Peer review of development coordination underway in Vanuatu

Peer review of development coordination underway in Vanuatu

Press Release 18th April 2011

A peer review of development coordination is underway in Vanuatu this week.

A team of government officials from neighbouring Pacific countries is currently in Port Vila to assess the country’s development coordination and links to national planning and budgeting mechanisms.

“We are very pleased to be undergoing this peer review, and look forward to the outcomes of this very important exercise,” said the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Simeon Athy.

“Like many of our Pacific neighbours, we seek effective coordination with and among our donors, in line with our national priorities, and mindful of our limited capacities. I sincerely hope this peer review will further assist us align and strengthen our development coordination mechanisms.”

The peer review team will hold consultations from 18-22 April with representatives from various Vanuatu Government Ministries, Development Partners, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and the private sector.

The Vanuatu peer review team consists of Mr Joseph Turia from Papua New Guinea, Ms Litara Taulealo from Samoa, Mr Rick Woodham from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and a support team from the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat.

The Peer Review exercise is an initiative under the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination, endorsed by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders at their summit in August 2009.

The peer review is based on the idea that if a Forum Island Country (FIC) wants to make improvements in its development efforts, it may be better to seek advice from Pacific neighbours who may be facing, and could have found solutions to, exactly the same dilemmas.

A peer review is carried out by government officials from other FICs plus a development partner representative, all selected by the country that volunteers to undertake a peer review. The peer review assesses how FICs formulate their priorities, turn them into budgets, implement plans and monitor and report on results, and how development partners act collectively and individually to support those priorities and processes.

One of the key deliverables to Forum Leaders on progress under the Cairns Compact is the Development Effectiveness Tracking Report. This focuses on, among other things, a process of regular peer review of countries’ national development plans and associated processes.

Peer reviews will also be carried out this year in Tuvalu and Niue.

In 2010, Nauru and Kiribati volunteered to undertake peer reviews. Since the completion of their peer reviews, both countries have reported strengthened development coordination systems and processes and resultant improvements in financial accounting and management systems.

www.forumsec.org.

ENDS

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