Text size

Improving Local Government in the Pacific

23 December 2004


Mataiasi Ragigia, Minister for Local Government, Fiji.

Solutions to the challenges facing local government in the Pacific region need to be developed locally, delegates recommended at a Commonwealth symposium in Suva, Fiji Islands, held from 4 to 8 December 2004.

They also encouraged central governments to ensure that appropriate policy, as well as a legislative and financial environment, is in place to enable local government to function effectively.

The 'Regional Symposium on Local Governance' was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat's Governance and Institutional Development Division, the Fiji Government and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF). Around 100 participants, including elected representatives and government officials from the Pacific region, attended the meeting.

Inaugurating the symposium, Mataiasi Ragigia, Fiji's Minister for Local Government, Housing, Squatter Settlements and Environment, said: "Decentralised structures, particularly formal local government institutions, are closest to the people. They are the level of government best placed to provide the enabling environment for social and economic development and the best possible quality of life for the people they serve.

"The local government's voice is being heard increasingly at the global level as strong local government is accepted as a critical component to the promotion of democratic values that deepen the democratic process."

Mr Ragigia noted that Fiji was amending its Local Government Act to enable municipal councils to meet the needs of ratepayers more effectively. Within the next 12 months, the Government will also implement an Urban Policy Action Plan aimed at improving economic growth and reducing poverty through better urban management and governance.

Among the topics the symposium addressed were promoting local democracy and good governance; the impact of urbanisation on local governance; local governments and the traditional governing structures in the Pacific; and effective local governance for improved service delivery.

Delegates produced 14 recommendations. These included suggestions that communities be encouraged to take a participatory approach to local government and that women be more actively involved in local governance. Participants also urged the enhancement of donor co-ordination in local governance and urban management, and called for the formation of a Pacific region association of local governments with assistance from CLGF.

The symposium was funded by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation.

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service, Issue 215, 22 December 2004