Honourable Madam Tangariki Reete, Speaker of the Parliament of Kiribati,

Honourable Taunei Marea, Chair of the Public Account Committee of the Parliament of Kiribati,

Honourable Members of Parliament,

His Excellency Mr Paul Wallis, the New Zealand High Commissioner to Kiribati,

Mr Eni Tekanen, Clerk, the Parliament of Kiribati,

Secretariat staff of the Parliament.

Ladies and gentlemen:

Mauri, Good morning,

It is my honour and privilege to address you at the occasion of this very important induction workshop for the Members and staff of the Public Accounts Committee.

I am delighted to see that the Parliament of Kiribati and its Public Accounts Committee have taken the initiative to organize this induction, which is designed to help the members of the committee understand their role and functions better, so they can fulfil their constitutional mandate. It shows the importance you attach to the crucial work of the Committee.

As most of us know, committees are considered the engines and the brains of parliaments, where rigorous and in-depth parliamentary business takes place. And the work of the public accounts committee is considered even more critical, because it has to review the government expenditures, in some countries also approve budgets, and give recommendations for increasing compliance with the procedures and approved budgets.

In my view, the Public Accounts Committee's work, in the context of Kiribati, is far more significant. As you know, Kiribati Parliament only has three standing committees. Unlike other parliaments, it does not have standing committees that hold each ministry or department accountable, including checking their expenditures. In the absence of such committees, practically speaking, the Public Accounts Committee has a more substantial role to ensure the Parliament's oversight over the government, even if it's limited to expenditures only.

Therefore, the significance of today's workshop and the work of PAC is very critical. I am pleased to see that this workshop is designed to provide you assistance in understanding the overall public finance framework, interact with Kiribati's Auditor General, and share the experience with Pacific Parliaments, including Fiji, New Zealand, and Vanuatu.

UNDP has provided support to your Parliament for a number of years through different programmes, most recently through the New Zealand Government funded Pacific Parliamentary Effectiveness Initiative (PPEI) Project.

Our support is focused on key areas such as MPs and the staff's professional development, the improvement of Committees' legislative and oversight work, and support to parliamentary outreach and citizen engagement roles.

Building on this support, we are also pleased to support the work on the revision of rules of procedure, which is currently on-going. During that process, and because of the crucial role of the committees just mentioned, you may want to consider further broadening the role and mandate of the public accounts committee and the committee system as a whole.

As you know, COVID-19 has unfolded unprecedented times in our history. It has impacted our lives, economies and the way we operate. It is the very reason that we could not join you in person for this induction programme.

But, COVID-19 has also given our organization, the United Nations, and especially UNDP, a new opportunity to re-imagine and be creative about how we support our partners, engage and work with institutions like your Parliament.

We are helping parliaments in the region, and globally, to continue their essential constitutional mandate.  

Thanks to New Zealand’s generous support , UNDP is working with your Secretariat to significantly upgrade the ICT structures and processes in Parliament. Such support will enable virtual and remote meetings, especially for your Committees and staff who may still need to meet and take critical decisions, even if a lockdown is necessitated in Kiribati. Like the rest of the Pacific region, Kiribati is also prone to climate effects, such as cyclones; therefore, we are considering these factors when deploying support to prepare the Kiribati parliament in continuing its operations under various crises.

We stand ready to provide further support to enable Parliament to continue its operation during the pandemic. Please don’t hesitate to advise your Secretariat team to reach out to our team with requests for further support that we can provide within our mandate.

Ladies and gentlemen:

UNDP support for the induction was made possible through our project donor's generous assistance: the Government of New Zealand. We thank them for their consistent commitment to supporting parliamentary development efforts in your Parliament and, more generally, in the Pacific region.

Honourable Members, I wish you well in your interactions in the coming days and during your terms as members of the Public Accounts Committee; and I look forward to our upcoming collaboration.

Vinaka Vakalevu, Thank you very much.