This report reviews the DFAT-funded Governance for Growth (GfG) programme, which has been supporting economic governance and public financial management (PFM) reforms in Vanuatu for the past decade. It forms one part of a broader evaluation of GfG that will inform the design of the next phase of the programme.

GfG predates the language of doing development differently (DDD) and other similar models of working politically, yet its design reflects many of the core features of the approach: most notably, a long-term commitment to supporting locally led and politically feasible institutional reforms. Through GfG, the Government of Australia has established a way of operating at arm’s length from its broader diplomatic and aid agendas. This distance (both perceived and actual) has allowed GfG to operate as a trusted adviser to the Government of Vanuatu and to work on sensitive policy reforms with partners in the central agencies in a way most programmes cannot.