Local Governance and Decentralization No. 20 April – May 2012
Regional Centre LAC
In this Issue Viewpoints Highlights Article – Results of a Governance Survey: Local Citizen Participation Event - New Methodologies Towards the Increase in Political and Electoral Participation of Indigenous Women and Youth Thematic Web Site Golstat Welcome
Viewpoints Access to Information: Analyzing some Challenges and Dilemmas from a Democratic Governance Perspective During the past three decades a wave of democratization has swept across countries in different continents. Yet most new democracies are still dealing with an array of accountability and transparency challenges and dilemmas. For example, some public affairs are still managed and/or implemented with high levels of opacity; public information is more available, but the architecture to ensure wider dissemination is still limited; citizens are not using their right to access information in more constructive ways; and is still a challenge to balance the need to be transparent with the need to protect personal data. It is not surprising that along with the democratization wave, during the past three decades there has also been a surge of Freedom of Information Laws (FOI Laws). A decade ago, only a handful of nations had specific legislation that guaranteed the right of citizens to access public information. During the last decade, more countries
have adopted Freedom of Information laws than in any other period in recent history. According to www.right2INFO.org as of January 2012 nearly 90 countries had passed FOI laws. In the Latin American and Caribbean region, nearly 20 countries have passed FOI laws (Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, and Uruguay), and in other countries there are presidential decrees on freedom of information (Argentina and Bolivia). The laws which have been adopted vary considerable in terms of depth and scope and the extent to which access to information is guaranteed in practice. And more than the number of FOI Laws, the main and most difficult challenge is one of implementation. As was recently reflected in the xxxxxxxxxx
Third International Seminar on the Impact of the Right to Access to Information held in Chile, and the UNDP study on Access to Information (which analyzed the implementation of Laws in 8 case studies), analyzing countries´ experience with implementation, provides a number of inputs to understand the challenges. Freedom of information has long been recognized as a basic human right. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) explicitly states that everyone should enjoy freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas.” In addition, freedom of information is also about having access to the widest possible diversity of points of view on a particular issue. As such, FOI laws go beyond the rights of freedom of expression, embracing a fundamental premise of democratic governance: the
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Continuation of Viewpoints Access to Information: Analyzing some Challenges and Dilemmas from a Democratic Governance Perspective
notion that the government apparatus and its public entities hold information not for themselves but as guardians of a public good, and that this information must be accessible to citizens. Without information, citizens cannot effectively exercise their political participation rights and their obligation. Rights to information can consist of three main elements: (1) to seek and receive information, (2) to inform and (3) to be informed. An informed citizenry is a critical condition of democratic governance. Citizens need access to the information upon which decisions rest as well as relevant information about the output and consequences of national and subnational government policies. Moreover, citizens also need to have the opportunity to voice their opinions, to influence choice among possible policy outcomes and to reward or not public officials accordingly. FOI laws promote transparency, which in turn subjects elected officials to greater scrutiny from their constituencies, and therefore potentially can generate greater levels of accountability. As such, FOI laws can be a major anticorruption tool. Journalists and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can use the right to access information to monitor public policies, to hold policy makers accountable and expose wrongdoings. FOI laws can provide a baseline of factual information, rather than having journalists and CSOs rely solely on speculation and/or being manipulated by political forces. In short, FOI Laws nnn
have important practical, not just theoretical implications to enhance democratic governance. FOI laws are important because they provide more specific means to ensure and uphold the public’s right to know and the government’s obligation to inform. Nonetheless, by themselves, FOI laws do not necessarily guarantee a more open, transparent and accountable democratic government. That is, they are a necessary, but not sufficient condition for strengthening democratic governance. FOI laws might be excellent on paper, but they are limited unless they are rooted in an enabling environment that allows for their full implementation. The latter includes ensuring sufficient institutional, technological and human resources as well as the political will on the part of the government to disclose information and the capacity of citizens to request public information, understand and analyze the information provided. This explains why often trust in government, xxxxxxxx
transparency and accountability do not automatically increase due to the introduction of FOI laws. Often real access to information remains circumscribed by the vagueness and interpretability of the laws, cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, frequent reluctance by government officials to provide access to information, and judiciaries’ failure to enforce the legal frameworks. The very same goals of FOI laws could undermine its real impact, as requests obtained through FOI laws can help obtain information about policy failures and/or perceived injustices, while requests not granted could only serve to reinforce perceptions of secretive and opaque government. As was evidenced in the Third International Seminar on the Impact of the Right to Access to Information held in Chile, and the UNDP study, previously mentioned, adopting and implementing FOI laws generally require three minimum conditions: 1) a level of political will and domestic and/or international pressure sufficient to lead policy-makers to facilitate and/or guarantee access to information; 2) a fairly well developed civil society, with sufficient capacity to mobilize support and use FOI laws effectively to promote increased transparency and accountability; and 3) an institutional structures with sufficient capacity to respond appropriately to citizen requests.
