Hagåtña, Guam: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) delivered stakeholder engagement training to 16 staff (8 female, 8 male) from 9 public audit offices from 17 to 20 November 2025.
The staff were from the audit offices of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the FSM states of Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap, Guam, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau.
During the 4-day in-person workshop, participants learned practical steps to maximise their engagement with stakeholders such as the legislature, audited entities, the media and the public.
Program Director, Mike Scott, leads PASAI’s stakeholder management program and explained, “We aim to improve our members’ ability to effectively communicate audit findings, increase the impact of their work and demonstrate their value to the lives of citizens in the Pacific."
PASAI Chief Executive, Esther Lameko-Poutoa; and Communications Advisor, Luke Eaton; co-facilitated the workshop at a training venue provided by the Guam Office of Public Accountability.
Workshop facilitators guided participants on communications principles, crafting actionable recommendations, drafting media releases, maximising their impact with social media content, and incorporating multimedia into audit reports and related communications material. The workshop built on previous PASAI training that includes developing and implementing a stakeholder engagement strategy, report writing, interpersonal communications and media interview preparation.
Mr Scott played a video that senior staff at the Office of the Auditor General of the Republic of Fiji had pre-recorded for their North Pacific counterparts explaining their engagement with members of the Fijian Parliament in reviewing the Audit Act. Beneficial reforms were later passed into law in the Fiji Audit Act 2025.
“The knowledge-sharing of the Fijian auditors sparked discussion among workshop participants on how they may be able to improve engagement with their legislatures to strengthen their offices’ independence,” he said.
Mr Scott also played a video made by the Executive Director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal, Jeanette Calder, on the role civil society organisations can play in the accountability system, and one by senior staff at the New Zealand Office of the Auditor-General, Mark Evans (Director) and Giovanni Fesuiai (Sector Manager), on engagement with the Legislature to promote scrutiny, accountability and impact.
Strategic communications partners from the New Zealand audit office, Richard Scott and Cameron Webb, prepared some media- and social media-related workshop content for the participants to view and joined remotely to respond to questions.
All participants presented short- and long-term plans for how they can implement lessons from the workshop customised to the realities they face with their various stakeholders.
Mr Scott expressed satisfaction with the level of improvement demonstrated by participants, saying, “Attendees interacted enthusiastically with workshop content and invested serious energy into creating strategies that I’m confident will translate into tangible actions.”
PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Stakeholder engagement workshop participants
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Contact information:
Mike Scott, Program Director PASAI
E: mike.scott@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275
PDF version of this media release
