Transcript Poverty, Development and Corruption

Opportunities for civil society to
promote good governance through
international cooperation
Overview
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An exploratory workshop – building on participants
knowledge, work situations and expectations
Recalling shared understanding – feedback on TI’s paper
Current aid framework - hurdles to implementation
Civil society role in the current aid framework
Civil society part of the problem ? – A new way of
functioning required
Advocacy opportunities for European civil society
Advocacy opportunities for partner civil society
Discussion
Knowledge, opportunities &
expectations
 Previous exposure and experience of reaching – or
not reaching the poor
 Where opportunities / constraints to prevent
corruption are perceived
 What do we expect to leave with – practicable ideas?
 Collective advocacy, internal change?
Shared understanding–feedback on TI’s
paper
 Public accountability is key to preventing corruption
 Aid has broken the domestic accountability chain –
perpetuating poverty in rich developing countries
 Mutual accountability – a new ‘conditionality’ on aid
requiring donor and recipient governments to ensure
accountability to their citizens i.e.:
o Aid must support institutions of domestic accountability
o Aid must support the poor in demanding accountability
New aid framework
Increasing policy and budget based support:
Budget support to strengthen domestic
accountability - a way forward ?
Budget support – an opportunity for civil
society to strengthen democratic
accountability
Hurdles to implementation
No incentive for donor and recipient
administrations to ensure accountability
Downward accountability to beneficiaries is
political, requires support to democratic processes
& challenges state capture
Civil society is used as substitute for
accountability to beneficiaries
Beneficiaries & taxpayers not aware of rights,
poorly informed, with no incentive to participate
Civil society role in current framework
Aid framework focuses on accountability to citizens
and parliaments and multi-stakeholder processes
UNCAC: ensuring inclusive, informed and
empowered participation in domestic decisionmaking (Article 13)
Paris Declaration: ownership through accountability
to citizens and parliaments (Article 3) and
multistakeholder processes (Article 14&48)
Civil society part of the problem ?
Vested interests of donors, recipients, civil
society to continue transfers from European
taxpayers to the poor
Vested interests to continue to supply public
services – particularly of civil society in
partner countries
Vested interests to represent beneficiaries and
demand funds to ensure their representation
Challenge to function differently
From providing financial resources to providing
information and demanding democratic
accountability
In donor countries
 Ensure accountability to taxpayers on donor
commitments
In recipient countries
 Track and support domestic accountability to
beneficiaries
European civil society &
donors
What can be done immediately:
 Demand space in donor coordination forums
and processes to track commitments on
domestic accountability (UNCAC, MDG, Paris
Decl, WB GAC, CAS, EU CSP etc.)
 Create space for partner civil society in donor
supported processes in partner countries
(donor forums, CAS, DBS, SwAPs etc.)
Also
 Hold national and European parliamentarians to
account on oversight (Bilateral, EU, WB funding)
 Support parliamentary oversight of EU financing
(ALA committees), WB progrs.
Key indicators:
 Disbursement links to informed, institutionalised,
entitlement based participiation, resource
mobilisation, field staff positions & cross donor
forums – MoUs, DIPs
Advocacy messages to
taxpayers
 Emphasize linkages – e.g. ENP links
corruption, poverty, migration
 OECD Convention - Taxpayers must hold
companies to account that bribe governments
and impoverish local populations and cause
distress migration
 Sharing necessary both across the globe and
within countries
New role of partner civil
society
Support beneficiaries to:
 participate in political and administrative decisionmaking forums
 make informed choices of beneficial policy option
 demand accountability on services and resources
 voice concerns on the effectiveness of downward
accountability measures
 exercise entitlement rights (EITI)
Also
 Build coalitions with parliamentarians and media to
strengthen democratic accountability
 Enter decision-making forums on national
development strategies and sector policies
 Enter decision-making forums on donor CAS and
programme formulations
 Focus on sectors, decentralisation etc. relevant to
the poor and having a broader appeal
Advocacy messages
1. Rights and entitlements of citizens to
national resources
2. Transparency of - and public participation
in - decision-making processes
3. Tracking conversion of inclusive growth
promises through the policy, budget and
implementation process
Discussion
 Immediate opportunities
 Civil society should demand a place at the table of
donor coordination (Paris Decl.)
 Join other CSOs, Civicus, Action Aid, TI advocacy
effort in tracking implementation for Accra 2008
 Occupy existing spaces of the WB, EBRD, EBI,
ADBs, all bilateral aid agencies, the OECD
 Other ideas?
EU opportunities
 Deriving from the UNCAC; Paris Declaration and OECD DAC work,
Country Strategy Paper, Sector Budget Guidelines, civil society and
beneficiaries are repeatedly mentioned as key stakeholders, whose
participation is nessary both for sustainable development and to prevent
corruption
 In none of the above does European civil society participate to protect
both tax-payers interest (upward accountability) or beneficiary interests
(downward accountability)
 Forums in which civil society could ensure their role: through member
countries that are on the ALA committees (EDF), Quality Support
Groups, current consultation on access to documents