ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA E ective institutions and systems of public nancial How Disaster Resilient is management (PFM) play a critical role in the preparation and Antigua and Barbuda’s Public response to disasters. Strong PFM ties together o en scarce available resources with their appropriate and sustainable use Financial Management? to ensure that governments can function reasonably well even in times of disasters. Figure 1: Extent to which disaster resilience and recovery considerations are integrated into key PFM functions and processes. Antigua and Barbuda Regional Average Regional Frontier Full F Advanced A Moderate M Basic B Low L PFM Resource Gender Sensitive Expenditure Information Procurement Public Rules and Planning Resource Tracking Systems and Procedures Investment Regulations Allocation Record Keeping Management Institutional Budget Expenditure Auditing Procurement Procurement Public Asset Arrangements Appropriation Controls Practices Planning Templates and Management for PFM Documents NOTE: The assessment is based on the “Disaster Resilience systems by pinpointing critical PFM policies, practices, foundations; budget appropriation arrangements; nancial and Recovery Public Financial Management Review”, and procedures that can be strengthened to improve management controls; procurement arrangements, and developed by the World Bank Group’s Governance Global a government’s capability to respond more e ciently public investment and asset management. Countries Practice, Latin America and Caribbean Team in 2019. It and e ectively to disasters, without loss of the integrity assessed in the sample include Antigua and Barbuda, is an analytical instrument that seeks to help countries and accountability. The DRR-PFM review focuses on ve Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and build resilient, responsive public nancial management key elements of the PFM system: legal and institutional St. Vincent and the Grenadines. KEY STRENGTHS LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK BUDGET APPROPRIATION FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CONTROLS • Defined protocol for declaring disasters • Access to a reasonably good mix of financing • Adequate segregation of financial that have implications for accelerated sources to respond to disasters. management duties to minimize conflicts public spending. • Sufficient budget flexibility to manage of interest. • Clear operating rules for accounting, unforeseen disaster expenditures. • Tracking of disaster-related financial reporting, and auditing of disaster related transactions which is integrated into the core expenditures. PFM system. • Existence of a national disaster response plan. PUBLIC PROCUREMENT • Active and dedicated unit promoting • Flexibility in procurement practices allows integration of gender considerations in for expedited contracting. budget policies. KEY CHALLENGES OPPORTUNITIES LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK Absence of disaster response PFM protocols and emergency Provision of specific support for disaster response in PFM legislation. procurement rules. Post-disaster PFM activities are made contemporaneously as the Updates and dissemination of government continuity and disaster emergency unfolds. recovery plans and procedures. BUDGET APPROPRIATION Lack of clearly defined and documented protocols on how to sequence Clear definitions of interim finance procedures in accordance with the reallocations for emergency response. provisions of emergency-related legislations. Inclusiveness and gender-sensitive considerations are absent in the Inclusiveness and gender-sensitive considerations are incorporated in allocation of resources for disaster response. the allocation of resources for disaster response. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CONTROLS Delayed publication and auditing of financial records, information on Transparency of public’s access to post-disaster spending and post-disaster performance, and financial outcomes are inaccessible. performance data. Very few post-disaster financial activities are deliberately reviewed and Increase in the frequency of audits and tracking implementation of audited for strategic reasons. audit recommendation. Insufficient parliamentary audit scrutiny and lack of due diligence to Strengthening oversight by the legislature ensure corrective actions are implemented. PUBLIC PROCUREMENT Informal, undocumented and ad hoc emergency procurement procedures Development of a flexible but thorough emergency procurement with no supporting guides, templates or systems to monitor and evaluate policy, emergency procurement manuals, and templates. the outcomes for emergency situations. PUBLIC INVESTMENT AND ASSET MANAGEMENT Climate-informed selection criteria are not systematically applied in Formal mechanisms established and documented for the appraisal, pre-appraisal of public investment projects. selection, and approval of public investments.