Kiribati’s Vice President and Minister for Internal Affairs, Hon. Teima Onorio, officially opened two, two-day workshops on Local Economic Development (LED), in September; one held at the Betio Town Council (BTC) from 10th to 11th September, and another at Eutan Tarawa Council (ETC) from 15th-16th September. Both workshops were aimed at building the capacity of the participating Councils in planning for and implementing LED projects and activities in their communities, with funding assistance from the European Union.
The BTC workshop was attended by councillors, officials as well as MPs of the two urban councils on Tarawa, the Betio Town Council and Teinainano Urban Council (TUC). In her opening remarks, the Vice President and long-time Board Member of CLGF, welcomed the initiative by CLGF and financial support by the EU that has allowed the LED project and the workshop to take off in Kiribati. She also thanked the Councillors and senior staff of the three Councils for attending, and advised that the workshop would provide participants with relevant skills and knowledge on LED that would contribute to growth and reduce poverty in their communities. She also challenged the Councils to review their related legislations, including the Business Bye-law, to make them supportive to LED. By citing LED cases in other Commonwealth countries that involve women and creative ideas such as reuse of waste, she encouraged the participants to widen their visions on LED.
The Director of CLGF Pacific, Karibaiti Taoaba, who flew in from Fiji, also participated in the BTC workshop. In her remarks, she explained that Kiribati is one of three countries in which the EU-funded LED projects is to be piloted, beside Cook Islands and the Marshalls. She noted many achievements in local government in Kiribati over the years, such as the increasing number of women taking leading roles and the increasing capacities of Councils to generate revenue and create savings and long-term investments. She believed the LED would, no doubt, contribute to these.
The Taiwan Ambassador, who also spoke during the BTC opening, said that development partners should provide partnership on LED projects, since they focus on local communities. The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industries and Cooperatives (MCIC), Tessie Lambourned, former Secretary of Internal Affairs, also participated at the BTC workshop and told the participants that her Ministry has resources that relate to LED and would be happy to assist KiLGA and the Councils with further capacity building for LED.
The ETC workshop was held at Abaokoro in North Tarawa, a week after the BTC one and was opened by ETC Mayor, Harry Tekaiti, on Tuesday 15 September. All members of the Council, including church and women representatives and one of the three MPs, attended.
It was officially closed by the Vice President, Hon. Teima Onorio, who travelled by boat across the Tarawa lagoon to convey her words of encouragements to the Councillors.
The main expected outcome of the workshop is a Strategic Plan for LED projects by the three Councils and a successful implementation of LED pilot projects, amounting to €5,000, also funded by the European Union. There are plans to involve other outer island Councils, including those in the Line Islands, once the pilot projects in these three Councils are completed, successfully.
The three Councils of BTC, TUC and ETC, earmarked to implement LED pilot projects were selected by KiLGA’s Executive Board for their close proximity to KiLGA, which will coordinate the project.