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Continuation of Viewpoints Analyzing some Challenges and Dilemmas from a Democratic Governance Perspective
Similarly, the Third International Seminar on the Impact of the Right to Access to Information held in Chile, and the UNDP study on Access to Information, have highlighted key and important policy issues regarding access to information. For example, defining clearly the responsible/guarantor entity and its responsibilities, as well as giving it autonomy and enough resources to guarantee its management, financial and operational capacities. Also important are public policies to manage and archive/file information, and the use of information technologies, beyond computer and web based platforms. Also key is promoting a transparency culture beyond the right to request information, such that freedom of information becomes part of every institutional routine. In this way, citizens’ requests are only a link in a more sophisticated chain of transparency-- that ensures a more proactive access to information through open government and participatory budget among others— mmmmmmnnnnn
and in turn articulates with other accountability mechanisms. Also important is mainstreaming and/or creating a deliberate strategy to build “transparency capacities” in the education sector, in political life and in sub-national governments. A final but central question for the implementation of FOI laws is the strength and independence of the judiciary. While the creation of independent information agency might be a way of easing access to information without resorting to the courts, in the end, when information is neglected for whatever reason, the appeals end in the courts. The effective transition to a culture of transparency is institutionalized when an independent and credible justice system exists. As with any other piece of legislation, FOI laws are not static documents; they keep changing depending on new political issues emerging in the public arena, the emergence of new political actors, technological changes, and shifting political coalitions. These can be critical areas for policy and xxxxxxxxx
programming. While it is important for access to public information to be acknowledged in specific law, its effectiveness entails a public policy that secures not only a normative framework, but also a responsible /guarantor entity, procedural adjustments to the public administration system, and to those institutions that are responsible for information. However, such an institutional framework would be useless without an extensive awareness campaign of this right, not only among citizens, but also among public servants. The final goal should be to build a culture of transparency, both for governments (that feel obligated to make their information public not only because they feel watched), and for citizens (that know and exercise their right).
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Highlights The Local Economy: The Functions of Development Agencies Clark Greg, Huxley Joe and Mountford Debra CAF y OECD Public Policies and Productive Transformation Series N° 2, 2012. This study departs from the premise that the objective of local development is to build institutional and productive capacities of a defined territory, to improve their economic future and quality of life of its inhabitants. In this direction, an effective local development can contribute to reduce disparities, create jobs and multiply enterprises, among other institutional benefits. In this context local development agencies play a key role. The study makes a conceptual introduction to local development agencies, identifies how local development agencies are structured, what their role in the economy is and what are those activities that bring added value. This study analyzes the cases of local development agencies in Barcelona, Bogota, Curitiba and Bilbao. Similarly, the study contextualizes and defines the functions that the local development agencies have, the success factors and the constraints associated with their operations. A central issue is to establish a clear institutional framework and strategy for the proper functioning of the agencies, between local governments and regional partners. The study concludes that the success of local development agencies lies in the ability to consolidate the various efforts of different actors and their ability to focus the work in those niches where existing interventions can have an impact. [To download click here] Sub-national Revenue Mobilization in Peru Canavire-Bacarreza Gustavo, Martínez-Vázquez Jorge and Sepúlveda Cristián Inter-American Development Bank 2012
This paper examines the status of sub-national revenue mobilization in Peru and proposes a series of policy reforms to improve collection performance, while maintaining a sound revenue structure. Specifically, the paper analyzes the current revenues of regional and municipal governments and identifies the main priorities to reform. These revenues represent a significant portion of sub-national budgets and currently are distributed without considering the relative expenditure needs or fiscal capacity of sub-national units. To solve this problem, the paper proposes the incorporation of a measure of fiscal capacity in the formula of the FONCOMUN (Fondo de Compensación Municipal), the fund established in the Peruvian Constitution, to promote municipal investments using redistribution criteria in favor of rural-urban marginalized regions throughout the country. To download click here]
Good Practices of Transparency and Social Accountability in which Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Take Part Arias Alicia Grupo Faro / CEDA. Quito, Ecuador, 2011.
