Opportunities for civil society to promote good governance through international cooperation

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Opportunities for civil society to promote good
governance through international cooperation
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Overview

1. An exploratory workshop building on
   participants knowledge, work situations and
   expectations
2. Recalling shared understanding feedback on TIs
   paper
3. Current aid framework - hurdles to implementation
   
4. Civil society role in the current aid framework
5. Civil society part of the problem ? A new way
   of functioning required
6. Advocacy opportunities for European civil society
7. Advocacy opportunities for partner civil society
8. Discussion

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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?

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Shared understandingfeedback on TIs 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.
• Aid must support institutions of domestic
  accountability
• Aid must support the poor in demanding
  accountability  

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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

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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

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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
  decision-making (Article 13)
• Paris Declaration ownership through
  accountability to citizens and parliaments
  (Article 3) and multistakeholder processes
  (Article 1448)

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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

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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

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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.)

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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

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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

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New role of partner civil society

• Support beneficiaries to
• participate in political and administrative
  decision-making 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)

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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

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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

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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?

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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