9 December 2010

Thu, 12/09/2010 - 08:00 — Fredrik Galtung

 Dear friends and colleagues,

Today is international anti-corruption day. Not a day for celebration but certainly a day for introspection. In the month two developments stand out: first, the mobile spectrum scandal in India has revealed what must amount to one of the most costly individual acts of corruption: an estimated $39 billion in lost government revenues because of the way the mobile phone spectrum license was rigged. The second development is of course Wikileaks.
 
Wikileaks <http://www.wikileaks.ch/>  is without doubt one of the 2-3 most important innovations in the field of transparency and accountability in the past decade. Wikileaks' novelty is not simply to be a portal with dozens of mirror sites to which holders of information can leak information while concealing their identify. The real innovation was that they, in turn, 'leaked' the information to highly reputable media organisations in five different countries: the Guardian, New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel and La Republicca. These media organisations then vetted the information, which Wikileaks has done as well, to ensure that information that is directly life-threatening is withheld or redacted (i.e. edited). They claim that 3-person years were invested in this editorial work before any information was made public. The media organisations also approached the US Government and offered to give them an opportunity to make their case for information they might deem too sensitive for public release. But the US Government refused to negotiate. Their position was unequivocal from the start that such information should not be released. Ironically, there appears to be no US law that explicitly makes it a criminal offence to publish or disseminate classified information. But it's of course illegal for a US public servant to do so. By having media organisations in several jurisdictions hold the cables no court could launch an effective injunction against any one of them. And by not sharing it with the whole media world, or dumping all the cables in one go, they aim to keep interest high and I suppose that to some extent they can maintain the threat that more damaging revelations may yet be released. At this rate, I'm not sure how long it's going to take until all quarter million cables are released. It may take months or even years.
 
Today also marks the start of our joint project with the Central European University under the Siemens Integrity Initiative. The official announcement was made today <http://www.siemens.com/sustainability/en/compliance/collective_action/
integrity_initiative.php> . The $3m project will fund the expansion of IEN activities to several countries in Europe and Central Asia over the coming 5 years. We secured one of the two largest grants in this first round. 
 
Programme updates
 
I'm making use of this blog to share some in-depth developments in key programme areas.
 
Karin attended the UK open data event recently and she also had an article <http://www.interaction.org/md/sample-article-conversation-tony-blair> published in Interaction’s Monday Developments magazine. November was a big month for open government data - certainly in the UK. On November 19th, the UK government announced <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/19/francis-maude-government-data-published> its release of all data on central government spending above £25 000 – totalling around £80bn of the annual £670bn spend. At the launch, which Publish What You Fund attended, Francis Maude said “We are moving from need to know to right to know [...] Over time we want to give more detail on what the money is spent on and also where it is geographically spent. The information we are publishing today is a start, but we want to go further.” The new data can be found at data.gov.uk <http://data.gov.uk/> . There are already a number of applications and visualisations tools that have been built to make the information more accessible and meaningful to the public. Find them on Timetric <http://timetric.com/dataset/central-dept-spending-uk/?indexes=central-dept-spend-all-daily-uk-govern,RlvPP3y7Ta-z4c5wxf5Xfw,wL0Mh4H3SMmty-PdwRxJFQ,RwGq299sQd2fJ_EMn9CN5g,8RNmD_xcQb2I3ydi9wj8VA,06UOe98_
 
The DFID data release needs to be explored, and we look forward to seeing more, but of course from an aid perspective the benefit of more information is only fully realised when it is comparable. We need to be able to compare and map donors such as the World Bank, US agencies and the European Commission to UK aid spending so that decisions about how the money is spent are made in relation to what others are doing.
 
This release is a great step in greater government accountability. However, to ensure the aid budget is used to best effect donors need to share their information with each other and with recipient countries from one portal. The vehicle currently being developed to deliver this international comparability is the International Aid Transparency Initiative <http://www.aidtransparency.net/> . Read an introduction <http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/files/IATI-brochure.pdf> to IATI or see some FAQs <http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/files/IATI-FAQs.pdf%20> on this important work.
 
