Public expenditure and financial accountability workshop kicks off in Abuja today

Description:

The World Bank Africa Region Financial Management Unit and the European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria in collaboration with the PEFA Secretariat will be conducting a workshop with at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja, from May 17 to 20, 2010. The workshop, aimed at promoting good practices in public finance management diagnosis, is designed for individuals who have a good basic understanding of public financial management and some experience delivering training workshops. The workshop will be declared open by the Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria, the Country Director World Bank, Nigeria and the Director, International Economic Relations Department, Federal Ministry of Finance. The theme of the workshop is “promoting good practices in PFM diagnosis”.

Since the launch of the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Framework in June 2005, more than 175 assessments have been completed across the world and these are increasingly used by development partners and governments in the Public Financial Management (PFM) reform process. Use of the assessments depends crucially on the perceived quality of the work undertaken, and substantial efforts are being made to train not only those who carry out the assessments (Consultants), but also those who plan and manage the exercises, as well as those who review or use the final product. The focus on government officials is to ensure greater participation and engagement in PFM assessments leading to enhanced country ownership and use of the assessment results.

About 120 participants will attend the workshop. Key dignitaries include the Accountant General of The Federation, The Auditor General for The Federation, Accountants-General, Auditors-General, Budget Directors and other senior government officials from Rwanda, Southern Sudan, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Sierra Leone and PFM Consultants. The following States in Nigeria will also be participating: Kano, Anambra, Yobe, Cross River, Osun, Jigawa, Abia, Adamawa, Kebbi, Imo and Kwara. Workshop sessions will be combined with presentations and thematic group discussions.

The workshop objectives are to: (i) improve the understanding of key government officials about the PEFA Framework to enable them to take leadership in conducting PEFA assessments and in developing reform action plans and to also share experiences; and (ii) improve the knowledge and skills of assessors to conduct PEFA assessments and deliver training.

The workshop is in the framework of the assistance being provided to the various state governments of Nigeria by the EU and the World Bank to improve their PFM systems in order to support fiscal responsibility, strategic allocation and use of resources for efficient service delivery in a transparent and accountable manner.