UNICEF has assumed the co-chairmanship of the development partners’ group working on Public Finance Management

UNICEF Mozambique has recently taken over the co-chairmanship of the development partners’ group working on Public Finance Management, together with the African Development Bank. The Group serves as a coordination platform to ensure financial and technical support for the improvement of the PFM systems but also offers an arena for policy dialogue with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Development, with which the Group meets bi-annually. Currently, the focus of the Group is supporting the finalization and implementation of the country’s PFM Strategy (2026-2035), an ambitious reform agenda geared towards ensuring a more effective, efficient, and transparent management of public resources.

This happens at a critical juncture for the country, beset by a fiscal crisis that has been eroding its capacity to invest in its children and future for the past years. To ensure that quality services can be delivered to the children and youth in such a context, a well-functioning PFM system is necessary, although not sufficient in and of itself. Its benefits will not automatically trickle down unless the system is given an explicit and strong orientation towards service delivery and, through this, towards social cohesion and the upholding of the social contract.

In its new coordination role, UNICEF’s intention is to advocate for such a focus is maintained and that the transformative impacts of these sectoral reforms benefits first and foremost to the children and youth of Mozambique.