As discussions on the Post ... articulating the post 2015 agenda. framework intensify,

Regional Centre LAC
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As discussions on the Post 2015
framework
intensify,
how
to
strengthen democratic governance
has become a key topic of the
conversations. The framework of the
Post 2015 Agenda provides a unique
opportunity to think “outside the
box” in terms of democratic
governance.
There are more
elections at all level of government,
human development has expanded
and there is even evidence of growth
in income. In spite of progress, all
societies in the world without
exception are confronting new and
more
complex
challenges.
Democratic governance is at the
center of that challenge, both in
terms of its inability to generate
certainty for the future and capacity
to promote inclusiveness in ever
growing diversifying world. So far in
the debate, the assessment and
solutions to the challenge seem
conventional given the potential
enormous consequences of “business
as usual.” Focusing on policy and
institutions could be one way of
articulating the post 2015 agenda.
However, given the emerging
complexity of the challenges that
focus may not be sufficient anymore
and the instead the reality (processes,
interactions, arrangements) in the
ground may demand a variety of out
of the box thinking that turns
democratic
governance
up-side
down. Long lists of “things to do” in
the post-2015 agenda, may have to
be replace with a bottom-up strategy
that focuses on a few but strategic
issues to strengthen democratic
governance.
For example, the linkage between
development and governance is not
necessarily a given. The reality in a
constantly changing governance
context at global, national and subnational levels shows that not only is
it more difficult to show such linkage,
but also that such linkage is not
automatic. Prescriptively, there might
be some evidence that support a
causal linkage between governance
and development. The reality in the
ground is far more complex and it
involves looking closely at conditions
(institutional,
economic,
sociopolitical, decision-making and public
policy processes, levels of devolution,
deconcetration or delegation of subnational governments, culture of
integrity/accountability) and the role
of governance in those particular
conditions.
Also, any post 2015 strategy cannot
ignore the multifaceted and fastpaced context for governance today
at all levels, global, national and subnational, and the challenges multilevel
governance
poses
for
development, citizen security, public
policy, civic engagement among
others. The strategy needs to be able
to accommodate old and new, and
formal and informal forms of
governance, including new interactive
mechanisms to promote and
encourage citizen participation in a
way that the democratic aspect of
Continue on the next page
governance comes from recognizing
and incorporating individuals’ voice in
the process of decision making, which
goes beyond voting in electoral
process. As such, it has to take into
account on the one hand the new
emerging governance sub-national
spaces and the virtual multi-national
(global) governance spaces. Overall
then, the challenge is to target
initiatives likely to encourage the
development of both individual
capacities and the virtuous circle
between
new
forms
of
governance and technological,
economic and social change.
Before targeting dimensions, goals
and areas of governance or the socalled
building
blocks
of
governance in the post 2015
agenda, it might be necessary to
revise how the relation state and
society is taking place today, more
so as political communities are
becoming more diverse and
complex. In that changing reality,
governance is no longer only
about managing societies, or
providing services to citizens, or
paying taxes. Also development is
not
only
about
expanding
opportunities and/or achieving predetermined goals. More profoundly
than that, it is about a constant recomposition of political communities
and the role of government and
society to ensure constructive
engagement to resolve public
challenges that have global, national
and sub-national dimensions (e.g.,
climate change, corrupt practices,
organized crime, exclusion and
discrimination to name but a few).
Growing
diversity
in
political
communities
produces
two
challenges to governance and any
new development agenda: securing
democratic governance and renewal
under changing global, national and
sub-national
conditions,
and
rethinking the idea of state and
society, particularly where it can
count at the sub-national level. In
spite of progress in human
development
and
democratic
governance in the world and in an
important number of formerly known
as developing and/or transition
countries, progress is still fragile and
has not translated into more
certainty, stability, inclusiveness
and/or
equality.
Conventional
democratic
institutions
within
countries have shown many signs of
declining vitality. These institutions
will be relevant if people find value in
them. Lack of check and balances,
autonomous
and
independent
oversight
institutions,
party-list
elections, citizens´ apathy, centralized
decision-making processes, citizen
insecurity and persistent perception
of corruption are some of the
symptoms.
Moreover,
national
institutions may no longer be capable
to understand and/or resolve
development challenges at the subnational level. Thus any post 2015
strategy has to recognize that
governance and development may
ride on both governmental and nongovernmental organizations, less
hierarchical
decision
making
processes, more pluralistic authority,
and on mutual (state-society)
accountability and transparency.
However, it cannot be assumed that
sub-national governance is the
panacea.
