As part of the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific, peer reviews are underway on national planning, budgeting, financial and aid management systems and processes.
Tuvalu is the fourth country to undergo review, with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific participating on behalf of development partners.
April 2011: The Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) has announced that, as part of the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific, peer reviews are underway on national planning, budgeting, financial and aid management systems and processes.
The Cairns Compact is an initiative agreed by Pacific Leaders at the 2009 Pacific Islands Forum. It aims to accelerate progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by strengthening Forum Island countries’ (FIC) leadership of their own development agenda and encouraging development partners to work more effectively together.
The Compact establishes new review and reporting processes involving Forum countries, development partners and the Forum Secretariat, a key feature of which is the peer review of each Forum Island Country’s national development plans.
In 2010, Nauru and Kiribati completed peer reviews. Vanuatu underwent the review in early April 2011, the first “larger FIC” to do so. Tuvalu was under review in late April 2011, with peer reviewers from the governments of Tonga and Vanuatu. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP, or UNESCAP) also participated, representing development partners.
According to PIFS, the peer review exercise aims to develop simple and practical actions, tailored to local capacity and based on regional experience, which can be implemented in the short- to medium-term to improve development coordination. [PIFS Press Release on Vanuatu Review] [PIFS Press Release on Tuvalu Review] [PIFS Flyer on Cairns Compact] [AusAid Webpage on Cairns Compact]