The study systematizes 15 best practices on transparency and accountability implemented by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that illustrate different possible scenarios for intervention to strengthen the legitimacy, transparency and social accountability at individual or collective level, and in partnership with the State. This systematization begins with the recognition of the role of CSOs in public administration, demanding higher levels of citizen participation in policy making and in monitoring the actions of the State. The systematized experiences are divided into three thematic categories: 1) Best Practices on Transparency and Accountability at the international level, 2) Best Practices on Transparency and Accountability in CSOs in Ecuador, and 3) Best Practices on Transparency of joint work between the State and CSOs. Every experience systematized contains information about the institution that coordinates the activity, objectives of initiative, methodology used, key activities and results. [To download click here] Political Awareness, Corruption Perceptions and Democratic Accountability in Latin America Jason Ross Arnold L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University 2012
The document argues that effective citizen monitoring of government officials depends on accurate corruption perceptions, which depends on the degree to which citizens are politically informed. Citizens in Latin American at different levels of political awareness have very different perceptions of corruption in their countries. Through a statistical analysis of ten Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) the study shows that citizens’ corruption perceptions are clearly shaped by their level of political awareness, which is best measured using wellconstructed indices of political knowledge. One of the first steps to reduce corruption through accountability mechanisms is to show citizens, the severity of the corruption problem. The study concludes that policymakers must contend with widespread public ignorance as an obstacle to controlling corruption, since in Latin America, as with much of the world, citizens typically do not have the motivation, opportunity or ability to acquire much political information.
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[To download click here]
Article Results of a Governance Survey: Local Citizen Participation, by Marco Stella*
The UNDP Country Office in Colombia is committed to promote and strengthen the key role civil society has to monitor and oversee their public servants and institutions, so citizens can have more and better opportunities to lead the kind of lives they value. While it is recognized that citizens´ quality of life is a task that involves a number of actors (all levels of government, the private sector, the academic sector, social organizations and the citizens), in Colombia there is a particular emphasis on local governments administrative capacity because they are responsible for the design and implementation of development plans, as well as the provision of public services (such as potable water, sanitation and health, among others), that are key to the Millennium Development Goals achievement. In this way, UNDP in Colombia supports the processes of strengthening governance at the local level in different cities of the country. In this support framework, and for the specific case of the Municipality of Cartagena, a survey was developed and implemented to find out the way citizens perceive some aspects that impact their quality of life. This survey, with a representative sample by neighborhoods, socio-economic level and sex, was applied last February (2012), two months after the installation of the new Mayor elected democratically with over 54% of the votes. As such, the survey results could generate valuable information about Cartagena´s needs and challenges, complementing the analysis of technical indicators and providing more tools to the Municipal Government for the formulation of its fouryear navigation route- the Development Plan - and public policies.
What do these results show? The data collected and analyzed show as a result an optimistic Cartagena, because little more than half of the citizens of Cartagena a (53 %) believes that things in the municipality are on the right direction. Also the majority of the population (77%) feels proud of their municipality 65% of the neighborhoods where they live. At the same time 8 out of 10 citizens believe that their condition of life will improve over the next twelve months. The contrast of these results with those obtained, for example, in Bogota is evident, since in the capital of Colombia only 30% of the citizens feel that things will progress positively, and only a little more than half is proud of their municipality. Similarly, in general, the results of the survey show a growing distrust with the outgoing government, since the respondents do not give high scores to the Mayor and City Council. That mistrust of local representatives could be the reason for the decline, between 2007 and 2012, of citizen's participation rates in "spaces of dialogue" that the Law xxx Continue on the next page
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Continuation of Article Results of a Governance Survey: Local Citizen Participation*
makes available, such as Local and District Councils of Planning, and the Social Policy Council. However, although the index has decreased, approximately half (52%) of those surveyed said that they have worked or are working to resolve problems in their community, which reflects an important attitude to enhance community participation.
