mainstreaming transparency and accountability to strengthen democratic governance, reduce inequality

“Mainstreaming Transparency and

Accountability to Strengthen Democratic

Governance and Reduce Inequality”

Report Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community of

Practice (COP) in Latin America and the Caribbean

“Mainstreaming Transparency and Accountability to Strengthen Democratic Governance and Reduce Inequality”

September 5 and 6, 2011. Costa Rica

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San José, Costa Rica

September 2011

Report

Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community

of Practice (COP) in Latin America and the

Caribbean

“Mainstreaming Transparency and Accountability to

Strengthen Democratic Governance and Reduce Inequality”



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UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - UNDP

UNDP REGIONAL CENTRE PANAMA Freddy Justiniano DIRECTOR a.i. UNDP REGIONAL SERVICE CENTRE FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Gerardo Berthin GOVERNANCE AND DECENTRALIZATION POLICY ADVISOR Maria Angelica Vásquez CONSULTANT- DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE Charlotta Sandin VOLUNTEER/RESEARCH ASSISTANT -- DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE Yael Bolaña CONSULTANT- DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE UNDP REGIONAL BUREAU FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN - NEW YORK Álvaro Pinto COORDINATOR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE CLUSTER

Gerardo Noto PROGRAMME SPECIALIST DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE CLUSTER

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME – COSTA RICA

Luiza Carvalho, RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE UNDP, COSTA RICA Lara Blanco PROGRAMME COORDINATOR UNCP, COSTA RICA Gilda Pacheco GOVERNANCE AND GENDER EQUITY OFFICER



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Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 9

The Crucial Role of Transparency in Strengthening Democratic Governance and

Promoting Human Development was Reaffirmed .................................................................. 11

Opening session ...................................................................................................................... 13

Progress of Anti-Corruption Efforts in the World and in Latin America and the Caribbean ... 14

Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption Thinking into and across Key Development Sectors ........... 15

Support for Macro and Micro Preventive Anti-Corruption Measures: Key Lessons ............... 17

Access to Public Information ................................................................................................... 19

The Role of Civil Society and the Private Sector ..................................................................... 21

Regional Approaches to Promote Anti-Corruption ................................................................. 22

Anti-Corruption Conventions (the Inter-American Convention against Corruption and the

United Nations Convention against Corruption)..................................................................... 23

Programming on Anti-Corruption in the Region ..................................................................... 25

Concept Note and Agenda ...................................................................................................... 31

Annex 1. Evaluation Results of the Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community of

Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean .......................................................................... 39

Annex 2. Evaluation Results of the Social Audit Workshop for Young Leaders and

Entrepreneurs ......................................................................................................................... 44



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Introduction

On September 5 and 6, 2010 more than 50 participants, including program officers and

representatives of 12 country offices of UNDP, academics, associate experts, and government

counterparts, gathered in San Jose, Costa Rica to partipate in the Third Meeting of the Anti-

Corruption Community of Practice (COP) in Latin America and the Caribbean, to share

information, exchange experiences, good practices and tools.

This third meeting is part of an effort to articulate transparency and accountability topics in

Latin America and the Caribbean that began in 2008, when the First Meeting of the Anti-

Corruption Community of Practice (COP) in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Lima,

Peru. In June 2009, the Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community of Practice (COP) in Latin

America and the Caribbean was held in Bogota, Colombia and provided a number of inputs

about the needs of country offices and a selected number of experiences were presented.

In the Third Meeting a key assumption was that transparency and accountability are central

elements to strengthen democratic governance at all levels, as well as to help reduce the high

inequlaity trends.

In as much as it is difficult to ascertain, with current data and instruments, whether corruption

has declined or increased in Latin America and the Caribbean region, progress has been

documented on a number of fronts. For example, countries in the region today have greater

access to a wide variety of technological, legal, institutional and administrative tools to combat

corruption; awareness about the problem of corruption and its consequences has significantly

increased; the analytical tools to understand and measure corruption have substantially

improved and become more sophisticated; new actors have emerged on the anti-corruption

front; as a result of an increased understanding of the nature, causes, and effects of

corruption, multilateral organizations and international financial and development agencies

have refined their anti-corruption strategies; today anti-corruption assistance covers a much

wider range of program approaches than a decade ago; new Legal instruments and

conventions (Inter-American Convention against Corruption-IACAC and the United Nations

Convention against Corruption-UNCAC); and political corruption is beginning to be addressed

more systematically.

However, despite these advances the high rates of corruption perception in the region persist,

and therefore the thematic continues to be a challenge. A key challenge to build political will

among policy makers and to promote action involves encouraging and supporting policy

dialogue across sectors that positively impact the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),

democratic governance and economic opportunities. Knowledge and capacity building become

necessary elements to engage policy makers in policy dialogue, and to strengthen the capacity

of UNDP Country Offices to discuss, convene, and increase the level of public discourse on the

challenges brought by lack of transparency and accountability. Patterns of corruption can

change across countries and across sectors. Each sector (health, environment, and economic

development), must develop explicit approaches to address the unique challenges of

corruption. This goes beyond attempts to ensure that resources and programs are protected

from corruption; it also implies a proactive programmatic commitment to finding ways to

reduce the impact of corruption throughout the sector. Another challenge is to encourage



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cross-sectoral collaboration that supports the establishment of efforts country office-wide or

across several practice areas to promote transparency and accountability in a more holistic

fashion.

The objectives of the Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community of Practice were to: (a)

Exchange ideas on how to mainstream transparency and anti-corruption thinking and actions

across current and future programming in the Region; (b) Strengthen the stock of knowledge,

both qualitative and quantitative at the UNDP country offices, about mainstreaming anti-

corruption programming; (c) Share and exchange practices, tools and experiences; (d) Increase

capacity to plan and implement cross-sectoral transparency programming;(e) Explore

possibilities for south-to-south cooperation with other regions; and (f) Develop and discuss

and agenda for follow up of regional and country level initiatives on anti-corruption.

The Agenda of the Third Meeting was broad and in but also focused on the following topics: (a)

Progress of Anti-Corruption Efforts in the World and in Latin America and the Caribbean, (b)

Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption Thinking into and across Key Development Sectors, (c) Support

for Macro and Micro Preventive Anti-Corruption Measures, (d) Access to Public Information;

(e) The Role of Civil Society and the Private Sector, (f) Regional Approaches to Promote Anti-

Corruption, (g) Anti-Corruption Conventions (the Inter-American Convention against

Corruption and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption).

