Western Santo Launches 2030 Plan for Sustainable Development

11 June 2021 - Santo Island, Vanuatu

Today marks a historic occasion for one of the most remote and underserved parts of Vanuatu as the two Area Councils of North West and West Coast Santo officially launched the Western Santo Sustainable Development Plan.
Vanuatu’s Decentralization Policy mandates that development planning and implementation should take place as close to people’s daily lives as possible, and not always at the national-level where contexts do not often match grassroots needs and realities. For this reason, Government is investing millions in strengthening its 70+ Area Councils by hiring qualified Area Administrators and Area Secretaries, building governance infrastructure, and expanding the capacities of Area Councils and Technical Advisory Committees.
Today’s launch is a model of decentralization: Western Santo representatives from chiefs, women, churches, people living with disabilities, youth, environment rangers, and local businesses have spent the last months collecting real development goals and aspirations from more than 5000 people across the over 42 villages in the two Are Councils. With the help of the Santo Sunset Environment Network, Western Santo’s only locally-based NGO working in all villages, the Area Administrators of the two Area Councils joined efforts to produce a comprehensive area-wide development plan, that prioritizes sustainability.

For a full detail about the Western Santo Launches 2030 Plan for Sustainable Development, see pdf attachment or click on link below  - "Press Release Western Santo Sustainable Development Plan" - https://www.nab.vu/sites/default/files/news_attachments/Press%20Release%...

For more information, contact the SantoSunsetEnvironmentNetwork@gmail.com or visit www.SantoSunset.org.