3 May 2012: The Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) announced that as part of the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific (Forum Compact), a peer review team assessed implementation of its recommendations to the Government of Niue on national planning, budgeting, financial and aid management systems and processes. It also followed up on its 2011 review in Tuvalu.

The peer reviewers to Niue included representatives from the Governments of Australia, Nauru and Samoa, as well as PIFS staff. Recommendations made by the peer reviewers included establishing an aid management unit responsible for administration, monitoring and prioritizing activities.

Also under the Peer Review process, a PIFS team visited Funafuti, Tuvalu in late April and held discussions with the Government and development partners on progress in implementing the recommendations of the Tuvalu Peer Review Report 2011. The team focused on achievements and assistance required by Tuvalu to implement its priority peer review recommendations.

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 agendas 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 FIC’s national development plan. 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.

In 2010, Nauru and Kiribati completed peer reviews, followed by Vanuatu and Tuvalu in 2011, and the Marshall Islands and Niue in 2012. Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Cook Islands have also volunteered to take part in the process. [PIFS Press Release – Niue] [PIFS Press Release – Tuvalu]