A sugar processing plant in Fiji ( Asian Development Bank/Flickr)ĭespite Fiji ranking second among Pacific Island countries in the 2019 human development index rating, its poverty rate had been rising pre-pandemic. More recent studies indicate aid effectiveness remains constrained by the region’s isolation and small populations. Twenty years ago, an Asian Development Bank evaluation showed a project failure rate “ twice as high in the Pacific Islands as in the Bank’s overall lending”. Some governance challenges lie beyond the scope of aid, and a recipient government is ultimately accountable for creating an environment in which the benefits of aid can flourish.ĭevelopment partners, geopolitically pressured to exhibit impactful generosity in the region, might benefit from honest introspection about whether aid is working for Fiji, the region’s second least aid-dependent country after Papua New Guinea. An abundance of aid-funded parliamentary training has not prevented oppressive legislation and the diminishing transparency of parliamentary procedures in Fiji. With its official development assistance budget bolstered over the past decade, the Fijian government could do better with tightening its procurement and executing its projects, self-funded or otherwise. This approach could lead to a reduction in government expenditure in favour of productive sectors such as agriculture, with these forms of support disbursed through civil society actors.Įven the most affluent governments are learning painful lessons about prioritising operational expenditures post-Covid. Investing in productive infrastructure bodes well for economic recovery, with benefits including a favourable fiscal multiplier effect. It is also time for the Fijian government to save big. In this environment, now is the time to spend big in line with the Fijian government’s priorities for reducing climate vulnerability, which include: (i) better approaches to urban planning (ii) upgrading infrastructure services (iii) strengthening agriculture and fisheries sectors (iv) conserving ecosystems and (v) building socioeconomic resilience. Emerging from the pandemic, Fiji is gearing up for a general election on 14 December following the COP27 climate talks in Egypt next month in which loss and damage are expected to dominate the agenda. More recently, international development support to government has included direct budget injections and concessionary loans, features that were disbursed in only a limited fashion in the previous year. For instance, humanitarian aid spiked post-Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016, peaked in response to the pandemic in 2020, and has since remained above 2008 levels. Local stakeholders have called for more equitable partnerships that do not underestimate local knowledge and skills or crowd out local actors’ contributions.ĭevelopment flows into Fiji have varied over time. Over the same period, government and civil society expenditure ranked highest in allocations, followed by the transport and education sectors. The ADB’s contribution is notably skewed by a hefty tranche of funds disbursed in 2020 under the Covid-19: Sustained Private Sector-Led Growth Reform Program. In the most aid-dependent region in the world, Fiji ranks consistently among the Pacific’s top five recipients of development financing.Īccording to the newly released 2022 edition of the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map, between 20, Australia remained the single most significant development partner to Fiji, with 27 per cent of all its development financing directed to the country (US$855.6 million), followed by the Asian Development Bank (US$459 million) and China (US$378.8 million). Multinational contractors, the expatriate-heavy consultant cohort, an enduring but marginalised civil society, and a recipient government steering its way out of a crippling pandemic into general elections are all significant actors in Fiji’s aid landscape. Deeper thinking is required about the nature of aid and whether Fiji will further distance itself from the international aid dollar.
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