Caption: Parade of policemen, Solomon Islands.

Pacific Regional Governance

2008/2009 Allocation | $13 million

Snapshot

Governance covers a very broad range of activities, and is an essential part of NZAID's poverty reduction efforts. In line with NZAID's geographic focus on the Pacific, our regional good governance and regional law and justice programmes have been restructured into one comprehensive Pacific Programme for Strengthening Governance.

Security and stability are now recognised as critical preconditions to poverty elimination and sustainable development. But effective development and governance extends much further than this. It includes, amongst other things, accountable democratic institutions, sound economic governance, effective management and delivery of services by public sector agencies, and the relationships between the state and other interest groups, including with civil society and the poor themselves.

The opportunity of the poor to participate in broader economic development opportunities, or to have access to essential services such as health and education, is also an important aspect of NZAID's broader governance agenda. Gender equality and women's empowerment have a key role to play in this. Development assistance is largely ineffective unless such key components of good governance are in place.

Reflecting the importance - and scope - of governance, NZAID is currently spending approximately 30 percent of its Pacific budget on strengthening governance.

NZAID priorities

NZAID's programmes aim to strengthen governance at regional, national and local levels, including the relationships between state actors and wider society.

Support for strengthening governance in the Pacific covers a variety of programmes which aim to:

improve economic and financial decision-making and management
increase public sector effectiveness in the identification and delivery of key services to meet societal needs
strengthen participatory governance, through the full inclusion of civil society (including the Private sector)
strengthen law and justice, including access to justice and community safety
provide media training and the promotion of information for the public good
support human rights institutions and activities, including those managed by NGOs
strengthen democratic systems and systems which promote accountability and transparency
support leadership development as a basis for providing vision and direction to the strengthening of governance

NZAID seeks to ensure that all our programmes give due consideration to cross-cutting issues. In the Pacific governance programme, special attention is given to the protection and promotion of human rights, gender equity and conflict prevention and peace building.

NZAID on the ground

Case Study: Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Secretariat

NZAID provides core funding for the Secretariat of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police, the key regional body for the policing profession in the Pacific. It comprises police commissioners from 21 Pacific islands.

The Secretariat's role is to support its members through the provision and coordination of training and capacity building programmes, policy advice and development, advocacy and networking functions. The Secretariat, which is hosted by the New Zealand Police in Wellington, consists of six full time staff, including two project officers seconded from Pacific agencies. Plans for two six-month special project attachments per year by staff from Pacific agencies are underway.

In 2004/05, through the support of NZAID, the Secretariat was restructured to improve its ability to effectively meet members' needs. Key achievements include the development of a code of conduct and professional integrity standards for all police agencies, further development and capacity building of the Women's Advisory Network and development (in partnership with UNAIDS) of an HIV and AIDS awareness programme for police.