The Pacific Urban Forum (PUF) is a regional event presenting a platform for urban stakeholders to debate what creates a sustainable urban future for the Pacific. Held every four years, the PUF brings together various urban stakeholders with diverse backgrounds, such as national and local governments, policymakers, urban development practitioners and urban planners, civil society organizations, traditional leaders, local and international academia, the private sector, and development partners, among others.
The first Pacific Urban Forum was held in 2003 and gave rise to the Pacific Urban Agenda. The second and third Pacific Urban Fora took place in 2007 and 2011, respectively, with a ‘New Pacific Urban Agenda’ developed and adopted at PUF4 in 2015. PUF5 was held in Nadi, Fiji, in 2019, with a Virtual Pacific Urban Forum hosted online during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. PUF5 saw the establishment of the Pacific Partnership for the New Urban Agenda (PP-NUA), where eight organizations working on urban issues in the Pacific are collaborating to accelerate the implementation of the Pacific New Urban Agenda through a multi-stakeholder partnership. The partners include:
- United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
- United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (UNESCAP)
- Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF Pacific)
- ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI Oceania)
- Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Human Settlements (EAROPH)
- Home in Place
- Monash University Sustainable Development Institute
- University of Melbourne Centre for Cities
The 6th Pacific Urban Forum was hosted by the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat in Suva, Fiji, from the 5th to the 7th of September 2023. PUF6 was coordinated by the Pacific Urban Partnership, with the support of several additional urban-focused development partners, alongside representatives of the Republic of Fiji’s Ministry of Local Government and Suva City Council. The 327 registered delegates represented 29 countries and 76 unique cities. In addition to Fiji, Pacific Island Countries and Territories represented included Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Western Samoa. The PUF6 Outcome Statement, titled the Suva Statement for a Sustainable Urban Pacific, emphasizes the importance of integrating sustainable urbanization into regional Pacific policy architecture, including through integration into regional strategic implementation plans, a dedicated workstream in one of the CROP agencies, and by elevating consideration of the urban Pacific into an official Ministerial dialogue
For more information, please visit the website of the Pacific Urban Partnership and the links below:
Previous Pacific Urban Forum:
