Peer Learning Event for EITI Implementing Countries in South-East Asia and the Pacific

25 – 27 October 2017

Thirty-six representatives from EITI implementing countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific met in Manila on 25-27 October 2017, to learn from each other and share their experiences with EITI implementation. "EITI in Asia: Building capacity for impactful implementation" peer-learning workshop was organised in partnership with the World Bank for members of the multi-stakeholders groups and national secretariats from Indonesia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

The workshop was held in parallel with the 38th Board meeting in Manila, enabling the members of the Board to join some of the discussions throughout the workshop. The workshop started with the welcoming of participants by the Chair of the EITI Fredrik Reinfeldt, the representative of SEA and OP implementing countries in the EITI Board Asst. Secretary Ma. Teresa M. Habitan and the Extractives Practice Manager Sheila Khama. They reiterated the importance of stakeholder engagement in the EITI process and encouraged the workshop participants to engage with the Board members and Board observers in the coming days given the 38th Board meeting taking place in parallel with the regional workshop.Various areas of strengths and weaknesses of countries were noted with an encouragement to each country to seek solutions (e.g. mainstreaming), especially given the presence of technical experts at the training.

The key themes of the workshop were:

EITI Standard – ensuring that there is a clear understanding of the changes to the 2016 EITI Standard and the procedures for countries to transition to the EITI Standard, as well as
Peer Learning - Though each country aims to bring transparency under one Standard, experiences and processes are quite different from country to country.
EITI Data - making greater use of the data produced by EITI reports and making the data more open.
Mainstreaming - integrating the EITI into government systems.
Reform - linkages with other governance and reform initiatives.

Please consult the attached participants' list, programme and power point presentations for more details about the workshop.