With regards to knowledge about participation means and spaces in the municipality (of a total of 16), those who have greater recognition are the following: the Communal Action Councils - Juntas de Acción Local Comunal- (79% ); the Communal Action Councils Federation - Federación Distrital de Juntas de Acción Comunal- (36% ); the District Committee for Displaced Persons - Comité Distrital de Desplazados (32% ); Municipal Accountability SessionsEspacios de Rendición de Cuentas de la Alcaldía -(27% ); and the Community Councils of Afro-Cartagenian Communities - Consejos Comunitarios de Comunidades Afrocartageneras (26% ). In spite of knowledge about participation means and spaces in the municipality, the results of the survey indicate a low citizen participation rate in these. For example, in the case of the Communal Action Councils and the Communal Action Councils Federation, only 16% of the respondents said that they had participated. At the same time, only 10% of respondents say that xxxx
they had participated in the Municipality Accountability Sessions, 9% in the Community Councils of AfroCartagenianCommunities, and 8% in the District Committee for Displaced Persons. Another interesting issue that comes out of the results of the survey is the means or sources of information that are used to find out about the events and processes that are carried out in the municipality, and to find out about public decision-making processes and meetings. For both cases, 78% and 52% respectively, television is the main source of information. The local media, newspapers and local radio stations, occupy the second and third place respectively. To inform about processes and events that are carried out in the city, 60% of respondents mentioned the local press and 43% local radio stations. With regards to public decisionmaking processes and meetings, 28% of respondents use the local press and 25% the local radio stations.
Finally, in the survey the citizens of Cartagena established the following priorities for improving the municipality: 1) the generation of employment, 2) greater security, and 3) the reduction of corruption. In this way, these will be the challenges for the newlyinstalled District Administration and other institutions, both public and private to make La Heroica Cartagena a better place to live. * Local Governance Officer UNDP-Colombia |
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Event New Methodologies towards the Increase in Political and Electoral Participation of Indigenous Women and Youth, by Ferran Cabrero *
GPECS-UNDP organized the first BRIDGE workshop in Latin America and the Caribbean with special emphasis in gender and intercultural dialogue. Since early 2011, UNDP is implementing in Latin America and the Caribbean the Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support (GPECS) through the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP), and the Democratic Governance Practice Area of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC), and with the support of the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID). In the region, the program focuses entirely on developing initiatives to promote political and electoral participation of indigenous people, particularly women and youth in six priority countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
From the beginning this program has made progress in close consultation and collaboration with indigenous organizations and leaders -including members of the Indigenous Permanent Forum- and jointly with UN Women and other UN agencies. The Program promotes the strengthening of various regional and subregional networks of indigenous organizations, particularly women, and promotes strategic partnerships and South-South cooperation between electoral institutions of the region, which has already yielded its first outcomes in the cooperation between xxx
Mexico´s electoral institutions (Electoral Federal Institute -Instituto Federal Electoral IFE- and Federal Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary -Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación –TRIFE) and the new Supreme Electoral Tribunal - Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) of Bolivia. It also supports capacity building of indigenous leaders, particularly women and youth, and public servants, in collaboration with UNDP´s Virtual School and regional indigenous organizations. GPECS-LAC is part of the so called “capability approach” (associated with the concept of human development), and focuses on women and young people as they are also shaped by the broader human rights approach. This approach becomes operative to develop the capacities of both, rights holders (citizens), as well as of those who have the obligations (the State), at national and sub-national levels. In the GPECS project document the priority is given to: “Supporting regional knowledge networks to promote indigenous participation at national and sub-national electoral processes, especially for women and young people, and in consultation with them.” More specifically, the project aims to promote “…training initiatives to build capacities in political participation and electoral national and sub-national cycle programming for indigenous people, especially women and youth, professional practitioners and electoral management bodies.” The BRIDGE methodology (not as widespread in Latin America and the Caribbean, http://bridgeproject.org/) is a valuable means to promote skills in political participation and electoral cycle programming for both citizens and public servants. In this context, xxx Continue on the next page |
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Continuation of Event New Methodologies towards the Increase in Political and Electoral Participation of Indigenous Women and Youth, by Ferran Cabrero *
from the 12th to the 23rd of March in Granada, Nicaragua, the UNDP´s GPECS-LAC Programme implemented the Regional Training of Trainers, “Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections,” BRIDGE Workshop. The workshop was inaugurated by the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nicaragua, Pablo Mandeville; the Country Director of UN Women, Isolda Espinosa; by the GPECS regional team composed of Miguel Alonso Majagranzas and Ferran Cabrero. The workshop also benefited from the special participation of the President of the Permanent Forum of the United Nations on Indigenous Issues, Mirna Cunningham.
