Pacific

Solomon Islands government commits to better management of aid money

10:28 am on 1 June 2009

The Solomon Islands Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination has made a commitment in training staff to better manage international aid to the country.

The ministry signed a two year agreement with the United Nations Development Programme on Tuesday, assisting the government in meeting agreements under the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, which requires it to take the lead in coordinating aid at all levels.

The manager of the UNDP Millenium Development Goals, Shabnam Mallick, says the agreement has four goals including developing procedures and strengthening relationships between the aid coordination division and Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination.

"Third would be building human resources through upgrading basic skills, roles, specific training and training on the job. And fourth would be establishing and using a grant management database as well as other information network improvements."

Shabnam Mallick says 921 thousand US dollars worth of funding will be provided by the UNDP.