Press Statement - Senior officials from Pacific Islands Forum countries, regional organisations, development partners and other stakeholders will discuss the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific at a regional workshop to be held in Nadi, Fiji, 26-28 November.
The Cairns Compact was adopted by the Forum Leaders at their annual meeting this year in August in Cairns, Australia.The key objective of the Cairns Compact will be to drive more effective coordination of available development resources from both Forum Island countries and all development partners, with the aim of achieving real progress against the MDGs.
"To prepare for the implementation of the Cairns Compact it is imperative that senior officials in Forum member countries, regional organizations and development partners have a good and common understanding of what our Leaders expect out of the Compact especially the key deliverables need to be undertaken for its successful implementation," said Feleti Teo, Acting Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
"As the principal implementing agency for Forum Leaders' decisions, the Forum Secretariat has convened discussions with Forum member countries and other stakeholders including CROP agencies and development partners to have a common understanding of what the Cairns Compact entail and the essential deliverables expected by the Leaders before work commence on its implementation," Mr Teo said.
He added: "Now is the chance to sit down with senior officials from ministries of National Planning and Finance, and aid coordination divisions to bring them onboard as they are at the forefront of implanting the Compact at the national level."
An overview of the Cairns Compact will be presented to the workshop with an update on work to date in coordinating the implementation. The workshop will also discuss some of the key deliverables of the Compact including the Peer Reviews of National Development Plans as well as the reporting on assessments of Development Partner activities in support of the Compact. The workshop will discuss the Cairns Compact Implementation Schedule and what resources are required for the implementation of the Compact.