Our Strengths
- Dedicated backstopping support, with established offices in many of the countries we operate in
- Hands-on approach with specialised project managers and local staff
PACE, or GOPA Partners in Action for Change and Engagement, works with the aim of transforming policies to projects and ideas into actions with a focus on creating a better tomorrow. The European Union (EU) external actions as well as other Donors’ actions are based on the assumption that they should contribute to a global improvement in the field of good governance, as this sector underpins the foundations for sustainable development.
Good governance is a horizontal topic, which is crucial when planning projects in order to guarantee sustainable and long-term progress. Only through establishing good governance processes at local, national and regional levels, we can establish a long-term solution to the most pressing challenges the world is facing, including poverty, conflict, corruption and disregard for human rights.
PACE has worked on this alongside the European Union and partner countries over the past 32 years on more than 200 technical assistance projects, as well as numerous framework contract assignments. Our team has developed a broad expertise implementing complex programs, with different Donors, in the field of governance in a variety of environments, ranging from middle income and EU pre-accession countries to post-conflict environments and fragile countries.
Rooted in our lasting experience implementing challenging projects, PACE has developed a unique ability to design and implement adaptive and impactful programs which are able to meet any client’s needs.
We establish long-term partnerships with locally based specialised firms, allowing us to draw upon the strengths of many partner firms, NGOs, and think tanks.
Our team implements projects in the field of public administration reform that encompass everything from restructuring of government agencies, improving the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and impact of public policies, designing reform strategies and evaluating the impacts of policy or establishing performance assessment frameworks.
We have implemented successful PAR projects across the ENI East, IPA and Latin America regions, as well as in many ACP countries. The modalities of implementation have varied, from TAs that accompany budget support programmes, to TA Facilities where our teams are focused on flexible responses to ad-hoc requests from beneficiaries and contracting authorities.
We have a long trajectory of supporting public administration at the regional and local levels. Decentralisation of policymaking is a key way in which public policy can become more responsive to the real needs of citizens, and deliver tailor-made solutions to specific challenges that each community faces.
As such, PACE has for many years implemented projects aiming at policy decentralisation, whether it be via the provision of advisory services, studies or capacity building to local authorities, or via the management of EU-funded grant schemes aimed at municipal governments.
Since PACE’ creation, regional development and management of structural and pre-accession funds has been at the core of our work. Beginning with EU enlargement in the early 21st century, we were intimately involved in managing EU-funded projects for capacity building of new member states.
In recent years, we have developed an in-depth expertise on the management of IPA-funded initiatives, where we have supported multiple beneficiaries in the implementation of reform agendas and the programming of use of EU funds for fundamental reforms. As such, we have also developed a strong experience in the identification and programming of projects, an area where we continue to support our partners in multiple IPA countries.
Ensuring a transparent and efficient management of public funds is an essential aspect of good governance. Our expertise in this topic covers support to ministries of finance, revenue mobilization and tax policy, or public sector budgeting. In this regard, a core aspect of our work is supporting governments in the implementation of international standards and assessments (such as PEFA assessments), and developing reform strategies to enhance public finance management.
These services have often been delivered as an accompaniment to EU Budget Support initiatives, where we have supported beneficiaries and EU Delegations in preparing disbursement notes, gathering of data for indicators, and other such activities. We have implemented technical assistance contracts for Budget Support programmes in diverse fields, ranging from PFM Reform to the Security Sector or PAR.
PACE has developed a deep expertise in the fields of competition policy and state aid. Most particularly, we support multiple countries in the development sustainable economy standards in line with the EU acquis, across the IPA and ENI East regions.
Our services in this field encompass promotion of the efficiency and effectiveness of administrative capacities in the fields of competition and state aid and to ensure the approximation of legislation in these fields with the EU legal framework; legislative review and legal drafting of legislation in these fields; drafting programmes for state aid; and strengthening inter-institutional coordination.
Boulevard de la Woluwe 2
1150 Brussels, BELGIUM
Tel. \ +32 2 89767 00
info@gopa-pace.com
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