Good Governance Measures Reflect New Global Consensus

News / Good Governance Measures Reflect New Global Consensus

World Bank, G8 stress accountability, transparency, anti-corruption efforts

By Howard Cincotta
Special Correspondent

Washington -- With growing support from such disparate sources as the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations (G8), the World Bank, and the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, many nations are making steady -- if sometimes overlooked -- progress in strengthening their democratic practices and successfully combating corruption.

At the recent G8 meeting in Japan, for example, member nations pledged support for good governance, including anti-corruption measures, as essential for economic growth in Africa and achievement of its Millennium Development Goals. (See "Millennium Challenge Corporation Reinforces Support for Africa.”)

They also agreed, at the urging of the United States, to issue an annual accountability report on their anti-corruption efforts.

"All of us need to be reminded that when we say we're going to do something, we've got to do it," President Bush said at the conclusion of the G8 meeting.

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE

Although inefficiency, waste and corruption remain daunting issues, there is a growing international consensus that transparency and accountability are key to implementing governmental reform efforts throughout the world.

Links between development and effective governance are central to the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which has provided roughly $6 billion in assistance to 16 nations since its founding in 2004. The MCC assesses each applicant on 17 indicators of good governance, including investment in education, anti-corruption efforts and management of natural resources.

"Good government is an essential condition of development," President Bush said. "So the Millennium Challenge Corporation will reward nations that root out corruption, respect human rights, and adhere to the rule of law." (See "U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation Overview.”)

The United States is providing approximately $80 million in anti-corruption funding through MCC to five African countries: Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, according to a statement issued at the G8 meeting, and on July 14, another compact was signed with Burkino Faso. (“Burkina Faso Signs $480.9 Million Aid Compact with United States.”)

"REAL WORLD" BANKING

In a recent report, the World Bank seeks to bridge the gap between abstract pledges of good governance and actual governmental reform through a set of findings and best practices that have been tested in the "real world."

Instead of top-down mandates or directives, the publication Governance Reform under Real-World Conditions: Citizens, Stakeholders, and Voice points to communication and coalition-building as the keys to achieving meaningful governmental reform.

The report identifies such necessary steps as systematically reaching out to policymakers and legislators; supporting middle managers who are often the most resistant to change; building broad coalitions in support of change; transforming hostile or indifferent publics; and encouraging citizen demands for accountability to maintain public support.

"Communication links the constructive elements of the public sphere -- engaged citizens, vibrant civil societies, plural and independent media systems, and open government institutions -- and thus forms the framework for national dialogue," the World Bank report says.

Governance Reform presents nine case studies ranging from building consensus around water distribution in Kenya to reform of public enterprises in West Bengal and Orissa, India, to judicial reform in Georgia.

The World Bank now devotes roughly 16 percent of its lending and advisory support to governmental reform in the four areas of financial management, civil service reform, revenue administration and anti-corruption, according to a another report issued by the bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG).

The IEG report, like Governance Reform, stresses that initiatives must be "realistic about what is politically and institutionally feasible." Technology and training alone are not the most critical factors, the report concludes. "The most crucial and difficult part is changing behavior and organizational culture."

Anti-corruption and transparency programs supported by World Bank lending have grown substantially since the late 1990s, the report states.

TAKING ON THE KLEPTOCRATS

The United States long has led international efforts to highlight the corrosive threat that public and private corruption poses. Corruption undercuts economic growth, facilitates crime and terrorism, discourages international trade and investment, and attacks the foundations of democratic government itself. (See "Global Anti-Corruption Forum To Focus on Turning Words into Deeds.”)

In 2007, the World Bank and United Nations estimated the cross-border flow of illicit proceeds from corruption, crime and tax evasion at between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion each year.

President Bush pushed to make fighting public corruption a priority item at the 2006 G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, and later in 2006 the United States announced a National Strategy to Internationalize Efforts Against Kleptocracy. The term kleptocracy refers to a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of the ruling class at the expense of the general population. (See "Combating Kleptocracy.”)

Major elements of anti-corruption initiatives include: denying any safe haven to kleptocrats and their illegally acquired funds, strengthening information sharing among nations and financial institutions and insisting on greater accountability and controls of development funds.

The United States also has urged the implementation of strong international agreements, such as the U.N Convention Against Corruption and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Anti-Bribery Convention, that clamp down on corruption and kleptocrats. (See "Addressing Corruption Via International Treaties and Commitments.”)

Nongovernmental organizations also have played important roles in the fight against corruption, especially Transparency International, which has succeeded in elevating the corruption issue to the top of the global agenda since its establishment in 1993.

For more information, see the World Bank publication Governance Reform under Real-World Conditions on the bank’s Web site, as well as the Web sites of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and Transparency International.

Source: http://www.america.gov/st/democracy-english/2008/July/20080715170210attocnich0.131695.html?CP.rss=true