Commencing innovative approach for service delivery
Under the REACH Project, whilst mobile service delivery is being provided on-the-spot in targeted rural, urban and maritime communities of Fiji, the challenge lies in ensuring start-to-finish service provision, and being able to both track, monitor and update citizens in remote locations regarding the progress of their individual service delivery requests and their ultimate resolution. Further, having an open feedback loop with the ability for citizens and the concerned service providers within the Government to be able communicate one-to-one regarding the status of the request for the service provision and satisfaction at resolution is also missing at present.
For effective start-to-finish( S2F) service provision, tracking and monitoring of service delivery is proposed through an S2F pilot initiative to be undertaken in 2017 and 2018 linked to the REACH Project. The existing services provided through the REACH Mobile Service Delivery would form the base foundation. Under S2F, one topic area of the services currently delivered in communities is selected, and whenever these services are provided during the REACH Project, these would then be integrated into the S2F Service Delivery Tracker. At the pilot stage, the type of service delivery tracked will be limited to one socio-economic service delivered by the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation( e. g., poverty benefit scheme). The S2F pilot initiative will be undertaken in target villages and settlements of Fiji( potentially in the Eastern and Northern Divisions of Fiji, which are the most remote).
There is strong stakeholder support for improvements to service delivery to the most vulnerable and most remote communities, provided that the focus of the initiative is based on a sustainable and Fiji-contextually appropriate approach.
The concept, as it presently stands, has been further refined using a Human-Centred Design approach, which enabled quick on-the-ground research and testing of the rapidly developed prototype with target beneficiaries. The value of such an initiative was affirmed with key target groups, with suggestions shared by potential users for improvement. In November 2017 a consultation was held with NGOs, CSOs and youth from across Fiji, where feedback was gathered on technological use and uptake in Fiji, and particularly the challenges for actualization. On the whole, it was recommended to effectively integrate and digitize critical public services to best meet the needs of the vulnerable in remote communities of Fiji.
In support of enhanced delivery for the services provided by the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, South-South knowledge transfer on innovative approaches for improving public service delivery is being undertaken between the Access to Information Initiative( a2i) under the Prime Minister’ s Office of Bangladesh and the REACH Project, UNDP Pacific Office. a2i has successfully piloted as well as operationalized‘ One Stop Service Centres’ and the‘ National Portal’ in Bangladesh, amongst other successful innovative service delivery initiatives, which are of direct relevance and applicability in the Fijian context. a2i, UNDP Bangladesh is providing advisory support for successful development and implementation of S2F.
Concurrently, an implementation plan for S2F is in development, with a view to initiate the testing of the pilot in early 2018 and its subsequent roll-out in identified pilot communities in targeted divisions of Fiji. User acceptance testing and feedback will be a dedicated part of the programme to ensure that the design ultimately best meets the needs of users, and enables more efficient public service delivery across Fiji.
26 IMPACT STORIES Rights, Empowerment and Cohesion( REACH) for Rural and Urban Fijians Project