Asia Regional Consultative Meeting on Commonwealth Technical Assistance

Roy Rodriguez, Head of the Office of Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Winston Cox

A review and assessment of the effectiveness and impact of the Commonwealth's development programmes and projects in the Asia region is taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 15 to 17 February 2006.

The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) meeting will identify the challenges, constraints and lessons learned in the implementation of national and regional CFTC funded programmes of assistance since July 2004.

Roy Rodriguez, Head of the Office of Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Winston Cox, said: "The meeting will review and assess the delivery of CFTC-funded technical co-operation. Governments will also be briefed on the importance of incorporating results-based management and performance reporting of Commonwealth Secretariat programmes. We will discuss ways to engage governments more directly in the monitoring and evaluation of CFTC programmes."

Mr Rodriguez stated that recommendations by the participants on the developmental needs of their countries will enable the Secretariat to draw up CFTC priorities and strategies that will focus on the requirements of Commonwealth member countries in Asia. This will be beneficial in a review of the Secretariat's next operational plan cycle from 2006 to 2008 and its ongoing work programme for the allocation of resources. The feedback from Commonwealth Asian countries on CFTC work programmes will be taken into consideration in the drafting of the Secretariat's next four-year Strategic Plan.

A similar CFTC regional consultative meeting for the Caribbean region was held in Grenada in January 2006, with meetings for the Pacific and Africa regions scheduled for next month.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 272, 15 February 2006

Secretariat Links:

• CFTC