In the following pages of this report, the main points that resulted from the presentations,

dialogue, exchange of experiences and good practices are highlighted. Similarly, this Report

presents the main conclusions and inputs for the UNDP programming on these topics. This

report is expected to be a benchmark for UNDP work inside and outside the region, as well as

for other actors interested in the topics of transparency, accountability and combat against

corruption.

The Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community of Practice was a joint effort of the

UNDP Country Office of Costa Rica, as a host country, and UNDP Regional Centre for Latin

America and the Caribbean, through the Democratic Governance Practice Area, and supported

by the Global Thematic Programme on Anti-Corruption for Development Effectiveness (PACDE)

of the Bureau of Development Policy (BDP).



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The Crucial Role of Transparency in Strengthening Democratic

Governance and Promoting Human Development was Reaffirmed

Main conclusions:

Sectoral approaches to promote transparency and accountability and preventing corruption are among the main challenges for UNDP. This requires more assessments on risks, designing integrated transparency and accountability mechanisms and approaches, more interagency and inter-practice cooperation. However, sectoral approaches should not replace national anti-corruption and transparency policies, rather, they should complement them.

Local citizen participation is the most efficient, and important, preventive measure to enhance accountability and transparency. It was emphasized and concluded in all five working groups that civil society has a crucial role in fighting corruption. Civil society’s participation, including the private sector, in decision-making and monitoring local level policy actions, as well as in institutional building activities should be increased.

Access to information is critical to enhance democratic governance. Various interventions presented at the COP Meeting showed a deficit of data, metrics, knowledge and information regarding how public services are provided, monitored and managed. UNDP and its partners, government, donors and academic centers, at the local, national, regional, and global levels, should evaluate more often the impacts of transparency and accountability mechanisms in order to find relevant indicators, and apply tools, lessons and efficient reform strategies. The COP Meeting also stressed the importance of sharing experiences, lessons learned and disseminate at regional and local levels.

Several potential entry points were identified. For example, poverty issues with

multidimensional approach and links to human rights; preventing corrupt practices

and strengthening transparency and accountability in the area of taxes and revenues

at local and national level; transparency and political parties; and institutional

strengthening for transparency and accountability of sub-national governments.

Similarly, emphasis was given to UNDP´s role to support strategic approaches to

combat corruption and promote transparency and accountability.

Other key topics proposed as inputs for a UNDP regional agenda included:

Institutional strengthening of key governmental and non-governmental actors (CSOs);

Using the framework and follow-up mechanisms of anti-corruption conventions to promote preventive measures;

Innovative approaches and mechanisms, such as social auditing, illicit flows, youth and gender, and metrics and/or approaches to measure and understand the better depth, scope and impact of lack of transparency and accountability;

Facilitate dialogue between Anti-Corruption agencies and organizations working sectoral topics;

Link transparency and accountability with sectoral topics and regional projects, and their respective international and/or regional actors;



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Mainstream in the UNDAF formulation and/or review process (in collaboration with other United Nations system agencies) activities related to the prevention of corruption and the promotion of transparency and accountability;

Identify entry-points and linkages with local governance/local government and institutions able to detect and minimize corruption risks; building on document: Local Governance, Anti-Corruption and REDD+ in Latin America and the Caribbean: Exploring Synergies to Strengthen Transparency and Accountability;

Disaggregating corruption data at the national and local levels, assess indexes currently being used and their relevance of what is being measured; measuring the impact of anti-corruption programmes already underway, and those initiatives that do not have explicitly anti-corruption elements; and formulation of region specific indexes;

Analysis of the gap between international legal framework and the domestic legislation relating to transparency and accountability, and evaluate the application and/or implementation;

Promote initiatives to test the tools already developed within projects and specialized projects;

Encourage countries to establish and to make it work effectively, the minimum institutional structure required (according to their own context), to ensure transparency and accountability, as well as prevent corrupt practices; Assess key core risk areas in sub-national governments and articulate with ongoing decentralization efforts; and create incentives and a communication strategy to highlight broadcasts as good practices.

The COP accomplished its objectives and more, and generated a menu of potential strategic

activities at the global, regional and national levels. The results of the evaluations provide

further feedback and inputs (see Annex 1). In the following pages, the report presents a

summary of the rich and participatory discussions that took place during the COP. Similarly,

the results of the Workshop on Social Audit for Young Leaders and Entrepreneurs organized by

the Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), through the regional initiative

Transparency and Accountability in Local Governments (TRAALOG), and supported by the

UNDP-Costa Rica Country Office. The Workshop took place inmediately after the COP

(september 7 and 8). The objective of the workshop was to develop management and

leadership skills to design, implement, communicate, and assess social audit processes,

providing them concrete tools. The Workshop had 16 young leaders age 18-25, representing

over 10 youth organizations from Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Nicaragua,

El Salvador and Costa Rica. The Workshop methodology incorporated not only an adequate

theoretical-practical approach to understand the potential and challenges of implementing

social audit, but also applied tools and policy and political dialogue. The main reference for

the Workshop was the Practical Guide to Social Audit as a Participatory Tool. In addition, the

workshop included various group exercises and small simulation of a social audit exercise.

According to the results of the evaluation (see Annex 2), the Workshop achieved its objectives

and went beyond expectations. It strengthened youth leadership for social audit and for its

immediate application in their respective communities.



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Opening session

Luiza Carvalho, UNDP Resident Representative, Costa Rica and Rocio

Aguilar Montoya, The General Comptroller of Costa Rica, welcomed

the Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community of Practice in

Latin America and the Caribbean, held in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The General Comptroller of Costa Rica, Rocio Aguilar Montoya, began

her key note address reflecting on government’s legitimacy and

efficacy. She argued that both Democratic Governance and

Accountability make us think about governmental actions that

effectively accomplish society’s expectations and needs and generate sustainable trust in the

government. Moreover, the General Comptroller stated that transparency and accountability

constitute essential elements of the State and a fundamental principle of Democratic

Governance.

Transparency and accountability must be distinguished. The first is a precondition for the

second. Transparency by itself does not ensure effective accountability, since it transcends

the simple act of disseminating information. It consists of making available and providing

proper information in terms of quality and quantity in order to enable citizens to evaluate and

monitor public management. The General Comptroller added that all the available information

must be in an accessible format in which data can be understood by the majority of citizens

and not by a small number of experts. Furthermore, she emphasized the principal role of social

control as a complement to formal control mechanisms.

