In Focus: Public Expenditure Management
The Public Expenditure Management Peer Assisted Learning (PEMPAL) initiative was started in 2006 and has experienced an impressive growth over the few years. It connects some 400 practitioners in public financial management (PFM) from 21 of 30 countries in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) that are going through similar challenges in public finance policy design and implementation. These challenges are discussed within three communities of practice (COP), for budget, internal audit and treasury. The PEMPAL Secretariat is located at the CEF in Ljubljana, Slovenia, since 2008. The CEF is also a host to the PEMPAL Budget, Treasury and Internal, Audit Communities of Practice Facilitator Deanna Aubrey.
The PEMPAL mission connects PFM practitioners and key stakeholders. The PEMPAL Steering Committee (including donors and COPs representatives), a dedicated group of experts, a community facilitator, translators and moderators, and the Secretariat support the COPs activities by providing insights and recommendations, and facilitating discussion and organization of events and discussions. The PEMPAL’s expansion would not be possible without a valuable financial and in-kind support of the donors and other development partners. In 2011, PEMPAL received financial support from the Russian Federation and Switzerland, and in-kind support from the World Bank, OECD/SIGMA, International Monetary Fund and GIZ, the German development agency.
Activities 2011
All activities in 2011 promoted ownership and participation, and included insights about practical experience of countries at different levels of development. A plenary meeting of all three COPs took place in early 2011 to discuss the issue of managerial accountability and how it affects the budget preparation and execution. Five individual COP events were also held during the year focusing on public sector accounting standards, financial management information systems, capital budgeting processes, and the internal audit manual and internal audit training and certification modules. In addition, one Cross COP event was organized to discuss how to improve the network’s effectiveness and sustainability and set the stage for the activities over the next five years. And in two study visits practitioners learned from their peers about how they organized their internal audit and budget system.
Knowledge sharing
PEMPAL network used a variety of instruments to promote its objectives and maximize their impact on knowledge sharing. The plenary for all three COPs engaged around 190 PFM experts, while other events usually brought together between 50 and 90 people. Each of the two study visits involved ten people. Three out of five Steering Committee meetings were conducted through videoconferencing, while the other two were face-to-face meetings, organized in parallel with other two events. Modern on-line discussion tools, including Adobe and Skype, provided a cost-effective way for the COPs leadership groups to prepare concepts and agree on the scope of future work. The experience sharing aspect of PEMPAL has been promoted through its web site and wiki. Also, a Virtual library and a Glossary of terms have been set up in 2011. These tools allow the PEMPAL members to engage when it is most convenient for them.
