A stronger partnership between government and civil society organisations is being called for, with concerns that the two sides can sometimes
operate in separate spaces despite working towards national development goals.

Transparency and Integrity Fiji Executive Director Paulina Rauca says civil society organisations need to remain aligned with national priorities
while also meeting the expectations of their donors.

Rauca raised the concern while making a submission to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence on the Fiji-Australia Vuvale
Union and Ocean of Peace Treaty.

Transparency and Integrity Fiji is also warning of corruption risks in procurement, particularly with significant funding being made available under development programmes.

“So the strategic plan was launched early this year, and we have our five pillars to look into. And with these five pillars, we aligned ourselves
into the national development plan. Not all, but some of it, especially on governance. How we have to bridge the gap between the government and the community, we have come up with a plan to do advocacy, advocacy with the community and advocating on anti-corruption principle to the villages. And with this, we are using the youths.”

She adds that the organisation is also working towards establishing a national integrity system.

Transparency and Integrity Fiji Program Manager Tarusila Reniu says better use of data is key to stronger cooperation between government and civil
society.

“They got data from the grassroots level. Whereas when we look at government, of course, we are all ex-civil servants. When we look at government,
we don’t have data, which they do have.”

Reniu says CSOs collect data from communities, while the government needs stronger monitoring to track projects and ensure people benefit.