The crucial role of transparency and accountability in

strengthening Democratic Governance and promoting

Human Development was stressed. In order to make

accountability work optimally, the General Comptroller

explained that it is necessary to begin with certain

conditions: 1) an integrated accountability system, 2) the

development of instruments and information systems, 3) a

legal framework that encourages public institutions to inform about management

performance, verify compliance and sanction nonfulfillments. These conditions are underlined

to be not only keys to develop democracies, but also paths to reducing poverty and improving

social welfare.

The General Comptroller also noted 8 Accountability Principles, namely: 1) Accountability is a

good government’s foundation; 2) Report and justify; 3) Integrity in the Accountability system;

4) Transparency; 5) Impose sanctions when obligations are not fulfilled; 6) Citizens’ active

participation; 7) An integral Accountability legal framework; and 8) Superior Audit Entities’

leadership. To put these principles into practice, in a systematized and sustainable way,

represents an important challenge.

Finally, she emphasized that the most important vowel that ought to leave a trace in public

institutions’ daily work is the vowel “E:” Efficacy (achieving goals), Efficiency (best

performance), Economy (resources acquired at the lowest possible cost and in a timely



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Key-presentations

Current Global Trends,

(Charlotta Sandin, UNDP,

Regional Centre of Latin

America and the Caribbean)

Current Anti-corruption

trends in Latin America and

the Caribbean (Miguel

Peñailillo, Associate Expert)

Global Trends and Emerging

Issue (Aida Arutyunova and

Tsegaye Lemma, UNDP/BDP

/PACDE)

manner), Ecology (with respect to the environment and sustainability) and Ethics (diligence,

honesty and integrity).

Progress of Anti-Corruption Efforts in the World and in Latin America and

the Caribbean

Corruption has different faces and exists in all societies in all

nations, but to varying degrees. It differs among regions and

apparently, corruption seems to vary according to contexts,

sectors and how it is measured. Nevertheless, corruption seems to

be a “sticky” problem. Only two regions have managed to increase

control of corruption during the past decade.

Corruption in Latin America forms part of the landscape. Over the

past ten years the Corruption Perception Index has showed high

rates in the region; between 3.3 and 3.7 on the scale where 0 is

high perception of corruption and 10 is low perception of

corruption. The institutions that seem to be most affected are the

political parties, the judicial system, the legislature and Public

administration. Business is affected to a lesser extent, as well as

media, NGOs, religious organizations, the army and the education

system.

UNDP supports about 70 projects related to the fight against Corruption in Latin America and

the Caribbean, to a total cost of approximately US$221 million. Of these 70 projects, 40% are

considered development projects with anti-corruption components. Seven percent of the

projects are directed specifically to anti-corruption objectives. These anti-corruption projects

are preventive and aim at strengthening civil society, improving transparency in state

institutions, strengthening the State Control Mechanisms and anti-corruption offices and

policies, prevention tools, coordination and electoral transparency. At the regional level, there

are some key initiatives in the region that support and/or facilitate transparency and

accountability activities, for example, the SIGOB, the TRAALOG and the UNDP Virtual School.

On a global level, UNDP priorities for 2011-2012 are anti-corruption and MDGs; anti-corruption

in key social sectors; illicit financial flows; anti-Corruption and Climate Change, REDD+; support

to regional and country offices; support to UNCAC review process as entry point to a broader

governance reform, knowledge generation and facilitation and global advocacy, and

institutional strengthening and work more strategically with partners.

Strategic lines for the future:

Transparency and corruption prevention should be considered as a central element in

Human Development policies and the fight against poverty.

Components of anti-corruption should be integrated across all development projects

in health, education and water provision.



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Key-presentations

Vulnerabilities to Corruption in the

Health Sector: Perspectives from Latin

American Sub-systems for the Poor

(Karen Hussmann, Associate Expert

UNDP)

Accountability in the Water Sector:

The Cases of Colombia and México

(Jose Ricardo Puyana/UNDP-Colombia

y Paola Gomez/UNDP México)

Local Governance, Anti-corruption

and REDD+ in Latin America and the

Caribbean: Exploring Synergies to

Strengthen Transparency and

Accountability (Beatriz Garcia, UNDP

Consultant)

The Experience of the Environmental

Court of Costa Rica (Adriana Bejarano

Lawyer Environmental Court)

Tools on assessments and diagnosis, national and sectoral, promoting design and

implementation of anti-corruption policies and programs shall be spread and

integrated in the cooperation.

To speed up the process to achieve the MDGs, transparency and accountability must

be top priority.

Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption Thinking into and across Key Development

Sectors

Prior to the Community of Practice, three sectorial studies

were conducted in order to analyze those areas prone to

corruption and detect their vulnerabilities. All three studies

(in the health, water and forest sectors) showed strong

sectoral deficiencies and vulnerabilities.

Health Sector

The study on vulnerabilities in the health sector, with case

studies in Colombia and Peru, found that different systems

offer different risks to corruption. National health systems

in Latin America and the Caribbean are extremely

heterogeneous regarding their structure and context. It is

likely that corruption risks show considerable differences in

the areas and processes most affected as well as of the

types, manifestations and drivers of corrupt practices. The

forms of abuse tend to differ depending on how funds are

mobilized, managed and paid (including the public-private

mix), and at which level of the state administration

(centralized, decentralized or intermediate). At the same

time, there are areas of the health systems that tend to

face fairly similar vulnerabilities, such as procurement of

drugs, goods and services, among others.

Direct public provision can create risks for theft of medicines and resources, informal

payments, derivation of patients to private practices, absenteeism and purchase of positions

and promotions. When provision and financing are separated, the risks are: fraud in billing to

governments, health institutions and medical insurances, and embezzlement. Both systems are

vulnerable to risks related to illegal buying of medicine, equipment, and medical supplies, as

well as to state capture.

The study revealed several emerging issues. There is a lack of diagnosis which makes it difficult

to “prevent and not cure.” The political economy needs to be analyzed carefully and the

opportunities and obstacles to reforms identified. Institutional reform can also “reform” risks

to corruption (decentralization can decentralize corruption). The risk of capturing laws, norms

and institutions (state capture) does not receive much attention. Systems of access to



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information are key, as well as a strong need for sectoral transparency policies. An integral

strategy of internal and external control is important and requires stewardship.

Water and Sanitation Sector

Accountability in the water and sanitation sector has been analyzed in a comparative study of

four cases in Latin America. The assessment discovered that lack of access to water and

sanitation was related to governance problems such as regulation, leadership and control of

water and sanitation services. Corruption is a major obstacle. Sufficient resources and

knowledge exist, but still significant numbers amounts of people don´t have access to clean

water and sanitation.