Many conventional
thinking
about
sub-national
governance needs to be revised in
light
of
diversification
and
complexity of contexts. The
independent
evaluation
commissioned by UNDP in 2010 of
its
contributions
to
Local
Governance, made a number of
recommendations in this direction,
aiming at a better integration of
UNDP’s
approaches
and
programmes related to its subnational level interventions and
support. The evaluation report
pointed to the often isolated
interventions and support at the
sub-national space, the variety of
approaches, as well as the inability
to scale-up these initiatives into
broader reform policy frameworks in
favor of enhancing sub-national
governance.
It is no longer a given that subnational actors may have an
informational
and
locational
advantage, simply because they are
there. Also, no longer is relevant to
propose participatory processes
without
understanding
the
institutional conditions to ensure
impact and sustainability, as well as
the needs to ensure functional
articulation with national factors and
actors. If sub-national governments
cannot deliver services and/or be
Continue on the next page
responsive to their localized needs,
will most likely alienates citizens and
become a self-fulfilling prophecy that
may serve vested interests in keeping
a status quo. This is why
decentralization and local governance
processes need to be understood
from a broader perspective. It is one
thing what the international
community may want and/or
propose, it is a different what can
realistically be done in the ground
given the political room to
maneuver delicate reforms that
involve the devolution of resources
and political power. Thus the focus
should be on the domestic
dynamics
of
sub-national
governance to understand potential
unintended consequences and the
elements
of
the
political
deliberation at the national level.
While this is underway, capacities
could be built at the sub-national
level with the eventuality that they
will be getting more responsibilities
and resources in the future, as well
as creating at the sub-national level
organizational
capacity
to
undertake the tasks long-term (i.e.,
university,
learning
centers,
networks).
A key question here is how much
money/resources should be invested
in processes vis a vis in results? This
may also pose a dilemma to the
international community in a post
2015 agenda. While results are
important,
also
are
targeted
approaches in favor of processes and
policy dialogue and testing multidisciplinary
approaches
(gender,
environment, economic development)
to capture and learn from evolving
realities. As was identified by the
2011 DELOG Busan Report, for the
international community it might be
important
first
to
adequately
understand the key political economy
dynamics before venturing any
assistance.
Often there is evidence that while in
the open there might be consensus
on sub-national governance reform,
inside political circles there might also
be subtle opposition that can limit
the efficacy of support. Also, subnational reforms are managed from
different
entities
within
the
central/national government. This
can reinforce fragmentation among
entities and uncoordinated can even
lead to neutralizing efforts, as some
reforms may reinforce centralization
and
others
advocate
for
decentralization. Another key issue
is the time-length of reform
processes
in
sub-national
governance; results materialize slowly
and often without key short-term
indicators to measure success.
Furthermore, traditional capacitybuilding approaches continue to be
applied with limited focus on capacity
of civil society to engage sub-national
governments to develop the critical
vertical accountability capacity.
The outcome document of the High
Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in
Busan,
the
Rio+20
outcome
document and now the post 2015
Agenda
discussions
are
all
highlighting the importance of the
sub-national space for a new, more
integrated
and
strategy
for
democratic governance. UNDP is
finalizing a new integrated local
governance and local development
strategy, focusing on how to help
sub-national
groups
to
act
collectively; rethinking participatory
processes; understanding tradeoffs;
working on governance and economic
development in an integrated way;
and enhancing sub-national actors´
limited capacities. These might just
be a few key areas to revitalize
democratic governance from its
roots.
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Shifting Power? Assessing the Impact of
Transparency and Accountability Initiatives
Rosie McGee and John Gaventa
IDS Working Paper 383
Institute of Development Studies, 2011
Governance of Public Policies in Decentralized
Contexts: The Multi-level Approach
Charbit, Claire
Regional Development Working Papers, OECD
2011
Accountability
and transparency
initiatives have
taken
democratization, governance, aid and development circles by storm
since the turn of the century. Many actors involved with them – as
donors, funders, programme managers, implementers and
researchers – are now keen to know more about what these
initiatives are achieving. This paper arises from a review of the impact
and effectiveness of transparency and accountability initiatives, and it
analyzes how the evaluation and impact could be enhanced. This
paper takes the discussion further, by delving into what lies behind
the methodological and evaluative debates currently surrounding
governance and accountability work. It illustrates how choices about
methods are made in the context of impact assessment designs
driven by different objectives and different ideological and
epistemological underpinnings. The authors argue that these
differences are articulated as methodological debates, obscuring vital
issues underlying accountability work, which are about power and
politics, not necessarily methodological technicalities.
