News

At the PEMPAL Secretariat we are continually improving PEMPAL website to make it as useful to its members as possible. In order to analyze the PEMPAL members' views on the functionality of the PEMPAL site a short exit survey was prepared.

The key findings of this exit survey are as follows:
•    Overall, the PEMPAL members are satisfied with their experience with the site.
•    Most PEMPAL members use the website on a monthly basis, followed by those who use it either weekly or less than once per month. Encouraging finding is the fact that the percent of those who have first visited the PEMPAL website only for the purpose of providing the answers for this survey is low, indicating that the majority of the PEMPAL members uses the site and browses through its contents.
•    In general PEMPAL members agree that they will return to the website and that they will recommend this site to their colleagues as well.
•    The main reason why members visit the site is to learn about the latest news on PEMPAL network activities and developments and to browse through the announcements of the forthcoming events. Many of them also visit the site after the events to download the Power Point Presentations and other materials used during workshops.
•    Based on the previous experience PEMPAL members have with other sites they in general rate the design, functionality, interactivity and available contents as satisfactory.
•    The biggest challenges identified with regard to the PEMPAL site include the fact that it takes too long to load the page, followed by the fact that information the they are looking for is either not available or not well organized. The challenge of navigation through the contents also remains an area of improvement.

The performed analysis of the PEMPAL members’ opinion on the functionality of the PEMPAL website proves that PEMPAL’s website leaves room for style and substance improvements.  It is important to note that the design of the PEMPAL website and the information it provides are key variables that affect its effectiveness. To increase its effectiveness thus more efforts will be put into keeping the site current, relevant, easy to use and provide benefits to its members as typically users like well-organized sites that make important information easy to find.

 Dear PEM PAL members,

We would like to bring to your attention a book  PIFC - Public Internal Financial Control by Robert de Koning, a manual concernig the European Comission's initiative to build new structures of public internal control in applicant and third-party countries. The book is aimed at anyone who seeks a reference work to carry forward the concept of public internal control at national or international level.This publication is not only a useful source of information, but also offers great practical advice for improving Public Internal ƒinancial Control (PIƒC).

You are welcome to download Bosnian, Romanian and Russian translations of the book by clicking here.

PEM PAL Secretariat

PEM PAL Community Facilitator (in Slovenia)

ECA Mission, Principles and Vision

To meet demands in a rapidly changing Region, the World Bank partners with governments and other stakeholders to:

• Promote growth and create jobs
• Encourage social inclusion and fight poverty
• Foster good governance, and
• Address global needs

The ECA Region offers customized knowledge and innovative financial products to address these challenges in a timely manner.  

Our Guiding Principles

• Client centered 
• Working in partnership 
• Accountable for quality results 
• Dedicated to financial integrity and cost-effectiveness 
• Inspired and innovative
 
Our Core Values 

• Personal honesty, integrity, commitment
• Working together in teams - with openness and trust
• Empowering others and respecting differences
• Encouraging risk-taking and responsibility
• Enjoying our work and our families

Program  Context

PEM PAL (Public Expenditure Management Peer Assisted Learning) is a program to create networks of practitioners in public finance in Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Central Asian Region (ECA countries). The network at present includes members from 17 countries of the region and puts an emphasis on involving the member countries with less developed institutional systems. 

The purpose of the networks is to share experience on reform implementation in key areas of public financial management through the so called Communities of Practice (CoPs). PEM PAL network is currently organised around three thematic communities of practice, including Treasury CoP, Budget CoP and Internal Audit CoP. 

Benchmarking is used to stimulate peer to peer exchanges; whereas the Public Expenditure & Financial Accountability indicators (PEFA) provide the general benchmarking tool and more drill-down specific tools are used for the functional areas covered by the Communities of Practice. 

The PEMPAL program was conceptualized by the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and is supported by other development partners, including Switzerland, US treasury, GTZ, InWent and the OECD.  The basic logistical support for the organization of events and information flow through the website is ensured by the Center of Excellence in Finance (Lijubljana, Slovenija) in its role as a PEM PAL Secretariat along the lines described in the Rules of Operation of the initiative. More details about the program can be found at PEM PAL web site (www.pempal.org).

Duties and Accountabilities

The PEM PAL community facilitator, working in Ljubljana, Slovenia, is expected to provide the following support across all three CoPs:

• Support for  the learning agenda of the community

1. Assist CoPs to develop and maintain a learning agenda, including: identify issues of interest for learning agenda and ensure distribution of knowledge information, keep abreast of developments in the respective professional fields and inform members accordingly; manage and update agenda based on feedback.

