Briefing

Effective Governance

UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office in Fiji works with 10 Pacific island countries (PICs) and territories with regional support to five island countries under the Papua New Guinea Office and the Samoa Multicountry Office in partnership with state and non-state actors. The UNDP Effective Governance Portfolio works to strengthen governance institutions, frameworks and processes through five thematic areas:

Inclusive political processes

Enhancing rule of law and access to justice

Support to core-government functions

Strengthening transparency and accountability

Some of UNDP key engagements include

Health and Development

The Effective Governance Portfolio supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on Goal 5: Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls; and Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions.

Pacific Islands Countries and Territories

Inclusive political processes

Pacific Parliamentary Effectiveness Initiative

The project seeks to strengthen the institutional capacity for effective national parliaments in PICs, and for its strong engagement in key development issues. The project works to expand parliamentary outreach and citizen engagement in political processes encouraging traditionally excluded groups such as women and youth.

The project aims to contribute to the development of inclusive participatory and transparent national planning processes.

Strengthening Legislatures in Pacific Island Countries Project

The project supports parliaments of six countries to become more effective and efficient by strengthening legislation and oversight committees, and building the capacities of legislators and staff professionalism.

Fiji Parliament Support Project

The project supports the Fiji Parliament to become more effective through strengthening its oversight, representation and legislative capacities. This is done through working with committees of parliament, building capacities of legislators and increasing professional capacities of staff.

Vanuatu Electoral Environment Project

The project aims to contribute to the democratic development of Vanuatu through the strengthening of institutional and operational capacities of the electoral authorities to fulfil their mandate to conduct all direct elections in the country (parliament, provincial and municipal councils), as well as any eventual constitutional referendum. The project will support an effective transition to the future voter registration model, where the electoral authorities will derive the voter register from the civil registry database, increasing integrity, accuracy and public confidence. The project will seek to improve institutional capacities to initiate and maintain longer-term voter education efforts. Finally, the project will support electoral reform initiatives providing technical advice on the possible options to introduce reforms dealing with complex aspects of the electoral processes.

Strengthening the Electoral Cycle in the Solomon Islands Project (SECSIP)

The key focus of the SECSIP is to provide technical assistance for the implementation of the mandate of and the institutional development of the Solomon Islands electoral authorities (Electoral Commission and its executive branch, the Electoral Office) to conduct inclusive and credible electoral processes.

SECSIP supports the efforts of the national authorities on voter registration and voter awareness throughout the country with particular focus on the increase of outreach to rural communities, persons with disabilities and women. The project assists the national authorities in the reform of the electoral legal framework and the reform of the legislation on political parties.

SECSIP also provides significant support to awareness raising actions on women’s leadership and their political participation as voters, candidates and administrators.

Project location: Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tokelau Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

Partnership: Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions

Project location: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu

Partnership: National Parliaments

Project location: Fiji

Partnership: Fiji Parliament

Project location: Vanuatu

Partnership: Electoral Commission/ Vanuatu Electoral Office (EC/VEO, Civil Register and Vital Statistics Office (CRVS)

Project location: Solomon Islands

Partnership: Solomon Islands Electoral Commission and the Political Parties Commission

Nauru Accountable and Inclusive Governance (NAIG) Project

The NAIG Project aims to support key democratic institutions in Nauru which are responsible for ensuring effective, inclusive and accountable political governance, namely the National Parliament and the Nauru Electoral Commission (NEC), while at the same time implementing specific programming directed at promoting the more informed and active participation of the general public in Nauruan governance and politics, and targeted work to promote gender equality ensuring that women of all ages are more engaged in politics and public life.

Tuvalu Constitutional Review Project

The project supports the Government and people of Tuvalu to review their national constitution to address the socioeconomic and political challenges in Tuvalu.

It provides technical expertise and independent advice to ensure that the constitutional review is technically proficient, inclusive, participatory and transparent, and conforms to international treaties and conventions particularly human rights.