[To download click here]
Decentralization and Fiscal Sub-National
Sustainability: The Case of Colombia
Sánchez Fabio AND Zenteno Jannet
Center of Economic Development Studies CEDE
University of the Andes, 2011
This Working Paper offers a methodology to diagnose multi-level
governance challenges and offers examples of tools used by OECD
countries to bridge coordination and capacity “gaps.” This approach
has been inspired by OECD regional development policy work, as
regional development policy relies both on the diversity of
territorial situations and the coherence of regional strategies at the
national level. In practice, it has already been tested in a variety of
public policies such as public investment, water, and innovation,
which all contributed to enrich it with concrete sectoral evidence
and experience. The Working Paper concludes that multi-level
governance challenges occur in institutional frameworks which are
very country specific. Making institutional background evolve and
implementing decentralization reforms is often a complex and long
process. Moreover, that decentralization is not a one-off policy
change; it is an on-going process where the end point of
accountable and efficient local governments may well take many
decades to achieve.
[To download click here]
Beyond Access to Information: The Use
of Information Technologies to foster
Transparency, Participation and Partnership
with the Public Sector
Working Paper No 262
Ana Elena Fierro and J. Ramón Gil-García
CIDE, 2012
This paper examines the determinants of fiscal performance of
municipalities and departments in Colombia, as well as their fiscal
sustainability both in the short and in long terms. This is done
through a fiscal sustainability and financial risk mapping. As such,
this approach constitutes a means to identify, not only the fiscal
situation, but also the difficulties and the strengths of each
territorial entity. Thus, the evidence indicates that variables such as
population size, fiscal dependence, and compliance with spending
limits set forth in Law 617 of the year 2000, and some political
variables, do have impact on the ability to pay territorial debt and
primary surplus. Regarding fiscal sustainability, in general terms
there is evidence of overall improvement when comparing the
1997-2000 and 2001-2007 periods analyzed. For departments
(intermediate governments), the most noticeable improvement was
observed in short-term sustainability, while municipalities
accounted for long-term sustainability. A number of strategies are
suggested based on the results, which the pending agenda of
decentralization should take into consideration.
The use of information technologies in the Government’s work has
recently increased around the world. Today e-government emerges
as a strategy for public reform, especially as a way to guarantee
transparency and access to public information. Based on the review
of a sample of web pages of public entities that are subject to the
law in the three political branches and in the three governmental
levels, this working paper argues that it is necessary to understand,
measure, and evaluate transparency not only as access to
information. This working paper proposes the use of four main
elements or pillars to achieve an authentic transparency: (1) access
to information, (2) quality and usefulness of the information, (3)
intensive use of information technology, (4) strategies and tools for
participation and collaboration. The transparency web pages are
analyzed through the lens of these four components. The result of
the analysis shows that an overwhelming majority of Mexican public
entities of the sample use their websites only as a way to comply
with the laws, where the portals are simply receptors of
information. Hence the result of limited or useless information for
both the citizen and even the institution itself.
[To download click here]
[To download click here]
The value of engaging civil society in the fight against
corruption at the local government level was on display at
the Fifth UNDP Anti-Corruption Community of Practice
(COP), which took place from November 5 to 6, in Brasilia,
Brazil.
The winning knowledge product in the CoP’s concluding
Knowledge Fair was a media training manual jointly
authored by Claude Robinson, Consultant to the
Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication
(CARIMAC) at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and
Keith Miller, Special Advisor in the Ministry of Local
Government
and
Community
Development.
It was one of a number of key outputs
from an anti-corruption project,
Building Civil Society Capacity to
Support Good Governance by Local
Authorities, which was funded by
UNDP’s
Democratic
Governance
Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF) from
2010 to 2012.
democratic environment characterized by uncertainty,
unpredictability and declining moral values and disrespect
for constitutional institutions and authority.
Recognizing the value of increased transparency to
improving public accountability by local authorities, the
project set as one of its key objectives developing the
capacity of professionals working in the electronic and
print media to report on local authorities and their use of
public funds. A content analysis, conducted by the Centre
for Leadership and Governance (CLG) as part of the
project activities, showed that there was a gap in public
knowledge about Jamaica’s
on-going efforts at local
government reform.
The
content
analysis
demonstrated an urgent
need for improved media
coverage of budgeting and
public expenditure at the
local government level.
With the findings of the
content analysis in hand, the
Assistant Resident Representative and Governance Advisor
The project, which was supported by a
of UNDP Jamaica, Sonia Gill (2nd right) holding the first prize
project staged a series of
award from the Knowledge Fair which took place at the 5th
wide range of state and civil society
training
workshops
for
UNDP Global Anti-Corruption Community of Practice.
partners, was implemented by the
members of the media
Centre for Leadership and Governance at UWI, in
fraternity across Jamaica. In order to institutionalise the
partnership with the Ministry of Local Government, the training for media professionals the project supported the
National Association of Parish Development Committees development of the media training manual on covering
(NAPDEC) the Social Development Commission, the Press local government in Jamaica, which was the winning
Association of Jamaica and CARIMAC.
knowledge product.
