The PEFA Secretariat was in Manila, Philippines, March 18-21 for the PEFA – ADB Events and Trainings in Southeast Asia attended by more than 60 officials and organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The Plenary “Leveraging PEFA’s potential for building robust Public Financial Management systems - Insights from the Philippines.”
The March 18th plenary was launched by Aman Trana, Director General of ADB’s Procurement Portfolio and Financial Management Department, where she provided a warm welcome to all participants, officials, and the PEFA Secretariat members attending the event. Highlighting the importance of PEFA assessments for improvement of PFM systems and achieving the SDG Goals, Trana talked about strengthening the network: “As you return to your countries after the training, I am confident that you will be motivated to enhance governance and transparency of your PFM systems and we will be happy to hear back from you on how we can be helpful to your countries to further strengthen PFM systems there.”
Maria Joao P. Kaizeler, Southeast Region Focal FM Principal of the PFM Division, ADB, opened the session, then handed it over to the moderator, Srinivasan Janardanam, Director of the Public Financial Management Division, ADB to lead the discussion with the panelists Joselito R. Basilio, Head of PFM Secretariat of the Government of the Philippines, Srinivas Gurazada, Head of the PEFA Secretariat, and Tariq Niazi, Senior Director Public Sector Management and Governance, ADB. The session discussed the role of the PEFA Framework in shaping successful PFM reform initiatives and the significance of establishing resilient PFM systems. It highlighted the collaborative efforts between the ADB and the Government of Philippines to develop a robust roadmap for PFM reforms.
PEFA Training
The two-and-a-half day PEFA training March 19-21 was attended by 50 representatives from the following Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Timor Leste, and Thailand with 60% female participation.
The first day, following the introduction of the training program, the presenters Srinivas Gurazada, Antonio Blasco, and Silvia Kirova from the PEFA Secretariat (i) introduced the products in the PFM Knowledge Hub – Global Report on PFM and the Stocktaking of PFM Diagnostic Tools Report, (ii) presented the PEFA Program, and (iii) took a deep dive into the PEFA 2016 Framework, discussing in detail all 31 indicators and 94 dimensions.
The second day, there was great interest in the material presented, specifically the Guidance for Subnational PEFA Assessments, AgilePEFA and their application, followed by a lot of excitement during the exercises and especially when the country teams were given the opportunity to suggest the key steps in the process of developing PEFA assessments, including stakeholder involvement.
The last day of the training was devoted to PEFA Gender and PEFA Climate, the new supplementary frameworks. There was a lot of attention and interest from country teams planning PEFA assessments.
Valuable questions, discussions and suggestions were shared throughout the entirety of the training
Feedback from some of the participants
“The training was hard, but very comprehensive and provided knowledge on PFM as a whole, that will be used in our future work…”
“More frequent trainings and follow up events for participants could help to improve the quality of PEFA assessments…”
“The PEFA Framework shows the strengths and weaknesses in PFM systems, and applied could help the countries to improve…”
“During the training, a lot of new knowledge was acquired on the PEFA Framework, as well as PEFA SNG Guidance and the supplementary frameworks on Climate and Gender…”
“The PEFA Website is well structured and maintained and provides all the resources needed for the assessment teams...”
Awarding certificates
The PEFA Training in Manila concluded with awarding certificates and appreciation for the participants’ active involvement in the event!
This is what the PEFA trainers shared:
“In Manila, we did more than just introduce the PEFA Framework, Gender, and Climate; we were witness of dynamic participation and collaboration that will enable stakeholders to champion enduring and equitable development. The training provided in Manila equipped participants with the knowledge and tools to implement PEFA Framework, Gender and Climate and inform from the assessments their PFM, gender-sensitive and climate-resilient strategies in their respective roles, contributing to the broader goals of sustainable and inclusive growth.” Antonio Blasco, Senior Governance Specialist
“It was a pleasure to be part of the PEFA training in Manila and meet so many outstandingly dedicated professionals from Southeast Asia. The PEFA Secretariat is looking forward to the upcoming planned PEFA Assessments from these countries in the region! We are always promoting enhanced ownership of the assessments from the governments and are excited to promote the success stories based on their achievements when applying PEFA in the region and using the assessments in planning the countries’ PFM reforms.” Silvia Kirova, Client and Data Officer
In this short video, The Head of PEFA Secretariat, Srinivas Gurazada shares his experience and thanks the Asian Development Bank (ADB) team for the excellent organization of the 2024 PFM Forum and PEFA Training for the Southeast Asia Region!
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