Preparing for a Voluntary Local Review: A handbook for Pacific Island local authorities
The Voluntary Local Review (VLR) is a globally-established process for assessing local progress on sustainable development using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This Handbook aims to help local authorities and other stakeholders in the Pacific Islands understand what the VLR process involves and how to get started.
It is well established that using the SDGs to assess local progress can be used in many ways that provide significant benefits for local authorities and communities, including for:
- Measuring sustainable development progress at the local level
- Driving strategic planning for local development.
- Fostering a consultative process as the basis of partnerships with the local community and other stakeholder groups
As part of Monash University’s project to engage with Pacific stakeholders on the opportunities and challenges of implementing the 2030 Agenda, we identified that localising the SDGs could be a useful tool for helping accelerate local action on the SDGs in the Pacific.
This handbook aims to complement more detailed global VLR guides to support local authorities and other stakeholders in the Pacific Islands with building a case for undertaking a VLR, by:
- showcasing the benefits VLRs can deliver in the context of Pacific Island nations, for both local and national governments
- providing a high-level overview of the steps involved in undertaking a VLR and the resources and capabilities needed
- providing guidance to Pacific data and resources.
The Handbook was prepared in collaboration with the Melbourne Centre for Cities and was funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.