Australia to give another $6.7 mln to fund Vietnam governance performance index

An agreement for the purpose was signed between Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Hanoi Monday.

PAPI is a governance program initiated by UNDP in Vietnam in 2009 to measure and benchmark citizens’ experiences and perception about the performance and quality of policy implementation and services delivery of provincial governments to advocate for effective and responsive governance.

Australia’s ambassador to Vietnam, Robyn Mudie, said that she was impressed to see PAPI continually renewing itself as Vietnam changes, and that her country strongly supports efficiency in provincial governance and public administration, especially amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said Australia’s contribution would help PAPI further promote public administration in Vietnam.

Since its launch, PAPI has garnered opinions from over 131,500 citizens, with around 14,000 being interviewed each year since 2011.

The 2019 survey, announced in May, said corruption in public administration had decreased the most in nine years, with improvements seen in all aspects that make up the corruption indicator: limits on public sector corruption, limits on corruption in public services, equity in employment, and willingness to fight corruption.

Australia has been the main sponsor of PAPI since 2018.