A Training of Trainers Workshop and Pilot Seminar based on UN-HABITAT's Elected Leadership series was implemented from 27 March - 8 April 2006 in Suva, Fiji. Some 30 trainers representing 8 Islands states (Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Tonga, and Fiji) benefited from the two-week training programme. A direct result of the ToT programme has been the creation of a pool of resources persons in the region to design and deliver interactive training programmes on leadership roles and competencies for elected local leaders.  Follow –up and implementation of country action plans will be sustained through the partnership created between UN-HABITAT and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) and with the support of NZAid.
UNDP and the Government of Fiji.

The Island States of the South Pacific Region are undergoing a systematic process of growth and development which has been accompanied by an accelerated pace of urbanization.  Increasingly, cities are recognized as de facto engines of economic growth and opportunity with expanding business, trade and tourism links internationally with growing linkages to their rural hinterlands. Against this background, many governments in the region have sought to improve governance and quality of life indicators through the adoption of decentralization policies which seek to empower local governments, locally elected leaders and their stakeholders.

Within this decentralization framework, a Training of Trainers Workshop and Pilot Seminar based on UN-HABITAT's Elected Leadership series has been implemented from 27 March - 8 April 2006 in Suva, Fiji. Some 30 trainers representing 8 Islands states (Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Tonga, and Fiji) have benefited from the two-week training programme.

A direct result of the ToT progarmme has been the creation of a pool of resources persons in the region to design and deliver interactive training programmes on leadership roles and competencies for elected local leaders.  ToT participants have also designed and delivered a pilot training seminar to train 40 councilors from surrounding municipalities in Fiji and to pre-test training modules designed during the ToT.

At the end of the ToT, participants also developed country-specific and institutional action plans to ensure the development and implementation of country specific training and capacity building programmes, including local level adaptation of the LEL manuals and local level training events.

The training programme has been implemented as part of a Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF)  local government five-year capacity building programme that has an aim to improve the quality of life for communities in the Pacific region through strengthened local democracy and good governance.  The initiative has been implemented by the UN-HABITAT Training and Capacity Building Branch (TCBB) and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), through the support of NZAid.

As a result of the programme, a firm partnership with the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) has been established. Additionally, funding support has been generated from contributions via the UNDP Country Office, the Government of Fiji, the UNDP Pacific Region Office, and the CLGF, through NZAId towards the implementation of national follow-up activities. Moreover, the CLGF, in collaboration with the UNDP Country and Pacific Regional Offices have pledged to backstop national follow-up activities in the region based on the UN-HABITAT LEL manuals.