WUNRN
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FIJI: More Women and Youth for Local Governments
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More women and youths are expected to participate in running local governments
if the Commonwealth-funded Pacific project has its way.
The regional advisor for the Commonwealth Local Government Pacific Project,
Terry Packer, said that the project of which Fiji is a beneficiary aims to help
develop the local governments in the region. One of the goals of the project is
to increase the participation of women and youths in local governments.
In an exclusive interview with the Department of Information, Mr Parker said
“there is a significant imbalance in the participation of women and youths in
the local governments and that some focus will be placed on training programmes
to prepare them to be actively involved.”
“It is definitely an issue that can be addressed by the local governments
here,” he said.
However, Mr Parker said while the regional project aims to support the work of
local governments, it will do this through a consultative process, adding that
the local governments will have better knowledge of their needs.
“We are here to support them,” he said.
He said other areas that the project will assist local governments include a
review of existing legislations, training on urban land-use planning, media and
public relations training, and workshops for managements and town clerks.
Another key area includes continuing the urban governance index which was
implemented early this year in collaboration with the University of the South
Pacific. The index provides indicators on the performance of the local
governments.
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