Commonwealth Local Government Forum

CLGF: the voice of local government at CHOGM

19 October 2024

 

Since the launch of the Call to Action on Sustainable Urbanisation in 2021, CLGF has continued to prioritise this issue through its flagship network – the Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Network or CSCN.

 

The Call to Action is a joint initiative of several organisation and led to the creation of the Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Initiative (CSCI). This initiative firmly states that sustainable development in the face of rapid urbanisation can only be achieved through joint working, creating cities that work in all ways, based on research and data. The CSCI itself is a clear demonstration of the power of partnership through its collaborative working. This work is being taken forward at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting or CHOGM, principally at a CSCI side event taking, place on 23 October in Samoa, entitled:

 

Strengthening urban resilience for all – implementation of the Declaration on Sustainable Urbanisation  

 

To provide more information on how the event will take place: Jeremy Cross, Associate Director of Championing and Networks from the King's Foundation will introduce the event, explaining the impact of rapid urbanisation across the Commonwealth. Hon Olo Fiti Afoa Vaai, Minister of Works, Transport and Infrastructure, Samoa, will then provide the keynote speech, linking to the theme of this year’s CHOGM - One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth.

 

The event continues with: Dr Arjoon Suddhoo, Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth; Hon Jimmy Gasore Minister of Infrastructure, Rwanda; and Minister Hugh Hilton Todd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and international Co-operation, Guyana Guyana. They will be offering reflections on topics such as leveraging the Commonwealth to implement inclusive and sustainable urban development and the origins and aims of the Commonwealth Declaration on Sustainable Urbanisation

Intergovernmental cooperation

This is followed by presentations by governments from across the Commonwealth, including Dr Ruth Kattumuri, Senior Director of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Economic Youth and Sustainable Development Directorate; Shahrukh Wani, Country Manager International Growth Centre, Zambia; Professor Cheryl de la Rey, Vice Chancellor, University of Canterbury, NZ; and Councillor Cici Manwa, Tilbury Riverside & Thurrock Park, United Kingdom. 


This section of the event is described as: good practice across the Commonwealth - realising the commitments in the Commonwealth Declaration on Sustainable urbanisation and will look at issues, such as: building the resilience of the urban poor; data and evidence-based policy making & finance; the role of higher education institutions in urban development and capacity building; and sustainable urbanisation through building multi-disciplinary partnerships.

 

Future actions

An inperson side event at CHOGM, but the outcomes of the discussions will be reported back to our members, including issues around committing to future action; and looking at how we can maintain the momentum in the Commonwealth and the partnership between CSCI, the Commonwealth Secretariat and member states.

 

Resilience and sustainable development

In the face of challenges such as the pandemic, climate change, natural disasters, financial downturns and many others, resilience is a topic that will sadly continue to occupy our thoughts and actions for some time. Building resilience at the local level across the Commonwealth was the theme of CLGF’s pan Commonwealth conference held last November in Rwanda, producing an outcomes statement to guide future actions.

 

This is an initiative of the CSCI which comprises the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Commonwealth Association of Architects, the Commonwealth Association of Planners; and the Commonwealth Association of Engineers: with support from The King’s Foundation, the Rwandan Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Local Government. Commonwealth, the Samoa Government and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

 

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