Accountability Ecosystems in the Pacific

The Institute is partnering with the UNDP Pacific Office in 2021-2025 to undertake a political economy analysis of the accountability ecosystem in the Pacific. This forms part of the UNDP's "Accountable Public Finances to Serve Pacific People - Vaka Pasifika" project.  The aim of the Vaka Pasifika project is to strengthen the governance mechanisms enabling Pacific countries to deliver public services that are better calibrated to meet specific needs of people. The Vaka Pasifika project recognises that across the region there is an increasing web of independent accountability institutions and actors which have some role to play in ensuring public finance mechanisms are accountable, transparent and people centered.

The accountability ecosystem political economy analysis will undertake six country studies across the North and South Pacific to:

1) explore different local understandings, meanings and practices of accountability and related concepts;

2) map the various national institutions and actors that are involved in promoting accountability, their roles, interests and relationships; and

3) what can be done to promote accountability to strengthen responsive governance in a politically savvy manner.

The analysis is being led by Institute Senior Research Fellow Lisa Denney with support from Adjunct Research Fellow Allan Illingworth, Research Fellow Aidan Craney, Research Assistant Serena Ford and Pacific researchers, Gregoire Nimbtik (Vanuatu) and Ali Tuhanuku (Solomon Islands).

Project outputs:

A literature review summarises key literature on accountability for responsive governance globally as well as within the Pacific. It seeks to situate the research project in wider debates, and to provide a consistent baseline understanding of the scope of accountability and accountability ecosystems, and what influences its various interpretations, to inform the country studies that are to follow.

A blog on the Developmental Leadership Program website introduces the research and summarises some of the emerging themes the country studies will pick up on.

Country studies:

Forthcoming