The Global Webinar “PEFA Fiduciary: Country PFM through a Fiduciary Lens” organized by PEFA Secretariat on 12 October 2023 demonstrates the concept of using the PEFA framework to analyze Country PFM (Public Financial Management) from a fiduciary perspective. It focused on exploring how the recently developed PEFA Fiduciary Guidance can be used for fiduciary assurance and presents the feedback from international organizations and development agencies on their experiences with fiduciary assurance mechanisms. The intention is for greater use of country PFM systems to route development support.
The engaging exchange of views and knowledge-sharing was attended by an audience of more than 170 people, who posted questions and queries, further enriching the discussion. Here are the highlights of the webinar.
The event was opened by the Chair - Magali Kreitmann, Head, Governance Division, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), with a call for stronger PFM systems globally which is a win-win for Ministries of Finance and Development Partners. She appreciated PEFA’s emergence as a global PFM Knowledge Hub and supporting governments to strongly initiate PFM reforms. PEFA is used by AFD to better understand fiduciary risk. The value of PEFA reports to ministries of finance in strengthening PFM systems was emphasized.
Antonio Blasco and Mona El-Chami, Senior Governance Specialists from PEFA Secretariat presented the PEFA Fiduciary Guidance. They highlighted the importance of considering the information contained in the PEFA report when assessing country systems from a fiduciary perspective. They emphasized that when a development partner provides funding, a fiduciary assessment should not solely rely on the scores from the PEFA assessment report and should consider the narratives provided combined with the partner's risk assessment parameters.
The event continued with insightful discussion moderated by Serdar Yilmaz, Governance Practice Manager from the World Bank. The panelists, representatives of different institutions, highlighted their experiences and key lessons learned about using PEFA for fiduciary assurance, and the impact it may have on their organizations’ operations.
Some highlights from the discussion:
“European Commission uses PEFA indicators to assess risk in its development support activities; generally, as well as for budget support” said Eric Deschoenmaeker, Directorate General for International Partnership, European Commission (EC).
“The World Bank fiduciary assessments are at project level and PEFA Assessments provide good information and rigorous analysis of countries PFM Systems.” shared Rajat Narula, Manager, The World Bank (WB).
“We can enhance Country Systems only if we can use them. Fiduciary Assurance by African Development Bank Group is done using their internal Country Fiduciary Risk Assessment Tool at country level and through the project cycles. The tool has pillars that are mapped to PEFA pillars. The PEFA Assessment reports are significantly used to assess the financial management pillar. We wish to have stronger PFM systems across Africa. Use of country systems is greatly enabled when sound PFM systems exist”, said Frank Mvula, Director, African Development Bank (AfDB).
Srinivasan Janardanam, Director from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) explained:
“ADB conducts Literature Reviews, that include the latest PEFA assessments supported by ADB or other partners. PEFA Assessments help the Ministry of Finance in strengthening PFM systems. We believe PEFA is very useful for developing comprehensive PFM reform programs and action plans.”
“The PEFA Methodology is a powerful tool, that contributes to the implementation and strengthening of the bank’s system through promoting accountability and transparency, alignment with country systems and providing fiduciary assurance and management. The fact that a country conducts a PEFA PFM Assessment is a signal from government on accountability and a catalyst for positive change” says Santiago Schneider, Lead Financial Management Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).
In the next part of the session, Serdar Yilmaz, as the moderator, turned to the questions and queries from the audience, and engaged the speakers in a few more rounds of thoughtful discussion around the topics of interest.
Srinivas Gurazada, Head of PEFA Secretariat closed the session, thanked all the speakers, participants, and organizers and also highlighted some of the recent PEFA publications, resources, and upcoming PEFA events.
To engage with and benefit from this knowledge-sharing event organized by the PEFA Secretariat, you can access the published video below. The video serves as a convenient way to participate in the event, even if you were unable to attend it in person and immerse yourself in the event's content and gain valuable insights and information.
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