The Mexico case study, of the metropolitan zone

of Xalapa, Veracruz, also showed that there is no

direct correlation between natural availability of

water and the access to drinking water. Several

democratic governance challenges were

addressed in the case study. There is a

multiplicity of actors with different functions,

references, autonomy and structures. The

efficiency of the impact of the accountability mechanisms, horizontal, social and transversal,

should be revised. There were found no, or limited, mechanisms of accountability in the

services charging systems, reinvestment in infrastructure, payment for environmental services

and debts collection. Citizen participation was also disorganized and ineffective. The second

case study focused on municipalities located along the Bogotá River Basin in Colombia. The

study revealed the most effective accountability mechanisms of the system and evidenced the

idea that accountability is most effective when there were synergy effects between actors

cooperating to improve access to water and sanitation. Also, the Colombia case supports the

idea of strong social oversight as a key measure against opacity.

Forest and Climate Change Sector

A sectorial approach has also been analyzed in the Forest sector and for REDD+. While sub-

national governments in the region are already vulnerable to many corrupt practices, when

linked to forest issues corrupt practices manifest in many other ways. In the current context of

the forestry sector, corruption manifests, in regulatory design (undue influence to capture laws

and regulations), harvest/processing (illegal logging), and transport and trade (bribery to avoid

permits, taxes and forests charges). With the upcoming REDD+ mechanism, which involves

new mechanism of measuring carbon against a projected baseline of emissions and

performance payments, the corruption risks in the design (current) phase and the (upcoming)

implementation phase that were found were: in land administration (bribery related to

allowing or excluding land), in carbon rights and measurements (fraud in reporting results and

artificially inflating base lines) and in benefit and distribution systems (embezzlement, state

capture, nepotism, and cronyism). It was found that local entities in charge of environmental

control, if strong and capable, have a role in suppressing and preventing corrupt practices.

Certain measures taken at the sub-national level are useful in preventing corruption, notably



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those that enhance sustainable forest management, secure access of local and indigenous

communities to forest resources and participation in sustainable forest management, and

allow the oversight of benefit distribution and forest operations in general.

REDD+ may involve corruption risks that differ from those observed in the forest sector (e.g.

related to illegal logging, movement of timber and wood products and to the avoidance of

payment of forestry charges). Specific REDD+ corruption risks may occur for example, in the

allocation of carbon rights – including how they relate to tenure, setting of emissions baselines

or in the design and implementation of benefit distribution systems. REDD+ may help reduce

corruption in the forest sector if the issue is adequately addressed. When compared to existing

anti-corruption measures, such as forest audit systems, investigation and social monitoring,

REDD+ will be subject to greater oversight from a broader-range of institutions.

The Environmental Tribunal in Costa Rica established to address violations of Costa Rica’s

environmental laws, was featured as an institutional tool that can help prevent corrupt

practices. The Tribunal is the administrative headquarter that resolves actions and omissions

that violate or threaten to violate the environmental protection legislation and natural

resources. The Tribunal also provides sanctions.


There is a need for integration of anti-corruption in sectorial approaches.

In all three sectors studied, there is an urgent need for information about the sector,

statistics and data, how it is monitored and how to access the information.

UNDP should support sectorial diagnosis of risks of corruption and collection of data

and tools to evaluate experience and perception of corruption.

Good practices shall be compiled and shared; they are instrumental in preventing

corruption.

Citizen participation is crucial and should be enhanced. There should be capacity

building for civil society and local decision makers.

Cooperation with other UN-agencies to integrate a "risk of corruption lens" could

improve the outcome, of UN efforts in the fight against corruption.

A methodology of “integrity screenings" of regulatory and supervision agencies of the

sector should be developed.

Coordination between control agencies and integrated complaint systems must be

enhanced from a protection of rights perspective.

Policy dialogue on financial resources for climate change, forest management and

REDD+ is recommended.

Support for Macro and Micro Preventive Anti-Corruption Measures: Key

Lessons



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Key-presentations

El Cercado Te Ve, Dominican

Republic (Anyarlene Berges,

UNDP/Dominican Republic)

Transparency in Regions and the

Role of the Ombudsman Office

(Mario Solari, PNUD/Peru)

Promoting Ethics, Transparency

and Accountability in Local

Governments in Colombia

(Marco Stella, UNDP-Colombia)

Building Civil Society Capacity to

support good Governance by

Local Authorities (Sonia Gill,

UNDP-Jamaica)

Four examples of preventive anti-corruption measures were

presented. The Dominican Republic and Jamaican cases aimed

at enhancing civil society and citizen participation. While the

Peru and Colombia cases aimed at strengthening the

institutional framework for transparency and accountability.

The objective of the “El Cercado Te Ve” initiative in El Cercado,

Dominican Republic, was to involve young people in

promoting and appropriating human development and

democratic governance values, particularly those related to

transparency and accountability. Youth from a small and

impoverished municipality took the initiative to design and

implement a TV program to raise awareness not only among

youth, but the entire community. The experience shows that

there is no reason to suppose that political institutions and

power relations will change spontaneously. If society is not

organized, empowered and the power relations is not

restructured, there may not be the change expected in terms

of Human Development. Because Human Development is a

question of power.

Peru

In Peru, the area of Democratic Governance was

identified as one of the main working areas in the

UNDAF framework of 2012-2016. Promoting

transparency and the fight against corruption was

among the principal components. UNDP has had

important interventions in this topic, through different

projects that have contributed to build oversight and

ethical systems in the judicial institutions, transparency

in the regions with the Peruvian Ombudsman Office

and the promotion of transparency in local governments (Transparent Municipalities). In the

project with the Ombudsman´s Office, the objective was to strengthen the capacity of six

regional governments with transparency tools and efficiency in the public administration, in

regional governments, local authorities and civil society. Emphasis was placed on transparency

and the delivery of basic public services, in particular to populations that live in poverty. The

project strengthens the monitoring capacity of the Ombudsman´s Office. Also the

transparency, accountability and access to information mechanisms of regional governments,

as well as enhances communications and better understand the role of civil society, with

emphasis on access to public information.

Colombia

The UNDP Country Office in Colombia is implementing the programme “Promoting Ethics,

Transparency and Accountability in Local Governments of Colombia” since 2009. Through



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strengthening of institutions, organizations and forums, the focus was on the integrity,

visibility and accountability of Cartagena, La Guajira and Santander local/sub-national

governments. After two years of implementation, the transparency indicators have improved

and the technical capacities have been strengthened among other positive results. The

programme has also enabled construction of methodologies and instruments to diagnose the

transparency components. The experiences and lessons learned have been compiled in a

publication of good practices.

