nextAs a possible fall-out of the MDG campaign and aid reform, the bulk of ODA
may go to countries that behave well. Because of their tolerable governance
mechanisms and financial management capacities, ODA will be disbursed through
Direct Budget Support, or other sipping, swapping and pooling arrangements. It
is unlikely that donors will provide funds to us only to throw them into a
basket after having deducted our recovery costs.
Most likely, UN agencies will be stuck with the troublesome countries,
challenged by situations that are better talked about among friends than
discussed with government counterparts: lack of transparency in budgeting and
reporting on public expenditure, unresolved ethnic conflicts, nepotism, an
unmotivated civil service, poor governance, little spending on basic services,
gender discrimination, uncaring service providers and officials, tensions over
meagre resources.
It surely doesn’t make it easier to show results.
Virtually all countries– including the 35 countries[1] at the bottom
of the heap as sorted by
Transparency International - produce national technicians and academics who
can fix a cold chain, equip a school, or dig some wells. Exactly because their
expertise is not put to good use, the UN’s international presence is needed. We
need to touch the touchy issues. And the usual garden variety of capacity
building measures will not do, unless we strengthen national and local
accountability mechanisms at the same time. After all, you don’t want to
strengthen the capacities of those who make a living out of mismanagement[2].
So what is our secret plan? Children are the primary victims of poor governance
and corruption. They also can be the sharp edge in the fight against it. Perhaps
we need to do some research, learn from countries that learned to manage
themselves well, and think strategically. And hold tight to the Human Rights
based Approach.
International Anti-Corruption Day, 9th December
[1] Ecuador, Yemen, Republic of Congo,
Ethiopia, Honduras, Moldova, Sierra, Leone, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zimbabwe,
Bolivia, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Niger, Sudan, Ukraine, Cameroon,
Iraq, Kenya, Pakistan, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d´Ivoire,
Georgia, Indonesia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Paraguay, Chad,
Myanmar, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Haiti.
[2] See “Something to think about”, November
2004.
(3 December 2004)
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