2. Connect the community to their respective international field of expertise including: (i) relate the CoP to professional associations, (ii) ensure involvement of and support from international institutions, (iii) search for and engaging best practitioners to accommodate members’ requests.

3. Ensure access to relevant standards as well as other documents of professional interest for the COP. Facilitate sharing of relevant  documentation and other types of professional information between the members through the web based databank.

4. Facilitate knowledge sharing on experiences in application of relevant benchmarking tools by members and facilitate the application of such tools.

5.  Develop a database of success stories on specific aspects of CoP development, including documenting ‘what works’ in terms of network development and strengthening. 

• Support to the leadership teams (executive committee) and sub-groups

1. Help leadership teams to identify vision and strategy for development of CoPs. 

2. Help leadership teams prepare annual work programs and budgets.

3. Help with preparing and facilitating leadership team meetings and virtual discussions.

4. Support to CoP work groups including: comments on work, identification of resource people and synergies with existing initiatives; act as broker between group members and other interested parties as needed.

5. Help leadership teams to foster informal and formal communication among members through various means.

6. Help with preparation of materials to be posted at CoP web page.

7. Help the leadership teams to strengthen consistency of membership in member countries and play an advocacy role in enlarging and deepening memberships.

• Support in elaborating strategies to attract funding for the PEMPAL network

Facilitator is also expected to contribute to preparation of the strategies by the PEM PAL Secretariat and Steering Committee to attract new donors  or private sponsors to support PEM PAL activities with a view to gain a certain degree of self-sufficiency of the PEM PAL program in the medium term.

Selection Criteria

The expert should have the following qualifications and skills:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant area (economics, accounting, finance, public administration, etc.)

• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience, including experience within a ministry or public organization either as a public official/employee or external advisor/consultant in one of the following fields: public finance policy formulation; budget oversight; budget execution process and reporting; financial management and control; public sector audit.

• Substantive experience as an international consultant /advisor in a developing economy or country in transition.

• Familiarity with PEFA indicators is desirable.

• Demonstrated ability to deal with high level government counterparts.

• Strong communication skills, experience in facilitating group discussions and ability to use web based tools and video conferencing for group communication.

• Fluency in English. Ability to communicate in Russian is highly desirable. Knowledge of other languages of South East Europe is desirable.

Personal characteristics

Ideally, this person should be a current practitioner or a past practitioner in the domain of public financial management with a degree of familiarity with topics addressed by the different CoPs. This person should ideally have a deep understanding of the reform challenges faced by members and cultural sensitivity to deal with members from countries with different cultural and linguistic background. 

The ideal candidate will:

• Have a passion for the PFM domain and its importance.

• Be credible in the domain.

• Be acceptable by the community professionally and personally.

• Have a vision for improved practices, innovation, and direction for the domain.

• Be reasonably good at dealing with people.

• Have a working understanding of communities of practice.

• See the community and its cultivation as a personal learning opportunity.

Estimated time requirement

The initial duration of the assignment is 12 months, with a possibility of extension till June 30, 2012, subject to satisfactory performance. The Community Facilitator will work as a full-time expert at the PEMPAL Secretariat which is located at the Center of Excellence in Finance, having its permanent premises at Cankarjeva 18, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

More information about the advertisment can be obtained on the World Bank external site(Vacancy Number 101735):

http://web.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64778834&pagePK=64273550&piPK=64778828&theSitePK=1058433

Between May 18-20, 2010 members of the PEM PAL Treasury Community of Practice met in Chisinau where they exchanged the most recent experiences in applying information technologies for treasury operations.

The workshop, hosted by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Moldova, was successfully completed and was a rewarding experience for everyone involved. All and all participants were satisfied with the workshop and their expectations were met. Even though most agreed the duration of the workshop was about right, some thought the workshop was too short and would need additional day to cover all the important topics in greater detail.

The first day of the workshop was devoted to the overview of the recent member countries experiences of implementation of Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS). Experiences of FMIS implementation in Slovakia and Turkey were also presented.

The second day of the workshop focused on the discussion of the issues related to the use of electronic payment systems and digital signature application in treasury operations. Results of thematic member survey were presented at the beginning of the day and set the stage for planary discussion. Moldova’s and Korean experience in using electronic payments in treasury operations, including the experience of introduction of digital signature, were the main case studies for that day.