Jamaica

In Jamaica the UNDP Country Office is starting up a programme on Civil Society Capacity

Building to Support Good Governance by local Authorities. Jamaica is currently implementing a

Local Government Reform Process, through a handover of significant autonomy to local

authorities. The new institutional model includes a public forum at the local level to examine

and assess the use of public funds by Parish Councils and municipalities, and a civil society

body that will function as a key actor in anticorruption efforts. UNDP assistance will help to

develop capacity of civil society organizations to support local authorities in financial

transparency and accountability; provide technical support for policy and legislation related to

local government financial management; build capacity of media to increase and improve

coverage of local authorities public expenditure; and conduct capacity assessments of the

Parish Development Committees and the Local Public Accounts Committees.


Local governance projects are very sensitive to political context. Political will is

fundamental for the success of these types of interventions.

Internal and external trust has to be gained to fulfill the aims.

Stakeholder buy-in requires patience and evidence of solid results.

While capacity-building needs to take place prior to and during legal reform, without

appropriate legislative and governance infrastructure, the efforts may not have the

expected sustainable results.

Strategic linkages need to be made with anti-corruption champions (e.g. support from

the Office of the General Comptroller in assessing financial accountability of local

authorities).

Local governments should respond to citizens’ demands, meet the expectations and

support empowerment of youth.

Access to Public Information



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Key-presentations

Access to Public Information in

Central America and Mexico:

Assessment and Some

Recommendations (Alejandra

Rios, CIDE México, Maria Adilia

Serrano and Rafael Reyes UNDP

Associate Experts)

The Experience of the

Transparency and Ethic Council

in Access to Public Information

in Uruguay (Paula Veronelli,

PNUD/Uruguay)

CIDE (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Economicas), a partner

of UNDP, has conducted a study supported by the TRAALOG on

access to information in four Central American countries and in

four Mexican States. This report is developed from a

methodological approach that allows the comparative study of

four Central American countries and four Mexican states (three

states and the Federal District). The effort’s specific objective is

to identify common challenges, recurring problems and best

practices in access to government information. The selection of

cases was made thinking about maximizing differences in the

development of legislation on access to information and in the

contextual conditions (political dynamics, economic and social

development), both among the four Central American countries

and in the sub-national governments in Mexico. In every case

study, ten public institutions have been analyzed, including local

governments.

The right of access to public information is precisely that: a right that requires and needs to be

acknowledged in specific law. However, 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, 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 because they feel watched), and for citizens (that know and

exercise their right).

In Uruguay, a Board of Transparency and Ethics (Junta de Transparencia y Ética Pública) was

established after the ratification of Interamerican Convention against Corruption and the

approving of the Law of the Misuse of Public Power. The Board is responsible for conducting

surveys to measure corruption perception, create a network of public servants, and provide

training and support to the implementation of the anti-corruption conventions. The main

challenges are to consolidate a culture of open governance, to adapt internal mechanisms for

organizing and classifying information, assignments of responsibilities, and implement a

permanent system of self-assessments.


Civil Society Organizations are key partners to implement transparency and

accountability policies.

Dissemination and training is important, a strategy to build ”capabilities for

transparency” in the sub-national governments should be devised.

Sub-national governments, present a challenge for the design and implementation of

transparency, accountability and citizen participation mechanisms.



21

Key-presentations

Multi Stakeholder and

Participatory Self-assessment of

the Implementation of UNCAC in

Chile (Marcela Rios, PNUD/Chile)

The Experience of the Global

Compact and the Private Sector

(Rocio Galiano, UNDP-Paraguay)

Information technologies should be used to streamline procedures and reduce costs.

The institution responsible for guaranteeing access to information must be defined

clearly as well as its working area.

A transparency culture that goes beyond the sole right to request information must be

promoted.

The Role of Civil Society and the Private Sector

In Chile, the self-assessment of the Implementation of UNCAC

was made in collaboration with civil Society. The aim of this

participatory approach was two pronged. First, involve civil

society in anti-corruption themes in order to strengthen their

role in vertical accountability. Second, improve the process of

self-assessment and involve public opinions and views.

The United Nations Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative

for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten

universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-

corruption. As such, it is a collaborative initiative with peers and stakeholders in the industry

to generate joint solution in the fight against corruption. The Global Compact was signed to

commit stakeholders to a collective effort to reduce corruption and advocate for the

ratification and implementation of the anti-corruption conventions in the countries. It has also

proven to be a key mechanism to involve the private sector in transparency and accountability

activities. There is an active regional network for Latin America and the Caribbean. In

Paraguay, since the signing of the Compact, various trainings have been held, consultancies,

risks maps to corruption and evaluation of the potential harm of corruption in human and

economic development.


The most important limiting factors are found in the understanding and knowledge of

the tools to fight corruption.

It is widely perceived that firms have a tendency to develop more anti-corruption

measures and controls depending on the nature of the business. The private sector

still sees corruption as an issue related to the public sector.

Corruption is associated with deeply rooted cultural features.

Collaborative work that includes civil society, the private sector and government could

be an efficient means to tackle corrupt practices and raise awareness to prevent

corrupt practices.



22

Key-presentations

SIGOB (Alejandro Genovesi)

Management of Correspondence

and Archives (Agueda Herrera/

Presidency of the Dominican

Republic)

Virtual School (Diana Torres)

The Civil Service in Latin America: a Pending Issue in the agenda of State reform (Rufino Fernández/ University of Panama)

Capacity Development (Ines Brill)

TRAALOG (Maria Angelica Vasquez)

Regional Approaches to Promote Anti-Corruption

SIGOB is a Project of the Democratic Governance Practice

Area of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the

Caribbean. It aims at introducing tools to improve

transparency, accountability and enhance efficiency and

achievement of goals, in governments. Since the start of the

project, 140 modules have been implemented in the region

in the president´s offices, ministries, local governments,

supreme courts and legislative assemblies/congresses. In the

Presidency of Dominican Republic, five systems have been

developed through the support of SIGOB, among them the

Correspondence Management and Archives System. The

project resulted in transparency in the circulation process of

external and internal documents. Moreover, the

management of documents was made more expedient and

the decision-making process was enhanced.

