The Prime Minister of Samoa has signalled that central government agencies should be strengthened to “lead and drive relevant reforms” that improve the delivery of public services.
The Prime Minister of Samoa has signalled that central government agencies should be strengthened to “lead and drive relevant reforms” that improve the delivery of public services.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi was speaking at the recently held 2015 Commonwealth Pacific Forum of Central Agencies, hosted in Apia, Samoa, attended by Cabinet secretaries and other senior government officials representing small island nations from Commonwealth countries in the Pacific.
The Prime Minister stressed the importance of central agencies being led by “assiduous leaders” committed to public service.
“We need champions and quality reformists who are not hesitant to advise the Government of the day on current and emerging developmental issues facing our countries,” he said.
“These government agencies should lead by example in coordinating policy development, and be vigilant in monitoring the implementation of such policies. Their whole of government policy advice is essentially crucial to the Government of the day when making decisions that cut across all sectors of their respective economies,” the Prime Minister added.
The Commonwealth Pacific Forum of Central Agencies, held 12-14 May 2015, was established to help central agencies in the region build and maintain regional networks and partnerships and share innovative practices and lessons learnt in public administration.
Representatives of the Cabinet Office, Prime Minister’s Office, Public Service Commission and Ministry of Finance from Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga and Fiji attended the forum, which was held under the theme of ‘Strengthening Public Policy Development and Implementation’.
Small island developing states in the Commonwealth Pacific face major challenges in diversifying their economies in order to generate sustainable employment opportunities and reduce vulnerability to shocks in global commodity prices. Climate change is also presenting an increasingly severe threat in the form of sea level rises and more frequent and destructive extreme weather events.
The senior officials’ meeting therefore provided an opportunity for delegates to improve national resilience by discussing progress made in strengthening policy making processes across the region. “This forum has been an avenue in bringing together central agencies to discuss, and to share knowledge and experiences, to improve their coordination at the centre of government for the past five years,” the Prime Minister added.
Programme sessions covered best practices for effective policy coordination, monitoring of policy delivery and means to strengthen private and public partnerships, among other topics.
Dr Joan Nwasike, Head of Public Sector Governance at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said: “The forum has been an excellent opportunity to share perspectives on the challenges that we face in the Pacific. The deliberations here in Apia have been very valuable to us at the Commonwealth, as we consider what kind of support to provide under our plan of action for the Pacific region.”
Dr Nwasike added: “We have had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges of implementing development policy in the region and to consider ways of making governments more responsive to the aspirations of the people.”
Commenting on the significance of the Forum, Garth Henderson, Cook Islands’ incoming Financial Secretary of Ministry of Finance and Economic Management said: “This is a very important forum for central agencies to come together for continuous engagement.
He added: “We need to continue to build synergies between central agencies. The Ministry of Finance should be more involved in understanding the reform agenda.”
Atapana Siakimotu, Commissioner of Niue’s Public Service Commission, said: “Learning about reform exercises undertaken in countries like Samoa is highly relevant to improving governance in Niue. I have learnt that the cabinet needs to have a better understanding of the need to respect the separation of powers, and I will work to provide feedback on this point.”
Mr Siakimotu added: “At the end of the day, ordinary people are the recipients of the services delivered by government agencies, so the issues discussed here have been vitally important to the public in Niue.”
