PLGF 2012 Outcomes Document - CLGF - Commonwealth Local ...

Pacific Local Government Forum
5-7 November 2012, Honiara, Solomon Islands
‘Unleashing the potential of local government as a catalyst for local economic
development and delivering the MDGs’
OUTCOMES STATEMENT
1. Over eighty (80) local government policy makers, practitioners and development and other partners from
ninePacific island countries - Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon
Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu; along with Australia and New Zealand – met for the second Pacific Local
Government Forum (PLGF), Good Practice Sharing Forum in Honiara, Solomon Islands from 5-7 November
2012. The PLGF was organised by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum Pacific (CLGF Pacific)
together with the Solomon Island Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening and the
Honiara City Council.
2. The purpose of the Forum was to demonstrate and encourage local innovation and leadership within the
local government sector through peer learning and exchange of ideas and good practice on putting local
government at the heart of development, and in particular explore the theme ‘the role of local government
in Local Economic Development or LED’. The Forum also provided an opportunity to:
• Address current and emerging local government issues and challenges
• Set an agenda for local government reform
• Strengthen intergovernmental relations and collaborative governance
3. The Forum acknowledges and takes guidance from the Cardiff Consensus for Local Economic Development
which was formally endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in Perth 2011; the
2010 Port Vila Declaration on building vibrant and resilient local economies and communities in the Pacific;
and the outcomes of the 2012 Regional Roundtable on Public Private Partnerships for LED – that emphasise
the important role of local government in effective local economic development.
4. The outcomes of this Forum will build on the key outcomes and lessons from the good practices and work
already being done by CLGF Pacific, its local government members and partners and will work towards
further building a shared understanding of what constitutes appropriate and effective local economic
development practice in the Pacific.
5. The outcomes of the Forum included agreement on the following:
LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
6. Local economic development is a process which brings together different partners in a local area to work
together and harness local resources for sustainable economic growth. There is no single model for LED and
approaches should reflect local needs and circumstances.
THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN LED
7. Local government in the Pacific plays a vital role in nation building and progressing national and regional
goals of development.
8. Local government has a clear role in providing effective local leadership and governance and fostering
partnerships between different levels of government, civil society, business and community to promote and
encourage local economic development.

9. Pro-poor, gender responsive and environmentally sound LED enables local governments to address poverty,
urbanisation, unemployment, social marginalisation, climate change, environmental degradation and other
critical service delivery challenges.
10. Improving quality of life and community resilience are core goals of LED which directly contributes to the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and shouldalso form a key component of the
UN’s Post 2015 Development Agenda.
Recognising the diversity of the local government sector and its environs, the need to ensure that local
economic development strategies and activities are locally owned and reflect local needs and circumstances,
we call on regional, national and local government leaders, the private sector, civil society and development
partners to support and strengthen local governments role in local economic development to help reduce
poverty and promote sustainable economic growth and prosperity across the Pacific:
THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATIONS IN PROMOTING LED
11. Local government associations (LGAs) have a critical role as advocates for local government, particularly
with national government, operationalising national frameworks and policy and assessing impact. They are
important partners incapacity building, facilitating the exchange of good practice between local governments
and their partners, and identifying and leveraging resources for LED.
12. The establishment and strengthening of LGAs to play their role in promoting the role of local governments
in LED should be prioritised.
INNOVATIONS AND GOOD PRACTICES IN LED
13. There are a wide range of case studies that already demonstrate the role of local government in LED as
traditional service provider, regulator and catalyst for LED. These have highlighted the following:
• The importance of strategic planning to provide a long-term vision for development and support and
promote greater representation and participation in decision-making processes and resulting LED
activities
• Development of urban growth management plans are a essential tool for providing the conditions for
investment
• Provision of services and infrastructure are fundamental to capitalise on opportunities for economic
development and in particular tourism
• Local regulations and bylaws can have an important role in enabling economic growth and in particular
women’s economic empowerment
• Using simple sustainable building practices (such as white roofs) support economic growth by directly
reducing costs to business and communities, as well as create other investment and employment
opportunities
• Effective waste management provides opportunities for changing community behaviour, job skills and
innovation in economic activities
• Creating employment opportunities and work experience for urban youthhelps to ensure social stability
for longer term investments
• ICT plays a role in improving the skills and revenue raising capacity of local governments
• Local marketplaces are crucial for realising women’s development in the local economy and contribute
to the alleviation of poverty. Local marketplaces also provide an opportunity to address underlying
social issues including gender based violence, safety and security
• Local governments can play a role in directly providing finance opportunities and information for small
business development.