The Virtual School is currently offering 24 courses in the areas of Human Development,

Democratic Governance, Crisis Prevention and Early Recovery for Development. Most of these

have links to various topics related to transparency and accountability. For 2012 the plan is to

offer a course in accountability and monitoring and evaluation of the MDGs, new modules of

the course on Anti-Corruption and Human Development, particularly targeting the health,

water and security sectors. Furthermore, emphasis will be given to mainstreaming anti-

corruption and inclusion of social media in transparency, accountability and citizen

participation.

The Capacity Development Cluster

at the UNDP Regional Centre for

Latin America and the Caribbean,

is aiming at developing capacities

to professionalize public

institutions – meritocracy to

promote reforms and implement

public policies, in compliance with

the attributes of integrity,

impartiality, efficiency and

legitimacy. The main regional challenges to achieve transparency and accountability are: low

meritocratic development, civil services that are heterogenic and absence of tradeoffs

between merit and flexibility.6

TRAALOG is a regional initiative of the UNDP Regional Centre for LAC, and offers technical

advice and assistance to UNDP Country Offices. The objective is to incorporate transparency

and accountability in local governments throughout the region (municipalities, parishes,

provinces, departments and states). After its launching in April 2010, the Transparency and



23

Accountability in Local Governments (TRAALOG) has been engaging, and interacting with, a

number of UNDP Country Offices in the region to identify and prioritize entry points and

programming opportunities. Several exploratory missions and/or virtual presentations were

carried out targeting more than 12 Country Offices, and encourage them to take advantage of

TRAALOG as a strategic means to incorporate, complement and mainstream anti-corruption

preventive measures in Country Office programming.

The TRAALOG targets small initiatives at the local level that can be scaled up through policy

support, institutional development and partnerships. One of the key activities of TRAALOG is

to promote the development and systematization of knowledge products and tools, focusing

on specific transparency and accountability initiatives and/or themes that are relevant to

Country Offices, as well as to mainstream anti-corruption issues across program/practice

areas.

Anti-Corruption Conventions (the Inter-American Convention against

Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Corruption)

The MESICIC, (the Follow-up Mechanism of the Implementation of the Inter-American

Convention against Corruption, for its initials in Spanish) is a joint exercise among the States

Parties of the Convention, so they can reciprocally analyze how an individual State Party has

implemented the Convention provisions. The analysis, carried out by a Committee of Experts

selected by each country, ends with the publication of a report on the status of

implementation and application of the Convention in each country. In Costa Rica, the Public

Ethics Department is the central authority to monitor the national implementation of the

Inter-American Convention against corruption and the United Nations Convention against

Corruption (UNCAC) and participates in the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC. As such, the

Department has assisted with technical advice to design a Plan of Action in Costa Rica. In total,

18 institutions from the public and private sector are represented to discuss and commit to the

plan.

UNODC is the United Nations Agency responsible for technical advice to the implementation of

the UNCAC. UNODC is also the Secretariat of the Conference of State Parties (CoSP) of the

UNCAC. The UNCAC's far-reaching approach and the mandatory character of many of its

provisions makes it a unique tool for developing a comprehensive response to a global

problem. The UNCAC covers five main areas: prevention, criminalization and law enforcement

measures, international cooperation, asset recovery, and technical assistance and information

exchange. The UNCAC covers many different forms of corruption, such as trading in influence,

abuse of power, and various acts of corruption in the private sector. The UNCAC has recently

approved a Mechanism for the Reviewing of Implementation of the Convention. Countries are

beginning to be reviewed on compliance through a peer review process. A UNCAC self-

assessment check-list is developed and accessible through UNODC. It can be used as a tool to

assess to what degree the national legislation is adjusted to the Convention, to expose and

exchange good practices and define the needs for technical and judicial assistance.



24



25

Programming on Anti-Corruption in the Region

During the Second Day of the COP, five working groups discussed possible programmatic

entry-points, for UNDP, identified its strategic partners, and proposed actions on cross-cutting

themes. Below is a summary of the results of the Working Groups.

1. Decentralization and Local Governance

(Facilitator: Gilda Pacheco – Participants: Alejandra Rios, Angie Berges, Marco Stella, Miguel

Calix, Rafael Reyes, Yael Bolaña, Alejandro Genovesi, Lotta Sandin)

In this working group, the main themes of discussion were: a) Intergovernmental transfers

(with special emphasis on: budgeting and, design and performance of accountability

institutions); b) management of local revenues; c) Identify risk factors; d) the expansion of

responsibilities of local governments; e) Increasing civil society’s participation in decision-

making and monitoring local level actions; f) continue strengthening decentralization

processes and institutional development to deal with new responsibilities and competencies of

sub-national governments; g) Synergy between private sector and public sector; h) Demands

of government transparency and institutional structure of accountability.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned goals, strategic partners identified were: federations

or associations of local governments, national and local councils, chambers of commerce,

public universities, government institutions, bilateral cooperation partners and donors, and

Associate Experts.

Overall, strategic actions would be:

a) Disseminate, share lessons learned and best practices at the regional and local levels;

b) Promote regional specific diagnoses on the situation around budget transfers

recommending minimum requirements to receive intergovernmental resources and boost

budget or results-based management;

c) Encourage countries to establish the minimum institutional structure required according to

the heterogeneity of the nation and recommend minimum standards for managing

intergovernmental resources received;

d) Facilitate the construction of a thematic network of CSOs;

e) Incorporate bilateral/decentralized cooperation;

f) Include in the assessment information on the activities that generate royalties; g) Make an

assessment of which are the core areas at risk in local government as well as classifying and

diagnosing problems of decentralization; h) Create incentives and a communication strategy to

give more broadcasts to good practices, i) Become the catalyst between needs and resources.



26

2. UNCAC

2. UNCAC

(Facilitator: Miguel Peñailillo – Participants: Marcela Ríos, Gilberth Calderón, Gilberto Bonilla,

Rufino Fernandez, Agueda Herrera, Leticia Santos, Laura Rivera).

