The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) program held its Steering Committee meeting on December 10–11, 2025, an important moment for strategic decisions as PEFA celebrates its 25th anniversary. The event was hosted by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) together with the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris, with chairs for the event Benoît BIEHLY from AFD and Céline L’HOSTIS from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Aurélien Del Fiol, Deputy Head of Democracy Support Mission of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Vanessa Doucelin, Head of AFD Governance Division delivered the opening remarks and welcomed all PEFA Partners.
Arturo Herrera, Global Director, World Bank (WB) introduced the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as a new PEFA permanent partner.
The opening statement on behalf of ADB were presented virtually by Aman Trana, Director General of the Public Financial Management Division of the Asian Development Bank’s Procurement, Portfolio and Financial Management Department (PPFD) and Chief Financial Management Officer.
In this video statement, the Head of the Governance division at AFD, Vanessa Doucelin, greeted ADB and noted:
“PEFA diagnoses are essential to better help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of public financial management systems and to make informed decisions on priority reforms”
In addition to the PEFA 2026 Work Plan discussions and approval, several presentations from invited external speakers highlighted the importance of the PEFA program.
The meeting also featured presentations on the results from recent PEFA assessments:
Philippines’ landmark PEFA++ assessment experience was shared by Dr. Joselito R. Basilio, Principal Economist of the Philippines Department of Budget and Management and PFM Committee Chairperson and Maria João Kaizeler, Principal Financial Management Specialist from ADB. Kazakhstan 2025 PEFA assessment, conducted at the initiative and with the support of the WB and the ADB was presented by Dauren Temirbekov, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The experience and learnings from France in supporting PEFA assessments was presented by Olivia Missiel, Development Economist from AFD, while an presentation on potential collaborations between Supreme Audit Institutions and PEFA through the experience of the French Court of Accounts was introduced by Guillaume Brulé, Deputy Director of International Relations, Cour des Comptes, France. A research presentation by the WB Research team under the title “From Inputs to Impacts: Tracking Public Spending Efficiency through PEFA Indicators” was led by Santiago Herrera, Senior Economist, WB.
The successful completion of the landmark PEFA SC meeting in Paris was summarized in this video by Srinivas Gurazada, head of PEFA Secretariat.
The PEFA Steering Committee meets twice a year. It is composed of representatives of the following PEFA partners: Asian Development Bank, the European Commission, International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Agency (AFD), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Finance of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg,
The PEFA Steering Committee is responsible for: (a) providing overall strategic guidance and direction on the implementation of the PEFA program; (b) deciding on operational strategies and procedures; (c) approving annual work plans and budgets proposed by the PEFA Secretariat; (d) reviewing the progress in the implementation of approved activities; and (e) establishing working groups or subcommittees to assist in the technical and specific non-technical aspects of developing and maintaining the PEFA program.
The PEFA Secretariat is responsible for implementing the Steering Committee’s policies and approved work plans; delivering agreed services to the PEFA partner organizations and to other stakeholders as agreed by program policies; and reporting to the Steering Committee on progress of activities and progress against results targets.
