US, FSM meet on Compact funding in 2018

HONOLULU, Hawaii—The Federated States of Micronesia and the United States closed out August in Hawaii to allocate $61 million to FSM under the Compact of Free Association.

The bilateral Joint Economic Management Committee annual meeting took place on Aug. 30, 2017, in Honolulu. Committee members jointly allocated $61 million for the sectors of health, education, public sector capacity building, private sector development, environment and public sector infrastructure as identified under the Compact of Free Association, as amended, for the benefit of the people of the FSM.

The JEMCO promotes the effective use of funding under the Compact, as amended, and provides the opportunity for FSM and U.S. officials to discuss priorities regarding this funding and how best to achieve them.

“The JEMCO meetings this year were productive,” said JEMCO chair and acting assistant secretary for Insular Areas Nik Pula. “I am especially pleased to see the FSM and the Army Corps of Engineers collaborating to strengthen the infrastructure program and project management practices.”

The JEMCO members from both the FSM and the U.S. governments:

• Expressed the importance of strong people-to-people ties as the foundation of this special relationship.

• Reaffirmed that the goal of funding provided under the Amended Compact is for the benefit of the people of the FSM.

• Emphasized the importance of medium term fiscal planning in managing annual declines in Compact grant assistance.

• Reiterated the importance of advancing education, to strength the FSM’s school accreditation processes, improving access to primary healthcare, and implementing infrastructure projects to contribute to economic advancement, budgetary self-reliance, and sustainable inclusive development.

• Received presentations from FSM state and national government education and health officials on ongoing initiatives within the health and education sectors.

• Recognized ongoing efforts by the FSM to continue to develop a set of clear, simple, measurable indicators for health and education and encouraged the FSM to identify resources to systematically produce, gather, and reliably report upon these indicators.

• Received a presentation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding ongoing collaborative efforts with the FSM in strengthening infrastructure program and project management practices.

The JEMCO allocated Fiscal Year 2018 Compact assistance to the following sectors:

• $ 25,629,189 Education

• $ 22,741,227 Health

• $1,904,232 Public Sector Capacity Building

• $1,788,283 Environment

• $1,247,513 Private Sector Development

• $1,528,408 Enhanced Reporting and Accountability

• $2,600,000 Public Sector Infrastructure

The JEMCO additionally allocated “prior-year” unexpended Compact assistance to the following sectors:

• $ 1,817,735 Education

• $ 1,215,611 Health

• $ 348,298 Public Sector Capacity Building

• $ 629,500 Private Sector Development

JEMCO passed the following resolutions:

• JEMCO 2017-1 Support of Education Personnel Policies

• JEMCO 2017-2 Recurrent, Operational Expenditures within the Private Sector Development, Environment and Public Sector Capacity Building Sectors

• JEMCO 2017-3 FY2018 Compact Grant Allocations

• The JEMCO will reconvene for its mid-year meeting in the spring of 2018.

The JEMCO members are Pula (Department of the Interior), vice chair Lorin Robert (FSM, Secretary of Foreign Affairs), Leo Falcam Jr. (FSM, chief of staff to the President), William Gallo (Health and Human Services), and Philip Roskamp (State Department).