This group recognized the subsequent five points of entry to the UNCAC with its respective

actors, strategic partners and actions:

a) TRAINING AND STRENGTHENING OF CIVIL SERVICE, training in international instruments and

anti-corruption mechanisms. Actor: National and Local Governments, Municipalities. Strategic

partners: universities and research centers, and other donors;

b) STRENGTHENING THE PUBLIC FUNCTION. Actor: National Government, Ministry of Finance

and/or Treasury. Strategic partners: Control Institutions, Congress, multilateral banks, and

donors: EU, AECID;

c) STRENGTHENING OF CIVIL SOCIETY on topics of democratic governance at local level. Local

leadership and participation. Actor: Municipality/local governments. Strategic partners: the

private sector, civil society, community organizations, NGOs,

d) DISSEMINATION AND AWARENESS. Civic education campaigns in the values and culture of

legality. Actor: Government. Strategic Partner: Mass Media, Private Sector, UN agencies

depending on the subject or other international bodies;

e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE for the design and evaluation of Anti-corruption policies based on

the principles of the UNCAC. Actor: National Government. Strategic Partner: think tanks and

universities.

3) Anti-corruption and MDGs

(Facilitator: Karen Hussmann – Participants: Ines Brill, Maria Adilia Serrano, Ana Isabel Garcia,

Marta Lee, Maria Angelica Vasquez, Paula Veronelli, Rocio Galiano, Marcela Smutt)

This group identified the following potential entry points: a) Transparency and accountability

can be the framework for linking poverty issues with multi-dimensional approach; b) Include in

the formulation or revision of the UNDAF process mainstreaming in the prevention of

corruption, transparency and accountability; c) make greater efforts to link human rights to

transparency and accountability; d) monitoring budget process (participatory budgeting)and

social investments (social audit); e) transparency and anti-corruption may be a niche for the

UNDP portfolio in promoting capacity building of the social policy institutions.



27

Key Actors identified: Parliaments/Congress/National Assemblies, Local Governments and Civil

Society Organizations; Strategic partners: other international organizations, World Bank, IDB,

GIZ, USAID, Transparency International.

Main actions to be implemented are:

a) Facilitate dialogue between anti-corruption agencies and organizations working sectoral

topics;

b) Link transparency and accountability with sectoral topics and regional projects/initiatives

(for example SIGOB, PAPEP, PROLOGO, TRAALOG, Virtual School)

c) Need of actions inside and outside PNUD's structure and develop tools for this approach's

mainstreaming;

d) Develop disaggregated data and indexes on anti-corruption, transparency and

accountability;

e) Include indicators of corruption and/or transparency in the Statistical Compendium of the

Human Development Index/reports;

f) Anti-corruption, transparency and accountability topics can be a window for UNDP to

promote sectoral collaboration with other UN agencies;

g) Mainstream transparency, accountability and anti-corruption themes into other practice

areas of UNDP work, and not only within the Democratic Governance practice Area.

g) Incorporar los temas de transparencia, rendición de cuentas y lucha contra la corrupción en

las otras áreas de práctica de trabajo del PNUD, y no sólo en el área de Práctica de

Gobernabilidad Democrática.

4. Anti-Corruption for REDD+

(Facilitator: Estelle Fach – Participants: Beatriz García, Paola Gómez, Mario Solari, Tsegaye

Lemma, Vanessa Retana)

This working group identified potential programmatic entry points with its respective actors

and actions.

a) INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION – CARBON CREDIT DEALERS (CCD): Define the role

of UNDP regarding CCDs. CCDs acknowledge that Indigenous People requested international

organizations to regulate carbon credit markets. Key Actors: UNDP,

Congress/Parliament/National Assembly, Indigenous People and their organizations. Strategic

partners: Democratic Governance Group (DGG), Environment and Energy Practice Area.

Actions: encourage discussions on these issues in Legislative instances; support law makers to

create, adapt or modify national regulations; foster background studies on weaknesses

regarding corruption risks in national carbon credit markets; and seek the expertise of DGG



28

when implementing effective consultation and free prior and informed consent (FPIC)

processes;

b) LAND TENURE: risks with logging companies or other powerful actors (ignoring land titles

claimed or belonging to indigenous communities) and risks or potential conflict in terms of

subsequent policies ignoring and/or denying indigenous rights in benefit-sharing. Actions:

UNDP could support developing safeguards for companies engaged in REDD+ (clear rules of

the game) perhaps under UN Global Compact context;

c) INTER & INTRA-AGENCY AND PRACTICE AREA COORDINATION: National Program Documents

(ONU-REDD) have been supported by the Energy and Environment Group (EEG) but EEG does

not necessarily have specific experience working with Indigenous People and/or with

democratic governance issues. DGG has this expertise, working not only with applying the

HHRR based-approach, but also with regional initiatives and concrete inter-agency

mechanisms and tools. Actors: EGG, DGG, GIRPI (Inter-Agency Regional Group on Indigenous

People). Actions: Joint CoP, good practice guidance, joint capacity and institutional

development;

d) CIVIL SOCIETY: strengthening of CSO partners at the national and local levels to play a role in

monitoring corruption risks;, analyze and/or identify corruption within Indigenous People

communities (indigenous NGOs can oversight, Advocate for transparency, indigenous NGO

auditing). Actor: indigenous NGOs. Actions: Develop a capacity-development plan for an

evidence-based advocacy in REDD+ (identify corruption risks, detect, prevent and denounce

corruption).

e) LOCAL GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS: identify entry-points and linkages with local

governance/local government and institutions to enable detection of corruption risks and their

mitigation; Actor: EEG, DGG Actions: mapping of relevant local institutions in UN-REDD

partner countries and capacity needs.

5. Opening New Areas for Anti-Corruption

(Facilitator: Sonia Gill – Participants: Gerardo Berthin, Jose Ricardo Puyana, Aida Arutyunova,

Sabrina Mucaxi, Diana Torres, Lara Blanco, Anabelle Gallegos)

a) ENGAGEMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN UNCAC REVIEW. Actors: Academia (special interest

media, non-traditional / political media like Twitter, Wikileaks, Temworks, Facebook). Key

partners: Transparency International, UNODC, Government/ Primary government counterpart

agency. Key actions by UNDP: Capacity development of anti-corruption agency, strengthening

of CSO capabilities.

b) REACH OUT TO COUNTRY OFFICES THROUGH REGIONAL BUREAU TO USE THE TOOLS

ALREADY TESTED. Actors: Regional Centers, Country Offices, Practice networks/COPs. Key

Partners: Relevant UN agency for the sector. Key actions by UNDP: Initiatives to test the tools

within projects and specialized projects. Comments: Opportunity for South-South co-

operation.



