Post-war governments, international donors and civil society should empower beneficiary communities – including marginalized groups - to monitor the reconstruction funds and assistance intended for them. They should use simple, accessible and predictable criteria for foreign aid and public expenditure allocations to facilitate community-led monitoring. Local and traditional accountability mechanisms should be worked with and strengthened. Customary accountability practices should be incorporated in the monitoring of reconstruction programmes as a means of developing more effective programmes and building public trust in reconstruction. This leveraging power should be harnessed to develop trust in the state and in the reconstruction process focusing on key areas such as service delivery and key social development programmes that matter most to the people, like health and education.

The Network for Integrity in Reconstruction (NIR) calls for an approach to reconstruction that empowers the population, restores hope and avoids feeding cynicism. NIR supports civil society organizations that monitor how accountable, competent and corruption-prone post-war reconstruction aid programmes are. Our partner organizations build the long-term capacities of communities to monitor and report their findings to the public, their government and donors. They monitor in partnership with local communities, municipalities, district offices and other relevant bodies.

Integrity in post-war reconstruction is defined as identifying and building local competences for recovery and development; instituting genuine accountability, both to internal beneficiaries and to external donors; and attention to corruption, a factor that can easily undermine many of the dividends of a post-war settlement.  

Integrity in post-war reconstruction increases transparency and public participation in the process of reconstruction and contributes to the implementation of pro-poor policies, reflective of community needs. In the long-term, integrity in reconstruction increases the legitimacy of the process of reconstruction and thereby reduces the likelihood of a country returning to violent conflict.

Countries and regions in which the Network for Integrity in Reconstruction currently operates:

Afghanistan 

NIR partner Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) works with communities in Parwan province to monitor reconstruction projects. Together they identify villages where the monitoring will take place based on the reconstruction projects implemented in the area. Projects to be monitored are selected according to the communities’ priorities following a participatory process supported by IWA and Tiri. The communities’ themselves then monitor the projects through the formation of elected local monitoring groups. Tiri and IWA build the capacity of the monitoring groups through training workshops and support to their activities in the localities.

http://www.iwaweb.org

Palestine

In the West Bank, NIR partner Filastiniyat formed groups of young leaders aged between 20 and 30 in all West Bank governorates. The groups monitor reconstruction aid programmes chosen by their communities and, through Filastiniyat and Tiri, inform the donor community of the monitoring efforts to help influence reconstruction policy and practice. The ultimate aim of Filastiniyat’s monitoring programme is not primarily to uncover corruption within reconstruction projects, but to empower Palestinian citizens through collection and analysis of information and greater involvement in the reconstruction process.  

In the Gaza Strip, NIR partner Society Voice Foundation (SVF) builds the capacities of young community leaders to monitor reconstruction projects with the close support of community-based organizations in their localities. SVF brings together active community-based organizations ranging from student-based councils to women’s organizations like the Female Graduates Association. Society Voice engages the media to disseminate information on integrity concepts to all citizens by broadcasting radio episodes on the progress and pace of reconstruction and organizing town hall meetings to address key decision makers.