Across the Pacific, the meaning of accountability is shaped not only by institutions but by relationships, values, and lived experience. Rather than being introduced from outside, mechanisms for holding power to account are often embedded in community practice, cultural systems, and informal networks.

As I prepare to facilitate a panel on the subject at the 2025 Pacific Update, I have been reflecting on the implications and the depth of the complexity we need to be comfortable with to stay true to the above. The panel builds on a synthesis report released earlier this year by La Trobe University and UNDP, which explored the political economy of accountability ecosystems in the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The report shows that accountability in the Pacific cannot be understood—or strengthened—without recognizing the wider ecosystem in which it lives: one that includes customary institutions, family networks, faith groups, the private sector, media, and informal coalitions.

From Institutional Design to Embedded Practice

In many countries, the formal architecture of accountability exists—Leadership Commissions, Ombudsman offices, and Parliamentary Committees. Yet these structures often struggle for legitimacy or traction: legitimacy in the eyes of communities, connection to people’s lived realities, and the ability to shift entrenched dynamics of power.

As the report highlights, efforts to strengthen accountability must start from within context:

• In Tuvalu, the concept of tautua—a leader’s obligation to serve with humility—resonates more deeply than procedural definitions of oversight.
• In Solomon Islands, trust is built through relational obligations and collective accountability within communities.
• In Palau, dialogues led by traditional leadership are reimagining what customary obligations and relational accountability means for younger generations.
• In Tonga, local governance is layered through nobles, churches, women’s groups, and community councils that shape how services and funds flow.

These aren’t exceptions to governance—they are governance.

Holding Ourselves Accountable in Adaptive Work

For those of us in development institutions, this context demands a shift—not only in how we design support, but in how we measure and learn. Adaptive, coalition-led work doesn’t always follow linear timelines or fixed indicators. It evolves through dialogue, presence, and trust. I am often left pondering on how to track change, when the most meaningful shifts are not always visible in outputs, but in relationships, legitimacy, and local agency?

Through the Vaka Pasifika project, we’ve been exploring how monitoring and learning can better reflect this reality:

• By documenting shifts in relationships, not just activities through independent academic partnerships.
• By developing flexible MEL frameworks that adjust to political moments.
• By treating partner feedback not as a formality, but as a core signal for change.

This work isn’t about validating predefined plans—it’s about learning together, and allowing that learning to reshape what we do next.

Centering Local Leadership, Regional Learning

Supporting accountability ecosystems means working with what exists, not layering new systems over the top. It means taking the lead from Pacific institutions and coalitions already navigating this complexity—many of whom are guiding the dialogue at this week’s Pacific Update.

It also requires us, as international actors, to continually question our role. Are we amplifying what’s already working? Are we creating space for local ownership and experimentation? Are we willing to slow down when deeper engagement is needed?

The answers are not always clear—but through our partnership with La Trobe University, and regional coalitions across the Pacific, we are committed to building a practice of governance support that is grounded, respectful, and regionally led.

As the panel discussion will explore, accountability is not a checklist. It’s not a model that can be transferred. It is a relationship—built over time, shaped by context, and sustained through shared commitment.