Officials from the Samoa Public Service Commission presented before the Public Service Fale’s Pacific Integrity and Ethics online workshop focusing on the principle of equity.
Guest speakers from Samoa were Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Ta’aiseuga Jason Hisatake, and ACEO Legal and Investigations Services, Maiavatele Timothy Fesili.
They covered merit-based appointments and managing perceptions of nepotism in a small community.
“Merit is important to ensure that we get the best candidates into the Public Service,” says Maiavatele.
“And integrity is important because this is the part where the public judge us, this is public trust and confidence in the Public Service.”
Participants in the Fale’s Integrity and Ethics programme are from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tokelau.
included Dr Fiona Hukula, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat’s Gender Specialist, who spoke about challenges for women in the workplace and community, and how to best support women in public service leadership roles.
“COVID-19 has proven that we can be flexible in the workplace and that we can cater to some of the challenges that women face, especially around childcare, domestic duties, customary obligations, all of which are relevant for our countries,” says Dr Hukula.
The Fale supports sixteen Pacific countries to achieve their public service goals through initiatives in key areas including Digital Connectivity, Leadership Development and Strengthening Governance. The Fale is housed within Te Kawa Mataaho.