Supporting Women’s Political Participation in the Pacific

The project supports Pacific governments to progress on its commitments reflected in 2012 Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Gender Equality Declaration and SDGs 5.5 and 16.7. Recognizing the critical importance of ensuring women’s political participation and voice in decision making, the project has supported the hosting of Practice Parliaments for Women for aspiring women leaders, facilitated regional and national discussions on legislative reforms for gender balance, and developed PacWIP, an online tool showcasing the successes of women political leaders. The project continues to work with parliaments and political parties to “engender” their activities including by mainstreaming discussion on women leadership, undertaking capacity development for Members of Parliament, political party leaders and their staff on gender mainstreaming in politics.

Project location: Nauru

Partnership: Parliament, Nauru Electoral Commission

Project location: Tuvalu

Partnership: Constitutional Review Committee; Attorney General’s Office

Project location: Regional

Partnership: Parliaments, Electoral Management Bodies, Political Party Regulatory Bodies, National Women’s Machinery, UNWOMEN

Strengthening transparency and accountability

United Nations Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project

The project is a joint initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UNDP to prevent and fight corruption in 14 PICs and the territory of Tokelau.

The project aims to strengthen PICs’ national integrity systems and promotes ‘clean’ governments and create an enabling environment to increase trade, business, investment and sustainable development in the Pacific.

Strengthening Pacific Public Finance Management and Governance Project

The project aims to strengthen oversight over public financial management in the Pacific region, through improving the budgetary scrutiny, public financial oversight and accountability capacities of parliaments, supreme audit institutions and civil society within the region.

Project location: Cook Islands; Federated States of Micronesia. Fiji; Kingdom of Tonga; Kiribati; Nauru; Niue; Palau Papua New Guinea; Republic of the Marshall Islands; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tuvalu; Vanuatu

Partnerships: National integrity institutions

Project location: Regional

Partnership: Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions, Pacific Islands Association of NonGovernmental Organization

Development Minerals Programme- Inclusive Governance of Natural Resources Project

The project partners with the government of Fiji to provide capacity development support to artisanal small-scale mining enterprises (ASMEs), sector associations, public institutions and the social stakeholders that operate along the Development Minerals value chain.

Enhancing rule of law and access to justice Fiji Access to Justice Project

The project supports access to justice, in particular for impoverished and vulnerable groups. It does so by empowering people to access their legal rights and services, strengthening key justice institutions to deliver improved services, and strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to deliver justice accompaniment services, with a special focus on supporting persons with disabilities and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

Rights, Empowerment and Cohesion (REACH) for Rural and Urban Fijians

The project conducts awareness raising of the social, economic and legal rights enshrined in national constitutions, provides access to the services associated with these rights, and strengthens institutional capacity to deliver these services.

A mobile, integrated service delivery approach is taken to reach marginalized communities throughout the countries.

Fiji Police Force Project

The project supports the Fiji Police Force to become more transparent, accountable and effective through strengthening early access to justice processes in criminal proceedings and strengthening the victim-centred approach to investigations.

The project focuses on capacity development of police officers. In addition, the project involves ongoing collaboration with key justice stakeholders and CSOs, and citizen engagement.

Solomon Islands Access to Justice Project

The project supports the Public Solicitor’s Office to enhance access to justice for the people of Solomon Islands at national and provincial levels, particularly women, youth and marginalized groups outside urban centers. In so supporting, the project is implementing a two-tiered paralegal initiative of provincial paralegals and community legal advocates to bridge remote communities to the Public Solicitor’s Office.

Project location: Fiji

Partnership: Fiji Government

Project location: Fiji

Partnership: Judicial Department, Legal Aid Commission, Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission, Fiji Association of the Deaf, Fiji Disabled People’s Federation, Empower Pacific, Medical Services Pacific

Project location: Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu

Partnership: Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation (Fiji), Legal Aid Commission (Fiji), Ministry of Internal Affairs (Tonga), Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration (Samoa), Ministry of Justice and Community Services (Vanuatu)

Project location: Fiji

Partnership: Fiji Police Force

Partnership: Public Solicitor’s Office, Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs