The PEFA Steering Committee Meeting in December 2021 Endorses the Revised Guidance for Sub-National PEFA Assessments for Global Use

The December PEFA virtual Steering Committee (SC) meeting was organized on December 6 and 7, 2021 and hosted by France. The meeting was officially opened by Laurent Rucker, Head of the Democratic Governance Mission at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and Romain Régulaire, Head of Transparency & Financial Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France

In the opening remarks, the PEFA achievements for the last 20 years were highly recognized, stating that the program continues to be active, constantly developing and keeping the interest of partners and governments.

The SC meeting was chaired by Léna Bonnemains, Representative, Transparency & Financial Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France, who led the discussion on the PEFA program achievements and goals for 2022.

The year 2021 highlighted the celebration of the PEFA 20 Anniversary through series of organized PEFA activities, events, and publications. The PEFA 20 Anniversary PFM Conference discussed why and how PFM matters in tackling climate change, building more inclusive services in the recovery from the COVID-19 and rebuilding trust in institutions. The SC members appreciated the work done during the anniversary year.

The PEFA Steering committee took a landmark decision to endorse the revised Guidance for Sub-National PEFA Assessments based on successful experiences with pilot assessments. With this, the pilot phase of the Sub-National Governments Framework is completed and mainstreamed into the PEFA.

Work plan and budgets for PEFA activities in calendar year 2022 were approved. Amongst others, the key focus areas covered in the plans include:

  • Quality Assurance of the PEFA Assessment Reports received globally to support governments and development partners in Public Financial Management Reforms;
  • Expand the PEFA Gender global footprint and focus on enhancing PEFA gender’s links to policy and country contexts;
  • Complete the piloting of PEFA Climate in diverse countries and regions based on which the next steps towards finalization and mainstreaming of the framework will be planned;   
  • Release of translated versions of the recently launched PEFA e-Learning course;
  • Release of the Global Stock take of PFM tools Report.

 

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The PEFA Steering Committee meets twice a year. It is composed of representatives of nine PEFA partners: 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 Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) from the UK, The Ministry of Finance of The Slovak Republic and 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.