The workshop, a joint initiative between UNDP and UN Women, was an opportunity to target a group of trainers on political participation and electoral cycle for Latin America and the Caribbean, with particular emphasis on gender, youth and indigenous organizations. Based on the GPEC´s strategy to develop capacities using a cascade approach in various countries through the national electoral commissions and the indigenous organizations and civil society in general, it is important to invest in a group of these characteristics to promote citizen participation in the elections and national and sub-national political processes, and especially the participation of actors historically excluded, such as indigenous people.
More concretely, the aim of the workshop was to train 16 BRIDGE trainers to be the focal points and leaders of political and electoral training using this methodology in their respective institutions/ organizations and countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The presence of diverse participants, who were from civil society, state institutions, as well as the United Nations system, enriched the discussions and the learning process. In addition to being the first BRIDGE workshop with these characteristics in the region, the synergies generated by the two week event, were extremely positive, in that it encouraged regional alliances and networking, and the realization of an unprecedented product: the first draft of a future module of intercultural dialogue, the number 24 of the international BRIDGE methodology for the election cycle.
*BDP/RBLAC Regional Expert, Democratic Governance Practice Area, UNDP
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Thematic Web Site
GOLSTAT
Walk21 promotes the development of sustainable, healthy and efficient communities, where people can choose walking instead of other forms of transport. Walk21 aims to meet the growing demand for governments, researchers and professionals, creating an international platform for inclusive discussion topics related to walking, and advocating for this kind of mobility at the political and policy levels. In the website one can find information about Walk21 conferences, and calls for the upcoming International Conference about Walking and Sustainable Cities, which will be held in Mexico City from September 3 to October 4, 2012. The website also has documentation on the topics of inclusive mobility, architecture and design, planning and sustainable development, among others.
According to the Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data Institute of the Federal District in Mexico Annual Report, in 2011 the number of requests for information was 89.610, which means an increase of 3.9% over the requests received in 2010. By thematics, the information required by applicants was the following, the majority were about Acts of government (21%), Programmatic, budgetary and financial (15.5%), Internal organization (12%), relationship with society (12%), regulatory (7%), Reports and Programs (20%), and other (12%). Of the 89,610 requests made by citizens, 94% were admitted and treated, 5% were canceled because the applicant failed to respond to requests for more information and clarifications to the request, and 0.5 were canceled by the requester and/or were pending respectively. Nearly 60% of the requesters were between 20-39 years of age. And, 68% of all requests came from men, while 32% from women.
Welcome We are pleased to welcome Luis Ruiz-Giménez, who since March has incorporated to the Democratic Governance Team in the Regional Centre. Born in Catalonia, Luís Ruiz-Giménez has a degree in Political Sciences from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona. He obtained a Master Degree in International Relations from the Institut Barcelona de Estudis Internacionals, with a specialization in Development Policies and Programmes. Luís Ruiz-Giménez has collaborated with the UNDP Country Office in El Salvador in the coordination of the Political Analysis and Prospective Scenarios Project –PAPEP-. Prior he worked for two years in the Social Services Department of the Catalonian Government, coordinating knowledge management projects.
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