Over 100 local government leaders from eleven countries in the Pacific region have come together in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea for the 3rd Pacific Local Government Forum (PLGF) that runs from 19-23 May. The biennial conference organised by CLGF Pacific is being jointly hosted by the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs and the National Capital District Commission of Papua New Guinea. The Forum is being attended by the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Hon Peter O’Neill, CLGF Patron and the Prime Minister of Tuvalu Hon Enele Sopoaga, the PNG Minister for Intergovernment Relations, Hon Leo Dion, the Governor of the National Capital District Hon Powes Parkop, CLGF Chairperson Mayor Lawrence Yule and CLGF Secretary-General Carl Wright.

CLGF is dedicated to putting local government at the heart of development and promoting solutions that work for the benefit of Pacific island communities. PLGF 2014 aims to demonstrate and encourage local innovation and leadership within the region’s local government sector through peer learning and exchanges of good practices and ideas. The Forum will feature a Local Government Ministers and Mayors Meeting, a Local Government Research Roundtable and a 2-day Local Government Conference and Exhibition among the many highlights. Local government plays a vital role in representing, empowering and building local communities, not just in the Pacific but globally, and this important contribution will be highlighted in the theme for this event, ‘Pacific Futures – Building our Local Communities’.

The Forum will set Pacific local government firmly in a global context, with a particular reference on the impact of climate change and the role of local government as a partner in the global development agenda post 2015. It will also provide a platform for stakeholders to address the impact of a growing and diversifying Pacific on local government’s role in community engagement and service delivery. It will showcase case studies of good practice from across the region and provide a platform to debate new approaches to working in a more developmental way towards building more vibrant, resilient and inclusive Pacific communities.

Regional Director of CLGF Pacific Ms Karibaiti Taoaba said, “The PLGF 2014 takes place as the Commonwealth is celebrating 2014 as the ‘Year of Developmental Local Government’, and as the global community is debating the global development agenda and sustainability development targets to replace the MDGs. There is a rich debate taking place across the Pacific region, spearheaded by the PIFS, and the forthcoming SIDS conference in Samoa will be a further important opportunity to articulate the needs of small island states”.
PLGF is an important part of the CLGF Pacific regional capacity building program, supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme, Australian Pacific Leadership Program and International Women’s Development Agency.

Find out more at www.plgf.clgfpacific.org/plgf2014