Accountability Ecosystems in the Pacific

The Centre is partnering with the UNDP Pacific Office to undertake a EU-funded political economy analysis of accountability ecosystems in the Pacific. The research will examine and document Pacific understandings of accountability and map the relevant actors, relationships and power dynamics at play in the accountability ecosystem in six countries, spanning the North and South Pacific. The research will deepen understandings of how accountability and oversight is thought about and enacted in diverse ways across the Pacific, as well as within countries, and identify key actors and potential opportunities for strengthening accountability. The research aims to foster locally-led understandings of and approaches to accountability – recognising that the most relevant and effective mechanisms of accountability will come from Pacific Islanders, not outsiders.

The analysis is being led by Centre Principal Research Fellow Lisa Denney with support from Research Fellow Allan Illingworth, Research Fellow Aidan Craney, Adjunct Research Fellow Glenn Bond, Research Assistant Serena Ford and Pacific researchers Gregoire Nimbtik (Vanuatu), Ali Tuhanuku (Solomon Islands), Tala Simeti (Tuvalu), Vasa Saitala (Tuvalu), Tearinaki Tanielu (Kiribati), Bernadett Besebes (Palau) and Mahoney Mori (Federated States of Micronesia).

Project outputs:

Kiribati Country Study - authored by Aidan Craney and  Tearinaki Tanielu.

Solomon Islands Country Study - authored by Ali Tuhanuku and Aidan Craney.

Vanuatu Country Study - authored by Gregoire Nimbtik and Allan Mua Illingworth.

Tuvalu Country Study - authored by Tala Simeti and Allan Mua Illingworth,

Palau Country Study - authored by Aidan Craney and Bernadett Besebes

Responsive Governance in the Pacific - building off the Centre’s EU-funded research for UNDP on the political economy of accountability ecosystems in the Pacific, Adjunct Research Fellow Glenn Bond has developed a policy paper that sets out potential conceptual framings for UNDP’s responsive governance work.

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