Public Service Reform in the Pacific

Strategic leadership development to drive public service reform in the Pacific

Commonwealth forum targets top civil servants in management skills

Heads of Cabinet Offices and Public Service Secretaries in the Pacific will hone their skills in strategic leadership and effective management at a Commonwealth forum in the Cook Islands. The four-day forum in Rarotonga which begins on 21 February 2010, will bring together 20 delegates from nine Commonwealth Pacific countries and territories, namely the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The forum organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat is focused on the theme Supporting Public Service Reform in the Pacific: Strategic Leadership. It will examine the importance of ethics and values on leadership and its challenges. These factors impact on the level of commitment to the reform processes on which sustainable international development depends.

"The interface between senior public service officials and politicians is vital for the support of programmes from policy formulation to implementation and co-ordination within government ministries and with external parties such as donor agencies, development partners and institutions or governments," said Mr Max Everest-Phillips, Director of the Governance and Institutional Development Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

"An integrated approach is critical to the success of any reform programme for public service delivery. This is to ensure greater coherence among government ministries and departments so that all involved are working in tandem with one another towards achieving the collective goal of good governance needed for poverty reduction and delivering the Millennium Development Goals," added Mr Everest-Phillips.

This forum is the second in a series of fora aimed at strengthening the capacity of Commonwealth Pacific countries and territories in enhancing good governance and efficient public services. The inaugural forum was held in Wellington, New Zealand, in June 2010.

ENDS

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