STRATGIES TO ENABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO PLAY AN EFFECTIVE ROLE IN LED
Establishing an effective policy framework for LED
14. There is a need to improve the enabling environment for decentralization and local governance in the
Pacific, with a focus on how this environment supports local government’s role in LED.
15. Building the capacity of national government agencies (namely, ministries/departments responsible for local
government) to harmonise policies and legislation, improve intergovernmental dialogue and coordinate
programs in support of sustainable LED.
Capacity building needs for local government in LED
16. There is a critical need to build local leaders understanding of local government’s role as well as their own
role as leaders in LED. There is also a need to building local government staff capacity on participatory
community consultation and engagement methodologies to ensure effective involvement of key partners
and stakeholders in LED activities.
17. Local government capacity should be built to develop and implement direct community capacity support
programs, information and services for small businesses.
Partnerships to support LED
18. Partnerships are at the heart of effective LED. Partnerships bring expertise, resources and capacity building
opportunities, however the development of mutual trust and ownership is key to drive and establish
sustainable long-term partnerships.
19. The Good Practice Scheme/city partnership arrangements are a good practice that should be replicated
across the Pacific as a key delivery mechanism for effective LED.
20. Partnerships between national and local governments, national local government associations and
development partners are critical. There is a need to increase funding and technical support to local
governments if they are to achieve their LED roles and responsibilities.
ICT and Knowledge Management for LED
21. Local government should build on and strengthen existing mechanisms for sharing information and good
practice.There is also a critical need to increasing local government access to ICT skills, tools and
infrastructure.
22. Local government ministries, national associations and regional organisations have a key role in facilitating
sharing of ideas and LED good practice.
23. ICT should also be used to provide opportunities for innovative community LED initiatives.
DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS
The following Demonstration Projects were workshopped on Day 3 of the roundtable. They will be developed
and progressed with a view to creating sustainable and replicable Demonstration Projects in each of the areas
listed. The learning’s will be incorporated into a guideline/toolkit to support local governmentand their
stakeholders in developing and implementingstrategies for LED.
• Women’s economic empowerment
• Urban Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship
• Outer Islands LED and climate change adaptation

• Sustainable Building Practices Guideline
• Seasonal Worker Program
• ICT Capacity Building and LED Knowledge Hub
THE ROLE OF CLGF IN SUPPORTING AND PROMOTING LED
24. The role of CLGF Pacific is to:
• Build a shared understanding on what constitutes appropriate and effective LED practice in the region
• Coordinate and provide capacity building support for local governments in LED
• Facilitate a regional information and knowledge system for LED and other good practices
• Leverage resources and partnerships to support local government LED initiatives
25. Based on the outcomes of this Forum, CLGF will develop a multi-annual regional local government support
program for LED working closely with existing and new development partners. It is expected that this will
build on some initial pilot projects in early 2013 with a view to having a more substantive regional program
developed and agreed before the end of 2013. In this work, CLGF will draw on similar programs in which it
is involved in other parts of the Commonwealth, especially in the Caribbean, and to promote inter-regional
learning and exchange of good practices.
26. CLGF will take the outcomes of this Forum for further discussion within the management structures of CLGF
Pacific as well for showcasing the Pacific local government experience at the CLGF Conference
‘Developmental Local Government: Putting Local Government at the Heart of Development’, Kampala,
Uganda, 14-17 May 2013. It is noted that the outcomes of the 2013 Conference will be presented to the UN
review on the post 2015 development agenda and to Commonwealth Heads of Government.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sincere appreciation is expressed to the Forum hosts, the Solomon Islands Government, the Ministry of
Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening and the Honiara City Council for their generous support
and hospitality.
CLGF Pacific wishes to acknowledge the keynote addresses delivered by the Solomon Islands Prime Minister,
Honourable Gordon Darcy Lilo. CLGF further wishes to acknowledge the addresses of the Lord Mayor of
Honiara, Hon Andrew Mua; the CLGF Secretary General, Mr Carl Wright;the past CLGF Board Chair, Mr Basil
Morrison; and the Premier of Guadalcanal Provincial Government, Mr Hon Anthony Veke. Representative from
PIFS
CLGF Pacific acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Aid Programme, the Australian Agency for
InternationalDevelopment (AusAID) Pacific Leadership Program for providing sponsorship for the Forum.
CLGF also thanks participating partners and development agenciesLocal Government Managers Australian
(LGMA) and Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA),
Commonwealth Pacific Governance Facility, Commonwealth Youth Programme, European Union (EU), United
Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF),United National Development Programme Honiara (UNDP),
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women),the World Bank,
University of the South Pacific (USP), the Australian Major Cities Unit and Australian Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations (Seasonal Workers Program).