FIJI PERSPECTIVE

Donor programs well aligned to strategic priorities of Government However, the lack of a proper framework to guide the Government- Donor engagement is an issue of concern Therefore, Government is working on improving its coordinating mechanisms, using proper guidelines and procedures whereby Government and Donors will work together to ensure Government’s priorities are addressed for sustainable development As such, Government is committed to increase the effectiveness of aid through adhering to the Principles of the Paris Declaration vis-à- vis the Pacific Aid Effectiveness Principles

PROGRESS TO DATE The SEEDS/SDP and various sectoral development strategies has set forth an adequate planning mechanism for all national development efforts Aid Unit – coordinates processes for the clear disbursement, acquittal and reporting procedures for development assistance initiatives. Also ensure that development assistance is incorporated into national budgets Additional staff recruited to better manage and plan development assistance

CHALLENGES AND ISSUES Need for additional staff – concentrate on monitoring, scrutinizing acquittals, preparing reports, etc Capacity building for existing staff – as the scope and dimension of development assistance take on new levels so often WAY FORWARD Review Aid policy documents, procedures, manuals, etc with a view to incorporate ad hoc practices, best practices in ODA, etc that are currently being used

PROGRESS TO DATE Majority of donor programmes are formulated in close consultation with National Planning Office to ensure that the programmes are reflective of national development priorities. Linkage clearly seen at Mins/Dept level for sectors where donor assistance is being programmed. Such programming also occurs against multi-year timeframes. Here, donors are encouraged to incorporate and adhere to development performance indicators in setting their Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks

CHALLENGES AND ISSUES Only one (1) donor provides regular updates/progress reports to Government on progress in implementation of development assistance initiatives Aid Unit needs to be a bit more aggressive in soliciting these progress reports from other donors WAY FORWARD Government and donors to work together to ensure that all development assistance as much as possible is reflected in the national budget, sectoral strategies, etc Reporting mechanisms need further strengthening so Government is kept well informed of progress on the ground with regards to donor funded projects/programmes

PROGRESS TO DATE Greater portion of development assistance delivered through regional mechanisms tend to focus on capacity building or are of a Technical Assistance nature ODA Policy strategy/documents of donors tend to show a correlation to the Pacific Plan CHALLENGES AND ISSUES Often seen – greater ownership of regional development by CROP agencies as opposed to national Governments Need for regional assistance with particular focus on Fiji to be reflected in national budget

WAY FORWARD Government expects donors to continue to use the Pacific Plan as the guiding document for which regional development assistance is provided to the Pacific

PROGRESS TO DATE Donors in the same sector tend to work in isolation of each other – often, comparative advantage Working in isolation often works well for Government – as donors cover more areas/interests within the same sector e.g education Country Missions, etc still done individually Finance Act 2005 and Instructions framework in place - use of Government processes/procedures to ensure proper management of Government resources – within context of audit, procurement, tender, etc

CHALLENGES AND ISSUES Development assistance not channeled through Ministry of Finance but directly to Mins/Depts. – avoid duplication of resources (donor/Government) Donors use Government systems/mechanisms when it suits them Far too many ad hoc assistance received WAY FORWARD More multi-donor round table meetings in other sectors such as health, infrastructure, agriculture. At the moment, only education sector has multi-donor round table meetings. Donors need to organize themselves so missions, etc are conducted jointly – as not to be a burden to Mins/Depts Harmonization – reflecting all donor assistance in national budget, particularly ad hoc assistance

PROGRESS TO DATE Finance Act of 2005 in place to guide /ensure better management of Government resources – financial, assets, processes and procedures, etc More vigilant scrutiny by the Office of the Auditor General of Government/Donor activities - compliance to prudent and accountable financial practices Financial Management Information System Act 2005 – introduced to provide the timely, accurate information on Government’s financial position which is essential for effective control and decision making

CHALLENGES AND ISSUES Donors continue to use own consultants - locals out there who can do job Donor use Government systems or their own interchangeably Delay in development initiatives because everything is referred back to HQ for a decision. WAY FORWARD Government to continue to work towards fine tuning its own systems - procurement, audit, monitoring, evaluation, etc

PROGRESS TO DATE TA to Mins/Depts – assignment of local counterpart to understudy CHALLENGES AND ISSUES Once local counterpart is trained – tendency to leave for more lucrative jobs Need for locals to not only gain experience from TA, but also undertake appropriate tertiary training

WAY FORWARD Engagement of more local TA – local perspective on issues, less cost, available when needed Donors need to ensure that TA take on a local counter part for skills/experience transfer

PROGRESS TO DATE Agreed monitoring and evaluation framework in place for some projects/programmes – at Mins/Depts level. CHALLENGES AND ISSUES M&E coordinated at Mins/Dept level – Ministry of Finance unaware M&E reports not provided to NPO – assess at macro level the effectiveness of development assistance on the ground against national development strategy indicators WAY FORWARD Government M&E framework to include donor indicators - SEEDS/SDP

VINAKA