Mutual Accountability

1
Mutual Accountability

• The PRS approach/ Paris Declaration and the
  Africa Partnership Forum

Presentation by Fletcher Tembo, WV UK at ODI
Workshop on Southern Voices for Change in the
International Aid System, held at ODI office,
London 15th November, 2005
Donor Commitments Instruments for Transparency
Enforcement Third Party Assessments


2
Overview

• The PRS- Paris Approach
• Mutual accountability framework (World Vision, UK
  study)
• Mutual accountability framework (the World Bank
  2005 review of the PRS)
• Issues/ ways forward
• The Case of the Africa Partnership Forum/ Africa
  Peer Review Mechanism

3
The PRS- Paris Declaration approach to mutual
accountability

• Argument a) offers a strong signal for country
  ownership and donor coordination/ harmonisation
  (b) the pooling effect on donors e.g 4th Pillar
  in the World Banks new Strategic Framework for
  Assistance to Africa (c) gives a chance to pursue
  multiple forms of accountability.

4
Mutual Accountability definitional issues

• Mutual accountability
• when two or more parties have shared development
  goals, in which each has legitimate claim that
  the other is responsible for fulfilling, and
  where each may be required to explain how they
  have discharged their responsibilities and be
  sanctioned if they fail to deliver DFIDs
  definition, cited in de Renzio et al, draft
  paper for this workshop, emphasis mine.

Donor Commitments Instruments for Transparency
Enforcement Third Party Assessments
5
Who owns what? Who is accountable to whom?
EXTERNAL CONSTITUENCY
DOMESTIC CONSTITUENCY
Children, women, poor families
media
CITIZENS
Decentralised donor agencies
Private sector
Decentralised govt
DONOR AGENCY
GOVERNMENT
From consultation to influence and accountability
From conditionality to mutual accountability
Adopted from de Renzio
6
Mutual accountabilitySource Presentation by
Linda Van Gelder and Elliot Harris of WB/IMF,
based on 2005 PRS Review

• (Trade)

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
7
Some factors that can tilt the balanceSource
Presentation by Linda Van Gelder and Elliot
Harris at WB/IMF annual meetings, based on 2005
PRS Review
Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
8
(Re-) Balancing accountabilitiesSource
Presentation by Linda Van Gelder and Elliot
Harris at WB/IMF annual meetings, based on 2005
PRS Review
Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
9
Issues from Zambia and Bolivia case studies/ Ways
forward

• Institutionalisation of participation of civil
  society/ dealing with the question of legitimacy?
• From systems to support mechanisms that enhance
  voice/transparency/exit (Paris agenda) e.g.
  Zambia
• Harmonisation of agendas/ development cooperation
  then instruments

10
Government-Donor Coordination in Zambia Source
Mwanawina, I (2005) Assessment of aid mgt
capacity in Zambia
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Issues/ ways forward

• Unless the PRS process is mainstreamed, it cannot
  drive mutual accountability, in which case it is
  not just capacity building/ address political
  interfaces
• Enforcement through both horizontal and vertical
  means (appropriate discourse of development)
  bearing in mind political economy issues
• Opening up the macro-economic policy PSIA
  debate re national participatory processes
  should be a priority

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The Case of the Africa Partnership Forum

• To undertake mutual review of progress on
  commitments to the implementation of the NEPAD
  programmes and to determine what high level
  political interventions may be necessary
• Implementation of NEPAD projects
• Speeding up the APRM
• Donor side commitments

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Africa Partnership Forum

• Issues
• Forum for specific NEPAD projects, could this
  mean less monitoring of donor commitments to
  specific African countries. National PRS
  subordinated, - - - to speed up the integration
  of NEPAD indicative plans into national
  development programmes and/or PRSPs to enable
  realisation of MDGs Nuhlu, 2005 p.15.
• CSO monitoring through gender and CSO Unit,
  available space but is there danger of cooption?
• Possible solutions
• NEPAD should remain a think-tank and de-linked
  from watch-dog roles, African Monitor proposal,
  shadowing of the APF