Just before COVID-19 shut down nationwide operations again, consultations were held with key sectors involved in Samoa’s second Development Finance Assessment (DFA).

This is part of efforts to build financial frameworks that will support its national development plans by incorporating Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Financing.

As the world counts down to the 2030 deadline for achieving the SDGs, many countries face significant challenges in financing National Development Goals (NDGs) in line with this.

To address these challenges, the United Nations, via the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, has called for countries to establish Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) as an instrument to facilitate the mobilization of all available finance, public and private, domestic and foreign, and the exploration of new and innovative finance to support governments' efforts to achieve the SDGs and NDGs.

UNDP is working with the INFF Knowledge Platform and the Government of Samoa, through the Ministry of Finance, and relevant authorities in the Cook Islands and Niue, to develop and implement Integrated Financing Strategies for accelerating SDG progress for the three countries. The inception phase of the INFF is to be initiated by a DFA, a tool to fulfil the assessment and diagnostic functions of the INFF.

“The country's second DFA, led by the Ministry of Finance with support from UNDP, will present an analysis of the current trends of the public and private financing, and forward-looking scenarios as a result of extensive data collection exercises. This includes identifying gaps, opportunities and policy reforms that can mobilize new forms of financing, strengthen collaboration across ministries and with the private sector, and strengthen government policies for managing, measuring and influencing financing of national priorities in Samoa. This DFA review will be of particular interest as Samoa, like other Small Islands Development States (SIDS), face challenges in fiscal sustainability and significant risks from recent natural disasters and the COVID-19 crisis,” said UNDP Assistant Resident Representative, Governance and Poverty Reduction Unit, Christina Mualia.

As part of reviewing and updating Samoa’s DFA, the process involves a series of financing dialogues and consultations with key stakeholders from various development sectors to
ensure a consensus on agreed areas of development priorities and opportunities to close financing gaps and ensure broad ownership across government and among partners at the national level.

Consultations were held with the following Sectors: Finance, Employment, Health, Education, Gender Development and Budgeting, Private Sector Development, and Public Private Partnership.

These consultations were carried out at the beginning of March over a course of two weeks.