The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) has been successful in gaining European Union (EU) support and funding for a programme aimed at strengthening the capacity of Local Government Associations (LGA) to support local economic development (LED) in the Pacific.
The overall objective of the programme is ‘to create and increase the sustainability of local economic development at the local level through the strengthening of LGAs and local authorities (LAs) and supporting their interaction with communities’.
Strong and adequately resourced LGAs are a prerequisite to a sustained drive to increase local economic activity in the Cook Islands, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands, the three countries which have been chosen for the pilot project. The small size of local councils and their limited resources mean they require specialist assistance to implement new programmes. Through this new LED focused initiative, LGAs will be developed and trained to enable them to provide this much needed assistance.

The specific objectives of the programme are to:

• Improve Local Government planning and resourcing for sustainable development
• Improve the capacity of Local Government Associations, CLGF and local government staff to support and monitor LED related initiatives of local communities and their councils
• Promote innovative collaborative approaches to stakeholder and public participation in local governance

Local government is a key actor at the local level in the drive for sustainable development. The debate around the post 2015 development agenda and localization of the new development goals will serve to further enhance this role. The above objectives, if achieved, will see local government able to effectively plan with their communities for a sustainable future through real and productive engagement with citizens and supported by appropriately skilled professional LA, LGAs and CLGF staff.