Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has announced the establishment of a Whole-of-Government Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Unit after receiving Cabinet approval on June 3, 2025. This new unit will operate within the Office of the Prime Minister and aims to serve as a centralized mechanism for tracking government performance and enhancing accountability across various ministries.
The MEL Unit is designed to ensure that taxpayer resources lead to substantial outcomes in areas ranging from infrastructure development to poverty reduction and social services. Rabuka emphasizes that the unit will facilitate evidence-based decision-making, guaranteeing transparency and efficiency in the government’s operations. It will also feature a national performance dashboard to provide real-time updates on the National Development Plan (2025–2029) and the long-term Vision 2050 goals.
“This initiative isn’t about adding more bureaucracy; it’s about fostering a results-oriented governance culture,” Rabuka stressed, while calling for bipartisan support for this framework. The Prime Minister noted that existing monitoring officers will be redirected to the MEL Unit, which is currently fine-tuning its administrative operations.
The establishment of this unit aligns well with previous commitments by Rabuka’s government to promote accountability and effective resource allocation, ensuring that all government spending is transparently linked to tangible benefits for Fijians. As stated in earlier announcements, there is a strong focus on tracking progress and bolstering service delivery to empower citizens and improve lives through targeted, data-driven policies.
Moreover, this development represents an encouraging step towards a more responsive government that prioritizes the needs and expectations of its citizens. By pursuing a systematic approach to governance, there is potential for enhanced collaboration across ministries which could lead to more efficient public service delivery in Fiji. With ongoing engagement with the citizenry, the hope is that this new MEL framework will foster stronger relationships between the government and the public, contributing to a brighter future for all Fijians.
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