MRD Staff Undergo Public Integrity And Ethics Training

The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) staff last month completed a two-day workshop training on piloting the Integrity and Ethics Agency Improvement Framework, a significant step towards promoting transparency, accountability, and good governance in the public sector.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Transparency and Accountability project funded by Japan facilitated the training to reinforce efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 16, which focuses on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, providing access to justice, and building effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions.

The initiative also aimed at promoting public integrity and ethics in the Solomon Islands.

MRD thanked UNDP for the partnership and for the opportunity to lead in the piloting of the framework methodology in the Solomon Islands as an entity that is naturally situated to expand and apply the practical framework widely in the context of preventing corruption and promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity.

Held from May 21 to 23, 2024, the workshop enables MRD staff to learn the insights of the Integrity and Ethics Agency Improvement Framework.

The practical framework was designed to help public service agencies which include MRD to diagnose, plan, manage, and measure their integrity and ethics initiatives, ultimately fostering a culture of integrity and enhancing public trust in public services.

The MRD staff also learned about the results of two critical surveys shared during the training which are; the Perceptions on Integrity and Ethics (PIE) Survey and the Integrity and Ethics Assessment Survey (IEAS). These surveys provide valuable insights into current perceptions and practices, helping to identify key areas for improvement.

The overall intended outcome of the workshop is for MRD staff to be exposed to the practical framework, its components, and tools and replicate and use it for promoting transparency and accountability within the MRD.

The sessions also permitted the MRD staff to fully understand the concept of the framework, learn about the results of two internal surveys they undertook, and produce an improvement plan, a communication strategy, and a follow-up plan.

It was an eye-opener for many of the MRD staff who joined the training workshop.

UNDP Consultant and Training Facilitator Gerardo Berthin commended MRD Staff for their participation and also for sharing knowledge during the training.

Solomon Kalu, UNDP Inclusive Governance and Economic Growth Specialist, also thanked MRD for taking the lead and emphasised that “Public integrity is the cornerstone of a transparent and accountable public system. By piloting this framework, we are not only identifying areas for improvement but also empowering government officials with the tools to address corruption risks and strengthen organizational ethics with the ultimate goal of improving our country’s transparency and accountability.”

Speaking on behalf of MRD, Principal Communications and Public Relations Officer, Andrew Fanasia acknowledged UNDP for the opportunity and for choosing MRD as the first ministry to pilot the Integrity and Ethics Agency Improvement Framework in the country.

“The key pillars to strengthening the public service and ensuring strong institutional functions are integrity and ethics.

“MRD will continue to deliver government services to the people in the rural areas in a more robust delivery mechanism as guided under its new Constituency Development Fund Act (CDF Act) 2023,” Fanasia said.

He added that CDF Act 2023 itself is a testament to MRD’s seriousness in performing its mandate within the lines of integrity and in an ethical manner.

MRD is one of the 24 ministries within the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) machinery. Established on September 28, 2007, its core mandate as contained under Legal Notice 164 by the Constitution of Solomon Islands is to oversee the effective planning and implementation of government’s rural development policies.

The Ministry’s core functions focus more on the coordination of the work of fifty (50) constituencies in terms of constituency development programs for rural development and growth to improve rural people’s livelihoods.

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