UNDP Virtual Floating Budget Office Workshop Commences with Pacific Island Parliaments

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Nukuʻalofa, Tonga — A three-day virtual workshop organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under its Pacific Floating Budget Office (FBO) initiative commenced yesterday, bringing together parliamentary representatives from six Pacific Island nations, including the Legislative Assembly of Tonga.

The Chief Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga, Gloria Pole’o the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts Committee secretary ‘Ilaisaane Vaihu joins participants from the parliaments of Australia,

Fiji, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu sharing insights and experiences on budget analysis and governance, with a focus on strengthening fiscal oversight capabilities across the region. The workshop marks Tonga’s continued engagement with the FBO program, which launched in 2018 to pool regional expertise and resources for enhancing parliamentary budget scrutiny.

“This program has been invaluable according to Ilaisaane Vaihu. “We’ve seen increased engagement from Members of Parliament, who appreciate the FBO’s budget briefing documents and actively participate in workshops. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”

‘Ilaisaane Vaihu highlighted several advantages of the FBO initiative, including Networking Opportunities where Parliamentary staff across the Pacific connect to exchange best practices and strategies for improvement.

Transferring of knowledge to local staff build institutional capacity through hands-on training and mentorship. Enhanced Scrutiny: Improved tools and methodologies empower parliaments to analyze national budgets more effectively.

She also acknowledged the critical support of UNDP and partner parliaments, noting their role in advancing Tonga’s fiscal governance.

The UNDP FBO workshop concludes on Thursday.