While no form of corruption is truly victimless, the misuse
of public funds, which citizens must pay over as various
forms of tax both central and local level, has a particular
undermining effect on development as a whole, and the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in
particular. Misuse of public funds hinders economic
development, reduces social services, and diverts
investments from infrastructure, institutions and social
services for personal gain. It also fosters an anti-
CARIMAC, long recognised as the premier media training
institution in the English-speaking Caribbean is using the
manual with journalism degree students as well as
developing short courses for working media professionals.
* Assistant Resident Representative and Governance
Advisor of UNDP Jamaica
Fifth UNDP Global Anti-Corruption Community of
Practice and the 15th International Anticorruption
Conference of Transparency International.
The Fifth UNDP Global Anti-Corruption Community of
Practice and the 15th International Anticorruption
Conference of Transparency International were held in
November 2012 in Brasilia, Brazil.
Both meetings reaffirmed the strategic
against corruption, a scourge that
governance in the countries, and
corruption constitutes one of the
development.
commitment to fight
affects democratic
as a consequence
main obstacles for
The two global meetings - the first one
was a corporative retrospection and
evaluation to enhance strategies, and
the second one as a public forum that
seeks to increase public awareness on
corruption and to foster dialogue – both
aimed to translate strategies, successes,
and failures into a global public good to fight against
corruption. This global public good should be known and
used by everyone in their own realities.
The Fifth UNDP Global Anti-Corruption Community of
Practice “Learning from the Past- Directions for the Future”
was held on November 5th to 6th, two days before the
International Conference of Anticorruption. This event
gathered around 100 UNDP anticorruption experts from 45
Country Offices and Regional Centers, as well as donor
representatives, government counterparts, leaders of global
movements and civil society partners. Discussions allowed indepth and open reflections about the role played by the
UNDP in the fight against corruption and at the same time
evaluate the impact of these interventions.
The Community of Practice revealed, not only by the growing
number of participants, that progress can be reported in
some initiatives to fight against corruption. Nevertheless, it
also reaffirmed the existence of numerous challenges that
need to be overcome jointly to enhance the efficiency of the
interventions.
During the meeting, the UNDP preventive approach to fight
against corruption was ratified, which includes both the
strengthening of public institutions as well as promoting
national and international legal frameworks to strengthen
public transparency and integrity. A key legal framework is
the United Nations Convention against Corruption that plays
a key role in enabling policy dialogue among public, private
and academic actors to move forward with a coordinated
effort in the fight against corruption. The sectorial approach
to promote transparency and accountability were endorsed
as a key means and challenge for UNDP in the prevention of
the corruption. There was an agreement that for an effective
implementation of the sectorial approach more risk
evaluations, transparency and accountability integrated
approaches and a more inter-agency cooperation, as well as
within the UNDP programmatic areas are
needed.
The
corporative
challenges
and
recommendations that were identified
were related to revising programming
mechanisms to report and monitor
progress.
Prevention strategies are
mainly processes that help to build trust
between governmental and civil society
actors. Last but not least, a fundamental element that was
identified was the need to continue strengthening the UNDP
reference framework and theoretical approach in the fight
against corruption to enhance the transferability of lessons
learned.
Without a doubt these types of meetings promote networks
and the exchange and nourishment of practices in the
fighting against corruption. The interaction generated a
menu of possible strategic activities that can be replicated at
the global, regional and national levels. As such, the
“Knowledge Product Fair” needs to be highlighted where
different initiatives of the Country Offices and regional
centres (studies, videos, guides, lessons learned, virtual
courses, capacity building training packages, among others).
A total of 12 Knowledge Products from all the regions
participated in the Contest, and all of the COP participants
had the opportunity to vote and elect the best knowledge
product, on the basis of a brief presentation. The most voted
was the “Jamaican Journalism Manual on Covering Local
Government” aimed at strengthening journalists’ skills in
oversight of the local public administration.
Continue on the next page
With a shared internal vision, many participants of de CoP reunited in the 15th International Anticorruption Conference
(IACC) held on November 7th to 10th, 2012.
sanctioning and/or public shaming could be important
deterrent tools of corrupt practices, and therefore the role of
civil society and the strengthening of them is key.
