authorities and supporting their interaction with communities. This recognizes the small size and limited capability of local government in these countries and seeks to create a small pool of expertise and support concentrated in the peak body of local government in each country. The project also helps to strengthen councils and community participation in creating the enabling environment for LED to make sure that countries understand the importance of LED and the potential role of local government to support LED. It is an action learning project that has guided participants and Councils in the development of their own local economic development plans, taking account of the national and regional priorities.

The webinar will serve as a final dissemination workshop at which the participants from the pilot countries come together to share their experience and build peer support for implementing their plans. The dissemination workshop would also be used by CLGF to discuss the way forward for LED as a response to COVID 19.

Given COVID-19 constraints, the dissemination workshop will need to be delivered in a webinar format.  It will also provide an excellent opportunity to open up the event more broadly across the Pacific to discuss how LED can be used as part of the response to the pandemic emergency that has had a significant impact on Pacific economies. It has always been intended that the learnings from this project could facilitate replication in other Pacific communities and the webinar could be the first step in this direction.

Webinar Program

The webinar will be held on Friday 30 October 2020 over 2¹/₂ hours from 13:00 to 15:30 (Fiji date and time), with the following program:

1. Welcome and official opening - Alexei Trundle, Research Fellow in Sustainable Urban Development from Melbourne University, Australia (Moderator)
2. Introduction of the PP-NUA and overview of ‘’Urban October’’ - what does it mean to the Pacific- Bernhard Barth, Human Settlements Officer, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, UN Habitat, Japan
3. The role of Local and National Government for the informal Sector in the Pacific- Dr Jane Stanley, President of EAROPH, Australia
4. CLGF LED Project in the Pacific- Karibaiti Taoaba, Regional Director, CLGF Pacific, Fiji
5. Lessons Learnt from countries participating in the LED project. They will also discuss the challenges and opportunities experienced by LED in their countries.
   • Kiribati Local Government Association - Mr. Rikiaua Takeke, CEO
   • Marshall Islands Mayors Association - Mr. Wallace Peter, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Marshall Islands
   • Cook Island Outer Islands Association- Mr. Mia Teaurima, Director, Island Governance, Office of the Prime Minister, Cook Islands (to include a short break)
6. Discussions on the topic of “working towards a local economic development Project for the Pacific” will follow: Guiding questions will include:

• What is the role for Local Government/local Agencies in promoting LED in the Pacific region?
• What are the challenges affecting local government’s ability to support LED and what operational strategies that government could use to support small, micro and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) and MSME development and facilitating Pubic Private Partnership (PPP) in the Pacific;
• How can Local Government and their responsible ministries or other relevant ministries effectively support community mobilization and better utilization of local assets for LED in the Pacific?
• How can the informal sector be supported?

7. Responding panel to the discussion on LED in the Pacific:

• Luis De Torres Boneachea, Natural Resources and Governance, Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific
• Steve Gawler, Regional Director, ICLEI Oceania.
• UNESCAP

8. Concluding remarks and wrap up from the Moderator.

The webinar will be delivered via the Solevaka digital platform. To register as a participant, please go to https://solevaka.org/user/register

The Zoom link for the Webinar is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84836602923 For further information, please contact Mrs Karibaiti Taoaba, Regional Director Commonwealth Local Government Forum Pacific, email taoaba@clgfpacific.org.fj phone (679) 3300257.

Registration is free.

We also invite you to share the details of the webinar with your networks and partners working towards achieving sustainable urban development in the Pacific.