Background and Objectives
Background
The Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP), an initiative of the ACP Secretariat and financed by the European Commission, is currently implementing an urbanization and poverty assessment in partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs representing the Government of Vanuatu. The partnership is targeting slum upgrading and prevention strategies and policies towards the implementation of Millennium Development Goal 7.
Objectives
The Government of Vanuatu has committed to institutionalize a participatory governance and urban development assessment approach, to review urban management and development priorities for improving the lives of the urban poor.
The PSUP for Vanuatu has the vision of enabling national, city and community representatives as well as planning authorities to better assess urban development needs and urban poverty in Vanuatu through applying a cross-sector approach and building ownership for the urban sector challenges and starting to mainstream slum issues in other policies (e.g. Land Use, Population) to address urban poverty.
Activities
The Government of Vanuatu has initiated a Country Team to steer the programme activities, have a maximum learning process and to ensure that the programme approach is well adapted to the countries' needs and capacities.
Vanuatu has implemented its commitment to better understanding and addressing urban growth management and mainstreaming the slum issue in regular work and building on Cabinet approval (2012) to scope the demands and functions for a central urban coordination agency. The current urban infrastructure investments are giving rise to recognition for the need of a guiding framework to better manage urban development.
PSUP has provided initiative for strengthening relationships between national and sub-national government and opportunity to progress analysis of past urbanisation and housing studies in support of national goals for sustainable urban environments. PSUP experiences are being institutionalized through the Country Team's coordination of city-wide consultations focusing on poverty and participatory slum upgrading (July 2014 onwards). This will enable the Government of Vanuatu to incorporate outcomes of the PSUP in the global debate in preparation of Habitat III for Housing and Sustainable Urban Development.
The Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme in Vanuatu is currently being implemented in the cities of Port Vila, Luganville and Lenakel
Results
Ministry and city government officials have been trained in participatory urban assessment, result-based management, gender, human rights-based approaches as well as planning, basic urban services, housing and land issues;
The Government was invited to participate in the World Urban Forum in Medellin and participated in bi- and multilateral consultations of the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme;
An understanding and commitment to the right of participation in urban decision-making has been achieved.
Recognition that PSUP will better position decision makers and technicians advance past efforts for zoning and development strategies and housing assessments
Commitment to support national secure tenure and legislation review
Discussions for the inclusion of the PSUP in the government budget allowing for sustainability and replication of the approach in Vanuatu;
Commitment to design a participatory slum upgrading programme following the first results of the urban profiling as well as to seek additional and/or a co-financing for an housing policy dialogue for slum upgrading and prevention.
Development Partners: European Commission; African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Secretariat
Partner: Ministry of Internal Affairs