In mid-November Publish What You Fund and 49 other civil society organisations, agencies and networks, urged EU development leaders to fulfill commitments made at the Accra High Level Forum in September 2008, and to define a common European position on mutual accountability and transparency.
 
The letters were sent to Georgieva <http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/files/Letter-on-concerns-about-mutual-accountability-and-transparency-for-Commissioner-Georgievafinal.pdf> , European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Piebalgs <http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/files/Letter-on-concerns-about-mutual-accountability-and-transparency-for-Commissioner-Piebalgsfinal.pdf> , European Commissioner for Development, and Ashton <http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/files/Letter-on-concerns-about-mutual-accountability-and-transparency-for-High-Representativefinal.pdf%20> , High Representative of Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The European leaders are advised to demonstrate renewed efforts in disclosing aid information in a timely and comprehensive manner, and in a common format that will allow it to be compared with the aid flows of others: “It is critical that this information is made available publicly within the framework of a common set of international standards so that the EU can compare and harmonise its efforts with other donors and align its aid with recipient governments’ systems.”
 
Without comparability, European aid cannot be allocated to best effect. We hope that Europe takes leadership on this important issue which will make aid more effective and governments more accountable to their citizens. Congratulations to PWYF for these important achievements in making aid more accountable.
 
The IEN team had two successful events in Indonesia. The second National Coordination Meeting was held on 24-25 November and attended by nearly 70 network representatives. It was co-organized with the Secretariat institution, Paramadina University and local partner Kemitraan, and hosted by the Catholic Parahyangan University in Bandung, and Dr. Wicaksono Sarosa, Executive Director of Kemitraan. Dr Cecilia Lauw, Rector of Parahyangan University and Dr Anis Baswedan, Rector of Paramadina University were keynote speakers.
 
The first Indonesian Integrity Dialogues jointly organized by Kemitraan and I-PIEN immediately followed this meeting. 30 participants from different professions (intellectuals, religious leaders, NGO leaders, students, etc.) attended the meeting. It was a highly rated by participants, and a momentum was created to continue with future integrity dialogues.
 
Following these events, Tay Keong was interviewed by the Editor-in-Chief, a Senior Editor, the Editorial Secretary and Journalist from the Jakarta Post, a leading English newspaper in Indonesia. The Jakarta Post showed interest in supporting our vision of mainstreaming integrity education in Indonesian campuses. The paper was also keen to publish an article about Indonesia PIEN, and to consider a partnership with Tiri and the Paramadina University to hold a second Integrity Dialogue for journalists and editors called the Media Integrity Dialogues. This will likely be held in Bogor in February 2011.
 
I-PIEN shows great scope in Bahasa with an increased membership to 38 and 5 new members from Sumatra signing MoUs at the annual meeting! It will soon be IEN's biggest network, surpassing even China. 
 
Tay Keong, Nora, Kevin, Adi and Juwita also participated in the second annual National Stakeholder Meeting for Indonesia PIEN. The network now contains 33 universities. The Meeting established a new council as a first step towards evolving I-PIEN into a wider national organisation. The council is to be led by Natalia Soebagjo (a former SUN participant) who is spearheading I-PIEN's activities for the University of Indonesia.
 
Kevin gave a guest lecture at Gadjah Mada University to undergraduates in Finance. The lecture Initially scheduled for 1 hour eventually stretched to 2.5 hours, due to high interest and enthusiasm from the students.
 
During the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Thailand, Claire presented on NIR and PPI's community engagement and monitoring. Tiri and our partners' work received great deal of attention from a variety of donors, officials and NGOs, including the Sierra Leone Anti-Corruption Commissioner Joseph F. Kamara, the Ugandan Directorate for Ethics and Integrity, OSIWA and NGOs in Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Philippines. 
 
Katrine recently returned from Timor-Leste, where she participated in NIR partner Luta Hamutuk's workshops on procurement, monitoring and advocacy, field visits and strategic planning with fellow partners Revenue Watch Institute and CAFOD. Katrine is now completing the NIR trip report and working on a Luta Hamutuk case study.
 
