A Holistic Approach to Strategic Development Planning. The Framework outlines the different levels of development planning that occur within the Government of Samoa, detailing the oversight and governance structures that endeavor to provide transparency and accountability in managing public resources and development assistance.

A Sectoral Planning Manual: Samoa was first published in March 2000. It was endorsed by the Cabinet Development Committee as the basis for preparing Sector Plans for all sectors of the economy. The Manual was revised in 2003 and translated into Samoan, to make it more accessible to public officials involved in planning, and also to reflect the Realignment of Government Departments approved by Cabinet in April 2002 and implemented in mid-2003. The Manual has been updated and reissued as a 2009 edition because sector planning is being revitalised as a key component of the 2008 Public Finance Management Reform Plan (PFMRP).

SMERF manual provides a guide for design of Sector Plans (SP) outcome maps and building of SP monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework and/or plans. SMERF manual focuses on achieving clarity of description of the casual pathway to achieve the desired ‘end of sector plan’ outcomes and a plan for monitoring and reporting the progress made towards achieving ‘end of sector plan’ outcomes.

In 1998, the Cabinet Development Committee (CDC) endorsed the Manual on Project Planning and Programming as the basis for ensuring that Government ministries and agencies adopted a common approach to project planning and programming, and to the presentation of project and programme proposals. The manual also identified the roles and responsibilities of agencies involved in various stages of the project cycle, and provided guidelines on how project planning is integrated into the budget cycle. The ultimate aim was to promote an efficient use of scarce resources in achieving national development objectives presented in the Strategy for the Development of Samoa.

The National Social Protection Policy Framework (NSPPF) aims to establish the guiding principles for policies and programs implemented by various Government Agencies to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable citizens, while providing timely response and targeted assistance in the face of external shocks.