The global meeting considered by many as the world´s most
important meeting with regards to fighting corruption, had
this time the theme of “Mobilizing People: Connecting Agents
of Change.” This conference gave
continuity to one of the main conclusions
of the previous meeting in Bangkok in
2010: “Empowering people creates
change. This is why we recognize that
linking these people takes time, new and
fresh ideas and a vibrant civil society. Our
role should be to support people who
want to change the rules of the game." With this objective,
nearly 2,000 people from more than 140 countries, including
heads of State, academic personalities, private sector, donor
and NGOs representatives and women and men from the
civil society interested in increasing transparency and fighting
against corruption. In addition there were many more that
followed the conference through the live broadcasts and
social networks.
The UNDP was also present in this extraordinary meeting
through different participations, highlighted by the
intervention of Magdy Martinez Soliman, Deputy Director of
the
UNDP
Bureau
for
Development Policy (BDP) during
the initial plenary session. In his
presentation, he summarized key
points and lessons learned from
the
anti-corruption
UNDP
interventions, and pointed that
although there is progress in the
last twenty years to fight against this scourge, corruption
continues “to steal resources from those who need the
most.”
During the four-day conference, a wide range of experts from
different disciplines deliberated in more than 50 workshops
and in plenary sessions the best way to focus and continue
the fight against corruption. Another relevant area was the
role of young people, who presented examples and fresh
ideas that they are globally implementing in this effort. In the
Conference, the five main areas that received attention
were: ending with impunity; climate change and the path
post Rio +20; illicit financial flows prevention; ensuring that
political transitions lead to transparent and stable
governments; and “clean” sports.
At the end of the conference the Brasilia Declaration was
adopted, which summarizes the results of the workshops and
plenary sessions of the global conference. Without a doubt,
one of the main conclusions was to emphasize the
importance of stopping and limiting the impunity, which
together with the lack of sanctions can reduce trust of
citizens in public institutions. Consequently, the importance
of strengthening coordination among control institutions was
highlighted, and especially to strengthen the independence
of the judicial branch so it can enforce laws without any type
of interference. As a complement to legal sanctions, moral
Regarding actions taken, the United Nations Convention
against Corruption was highlighted as bringing together all
anti-corruption standards that globally countries are
committed to combat corruption. However, to move the
agenda forward multi-actors from different sectors need to
get involved, such as: the State, civil society, the private and
the academic sectors. In addition, because corruption can be
present in different areas of daily lives and resources are
limited, it is important to prioritize key human development
sectors, such as health and education, among others.
Finally, the need for inter-institutional coordination was
highlighted.
Countries with successful lessons on
anticorruption have applied both "top down" and "bottom
up" strategies. Thus in order to successfully implement such
a strategy citizen pressure and political will are both
required. This why it is important to consider prevention and
sanction as two sides of the same coin. Future actions should
prioritize means to connect change agents so that public
institutions can be strengthen against impunity.
*Programme Officer- Democratic Governance Area, UNDP El
Salvador
The Latin America and the Caribbean Network of eGovernment (REDGEALC)
The Latin America and the Caribbean Network of eGovernment REDGEALC) is a web site that brings together
the authorities of e-government of OAS member states
with the purpose of promoting horizontal cooperation,
capacity building of public functionaries, knowledge about
key aspects to build national electronic government
strategies, and to facilitate the exchange of solutions and
experts within the region. The webpage contains tools, like
the eGobex that allows national and sub-national
governments to exchange and transfer e-government
applications; a database of experts in e government;
information on virtual courses; and an extensive knowledge
documentation on e-government issues.
According to the study “Tax Statistics in Latin America” of
2012 and in relation to the attribution of tax revenues to
sub-national governments in 2010, Colombia was the Latin
American country with the largest share of tax revenue
collection by their local governments (13.7%). By contrast, in
other unitary and federal countries in the region, the tax
revenue collection is lower. For example, Chile has collection
rate of 6.2%, followed by Costa Rica with 3%, Guatemala
1.5% and Mexico 1.2%. In countries such as Venezuela, the
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Uruguay the
study does not report revenue collection of income by subnational governments. The participation in the amount of
tax revenue collected by the Latin American local
governments continues to be modest in most countries and
it has not increased in recent years. This reflects the small
amount of taxes in sub-national jurisdictions in comparison
with the OECD countries, where the average income of local
governments in 2010 amounted to 7.9% in federal countries,
9.5% in regional countries i.e. Spain, and an 11.8% in unitary
countries.
Democratic Governance Practice Area of UNDP Regional Service Centre for LAC whishes you
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year
Gerardo Berthin, Adriana Ballestín, Borja de Aramburu and María Angélica Vásquez
Democratic Governance Team
UNDP Regional Service Centre for LAC
http://www.regionalcentrelac-undp.org/en/