Integrity Watch Afghanistan's Karolina Olofsson and Claire held a roundtable discussion in parliament on an effective approach to fighting corruption in Afghanistan. The roundtable arranged by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Issues brought together different MPs, DFID, Open Society Foundation, Global Governance faculty of the London School of Economics and various NGOs such as Tearfund and Save the Children. Participants were interested in NIR and IWA's approach to empowering communities and how this can make a difference in reducing corruption and violence.
 
The NIR team has been working with partners to develop their tools and methodology. Katrine has been working with CAHURAST in Nepal to refine the community-driven approach to monitoring roads, sanitation and health in Dhading and Gorkha districts in Nepal. Tools have been developed, such as questionnaires, and easy assessable information material on community monitoring. The district monitors will undertake Economic Literacy and Budget Accountability for Governance (ELBAG) training to further develop their capacity and to expand their budget monitoring skills. ELBAG is an approach promoted by citizens and Civil Society Organisations to monitor government budgets, economic policies and decision making for just and democratic governance. It is a part of a citizen's movement to seek accountability and good governance.
 
Claire has been working with partners in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to develop their tools and reporting. NIR has also met with co-funding partner PeaceDirect to discuss partners' needs, tools and potential learning across post-war countries. There is interest in supporting our partners' finance capacity, auditing and lessons sharing. This may include sharing lessons on citizen engagement in oil transparency from Timor Leste, where Luta Hamutuk has played a role in ensuring compliance within the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative, with peers in the Collaborative for Peace in Sudan. 
 
In Afghanistan, Integrity Watch Afghanistan will share updates, as their proposal has been finalised and the agreement will be signed shortly. NIR is also working with IWA to set out baseline data and the ToRs for a case study and evaluation. Colleagues can learn more about IWA on their website <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Integrity-Watch-Afghanistan/169262999755758%20%3Chttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Integrity-Watch-Afghanistan/169262999755758%3E>.
 
Partners in Liberia and Edward will be participating in a procurement monitoring workshop. This workshop will bring together different actors from civil society, government and the private sector. NIR partners, including Luta Hamutuk in Timor, have shown great interest in monitoring procurement to have an impact at the early stages of development projects.
 
The Fragile States Integrity Initiative is moving ahead. The inception report for analysing the destabilising risks of corruption is due. The Advisory Committee, which I chair, includes expert academics and practitioners, will be reviewing the report. In-country research is due to start early 2011.
 
A couple of weeks back Palestinians celebrated Independence Day and Eid Al-Adha. Tiri partner ARIJ and civil society monitors in the municipality of AlRam are working to solve the dilemma of the Ras AlHayy area. Palestinian Residents of Ras AlHayy, living in area C governed by Israel, complain of continuos difficulties in accessing services. AlRam monitors arranged for joint working groups among the residents, AlRam Local Council,the Ministry of Local Governance and AlRam monitoring committee and Ras AlHayy elected committee. The workshops resulted in drafting a letter to the Palestinian Prime Minister. Furthermore; ARIJ and AlRam monitors are working to publicize the dilemma through local media outlets and to interested sectors and parties.
 
ARIJ and Hebron monitors put up two billboards in early November, at key locations in Hebron city requesting just and fair service delivery of drinking water. Hebron Municipality interpreted the billboards as an accusation of corruption so they demanded their removal. ARIJ and the Hebron committee refused to remove them. However, Hebron Municipality pressured the advertising company to do so. The billboards were up for only ten days, however ARIJ and the monitors as a success for social accountability. Moreover the Hebron Citizen Report Card results were the worst of the four PPI cities in Palestine. The results reflect poor municipal service delivery standards. Hebron monitors decided to arrange for a joint working group with the Municipality to discuss the results before taking further action such as holding a public hearing.
 
Malik Elamaireh and Mary Muchena both visited Palestine and the Jerusalem office for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Malik had extensive meetings with key universities in the West Bank. He gave two lectures and sat in on lectures on corruption and integrity as well. There was a great deal of interest in joining IEN.
 
Best wishes,
 
Fredrik