Fighting corruption Strategies that work

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Fighting corruptionStrategies that work

• Presented by Geir Sundet, PADCO/REPOA
• OECD/TI Development Partnership Forum
• Improving Donor Effectiveness in Combating
  Corruption
• Paris 9-10 December 2004

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Fighting corruptionStrategies for the real world

• Fighting corruption what works and what doesnt
• A case study Expenditure Tracking in Uganda and
  Tanzania
• Two challenges connecting the dots and coming to
  grips with realities

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Fighting corruptionWhat doesnt work

• Establishing Anti-Corruption Commissions and
  formulating and adopting National Anti-Corruption
  Strategies
• Good for fostering national debate, focusing
  public attention and tracking progress
• but
• Experience shows that stand-alone anti-corruption
  initiatives rarely have much impact

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and what does

• Enabling monitoring from below
• Access to information
• Political space to demand accountability
• Achieving a positive feed-back loop
• Reconciling paper with realities
• Where does the money go?
• Are the intended beneficiaries aware of their
  entitlements?

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A case study

• Comparing the Ugandan and Tanzanian experiences
  of Public Expenditure Tracking

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Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS)

• Following the money - A PETS
• Compares budget allocations to actual spending
• Is the most effective check we have on whether
  resources reach the intended beneficiaries

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The Ugandan experience

• PETS provided the impetus for improved monitoring
  of funds, public display of budgets and financial
  entitlements and training of stakeholders to
  claim their entitlements
• The impact At the time of the first PETS, in the
  early nineties, only 13 of capitation grants
  reached primary schools, in 2001 more than 80
  reached the schools.

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The key to the Ugandan success

• Stakeholders were made aware of their
  entitlements and empowered to claim them
• Transparency of entitlements and flow of funds
  public postings down to school level
• Capacity building for school committees

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The Tanzanian experience

• To date three PETS have been conducted
• 1999 - Health and Education Financial Tracking
  Study
• 2001 - Pro-Poor Expenditure Tracking
• 2004 - Primary Education Tracking Study

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What the studies found

• How much of the money reached the intended
  beneficiaries?
• Education (discretionary funding) 43 (1999), lt
  50 (2001)
• Health (discretionary funding) 12 (1999), lt50
  (2001)
• Primary school Capitation Grant
  (non-discretionary) 54-64 (2004)

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What impact have the studies had?

• Unlike the Ugandan case, the Tanzanian studies
  have not triggered a national debate about how to
  ensure that money reach the intended
  beneficiaries
• There has been no documented improvement in the
  proper use of funds for service delivery
• The 2004 tracking study is still fresh, but so
  far the policy response has been muted

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Lessons

• Studies on their own cant be expected to have
  an impact
• For monitoring and oversight to have an impact,
  the outputs, indicators, numbers need to be put
  in a context that is useable and understandable
• The people must be part and parcel of the
  monitoring process

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Studies on Their Own Arent Enough
Inform national policy process by providing data
on actual expenditure of funds
The people teachers, parents, NGOs, media, MPs
engaging in monitoring and policy debate
Expenditure tracking and Access to information
Inform people of their entitlements and empower
them to monitor use of funds
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How to do things betterTwo challenges

• 1. Connecting the dots simplifying processes
  and establishing linkages
• PER, PRS, PRBS, LGRP, PFMRP, etc are these
  processes effectively linked on the horizontal
  plane, or are they parallel, vertical constructs?
• Do projects and programmes operate within
  official government structures?
• Does anyone see the big picture?

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• 2. Strengthen monitoring and access to
  information
• Assess strength of routine monitoring systems
• Enable tracking of indicators over time and
  across geographical areas
• Use PETS and civil society monitoring intiatives
  as controls on formal monitoring systems
• The simplest intiatives are often the most
  effective village notice boards, public postings
  of budgets and expense statements empowering
  people to hold authorities and service providers
  accountable

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The Tanzania Governance Noticeboard

• A USAID sponsored initiative by PADCO and REPOA,
  a Tanzanian think-tank, to facilitate effective
  use of existing data and indicators in the
  national policy process
• A database and a website to collect and present
  strategic data, facilitating comparative analysis
  and informed policy dialogue
• Training of NGOs, media and Parliament in the
  use of the Noticeboard, leading to more
  sophisticated and effective policy monitoring,
  advocacy and oversight

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TzGN the outreach component

• Support to develop workable models and practices
  for financial transparency and access to
  information at district and village level
• Piloting approaches for NGOs to engage in
  expenditure tracking and to enable communities to
  know and demand their entitlements
• Training of NGOs in expenditure tracking and
  other methodologies for monitoring of expenditure
  and service provisioning

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Track our progress!

• www.repoa.or.tz/noticeboard

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Merging the circleThe Importance of Making
Information Accessible
A C C E S S T O I N F O R M A T I O N
P U B L I C O V E R S I G H T
Public Institutions Transparent procedures
Result Improved standards of Transparency and
Accountability, improved service delivery,
and strengthened public legitimacy
Stakeholders Informed citizens
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Merging the circleThe social contract
S E R V I C E P R O V I S I O N
P A Y M E N T O F T A X E S
Public Institutions Transparency
Accountability
Result Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness
in Service Delivery
Citizens Information Empowerment
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if the need for accountability is addressed most
effectively from the bottom uphow is this
reflected in our programmes?