29

c) ILLICIT FINANCIAL FLOWS, ESPECIALLY MONEY LAUNDERING. Actors: Financial intelligence

units. Key partners: Civil society, UNODC. Key actions by UNDP: Capacity development of

MDAs.

d) TRANSPARENCY AND POLITICAL PARTIES. Actors: Political parties, electoral authorities,

academia/universities, civil society organizations. Key partners: Supreme audit institution,

International Transparency, media organizations, IDEA (Regional Office), Ministry responsible

for political matters. Key actions by UNDP: a) TI index for public institutions to be extended to

political parties (revisit/expand/strengthen CRINIS project), b) Assisting political parties with

designing transparency policies for their organizations (voluntary disclosure), c) Strengthening

the electoral oversight bodies. Comments: Need more research to better understand the

linkages between political parties and corruption. Comments: Politically sensitive for UNDP to

work with political parties.

e) LEGISLATION IMPACT, ENFORCEMENT & IMPLEMENTATION. Actors: Lawmakers (civil

society), Think Tanks, Ministries of Justice. Key actions by UNDP: Analysis of the gap between

international/national legal frameworks related to transparency and accountability; analysis of

why laws are not having the intended effect and/or why they are having the intended effect;

building capacity of units which carry out corruption risk assessment of laws.

f) MEASURING CORRUPTION (BOTH NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVEL) AND ITS IMPACT ON

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. Actors: Local Governments, Universities/Experts, Statistical Institutes,

Donors ( WBI), teams in CO responsible for HDRs. Key partners: Donors (World Bank),

academic institutions, civil society organizations. Key actions by UNDP: Disaggregating the data

at the local/sub-national level; Assessment of indexes currently being used and relevance of

what is being measured; measuring the impact of AC programmes already underway.

Formulation of region specific indexes. Comments: A challenge is obtaining information

disaggregated at the local level (collection/ indicators).

g) ENSURING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AND PREVENTING CORRUPTION IN

NATIONAL AND LOCAL TAX SYSTEMS (SECTORAL APPROACH) AND COLLECTION. Actors:

Department of taxes, Local governments, Private sector, Finance & Economy ministries, Justice

ministries, Law makers, Certified Public Accountants. Key partners: government counterparts,

country offices, Global compact, chambers of commerce. Key actions by UNDP: Sectoral

assessments, Corruption risk assessments, awareness campaigns (impact on development).

Comments: Tax avoidance grows when there is no confidence in the tax system.

h) COORDINATION AND EFFICIENCY OF INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES. Actors: Supreme audit

authorities, Anti-corruption oversight authorities. Key actions by UNDP: Mapping of

anticorruption institutions. Comments: South-south co-operation.

i) BETTER USE OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION LEGISLATION. Actors: Media associations, Bar

associations. Key partners: Access to information appeal tribunals, Transparency International,

Civil society organizations. Key actions by UNDP: Building legal capacity of media to pursue and

publicize claims under access to information legislation.



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31

Concept Note and Agenda

Introduction Despite the impressive human and economic development trends and the array of anti-corruption actors, tools and legal frameworks, equality and transparency indicators remain relatively low in Latin America and the Caribbean. Two recent UNDP regional reports, the Second Report on Democracy and the First Regional Human Development Report provide ample evidence that shows how economic inequality and centralized decision-making can provide a fertile breeding ground for corrupt practices, and even help to justify corrupt behavior, which, in turn, leads to further inequalities. In as much as it is difficult to ascertain, with current data and instruments, whether corruption has declined or increased in Latin America and the Caribbean region, progress has been documented on a number of fronts. For example, countries in the region today have greater access to a wide variety of technological, legal, institutional and administrative tools to combat corruption; awareness about the problem of corruption and its consequences has significantly increased; the analytical tools to understand and measure corruption have substantially improved and become more sophisticated; new actors have emerged on the anti-corruption front; as a result of an increased understanding of the nature, causes, and effects of corruption, multilateral organizations and international financial and development agencies have refined their anti-corruption strategies; today anti-corruption assistance covers a much wider range of program approaches than a decade ago; new Legal instruments and conventions (Inter-American Convention against Corruption-IACAC and the United Nations Convention against Corruption-UNCAC); and political corruption is beginning to be addressed more systematically. Current Trends and Challenges in the Region In spite of these important achievements, the problems persist. Like most governance reforms, anti-corruption efforts are long-term projects and that results are not always evident in the short run. While corrupt practices and transparency and accountability challenges manifest divergently throughout the region, it is still broadly recognized as a critical democratic governance and human development problem. As such, most international donors are still financing a wide variety of programs to reduce corruption in the region. They have also sponsored an array of studies that have yielded vital data and information, which has greatly enhanced the understanding of the nature, causes and consequences of corruption and the formulation of anti-corruption strategies. In most countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, development efforts over the past three decades have been accompanied by efforts to modernize public institutions and improve democratic governance. Strengthening governments and making them more transparent and accountable is an integral part of the process of making public institutions more efficient, responsive and accountable to citizens. Nonetheless, it is also generally agree that political will is required to implement and sustain anti-corruption reform efforts. Even though most candidates seeking office today promise to combat corruption and include anti-corruption promises in their campaigns, once in office few have been able to follow-up on their campaign promises. Maintaining political will has proven difficult for many leaders for among other reasons: 1) opposition from those with vested interests in the status quo; 2) raising expectations too high on reducing corruption; 3) no practical or immediate consequence for



32

not keeping with electoral promises; and 4) inability of leaders to work with the opposition, build consensus and mobilize support for anti-corruption actions. A key challenge to build political will among policy makers and promote action involves encouraging and supporting policy dialogue across sectors that positively impact the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), democratic governance and economic opportunities. Knowledge and capacity building become necessary elements to engage policy makers in policy dialogue, and to strengthen the capacity of UNDP Country Offices to discuss, convene, and increase the level of public discourse on the challenges brought by lack of transparency and accountability. Patterns of corruption can change across countries and across sectors. Each sector (health, environment, and economic development), must develop explicit approaches to address the unique challenges of corruption. This goes beyond attempts to ensure that resources and programs are protected from corruption; it also implies a proactive programmatic commitment to finding ways to reduce the impact of corruption throughout the sector. Another challenge is to encourage cross-sectoral collaboration that supports the establishment of efforts country office-wide or across several practice areas to promote transparency and accountability in a more holistic fashion. Emerging Issues and Opportunities As was highlighted in the Fourth UNDP Global Anti-Corruption Community of Practice (CoP) Meeting held in Bangkok Thailand in November of 2010, new opportunities are emerging for UNDP to continue to promote and support transparency and accountability activities. The discourse of anti-corruption in UNDP has not been static, but rather can be described as having an evolving nature. For instance, in the early 1990s, UNDP was one of first multilateral organizations that integrated the fight against corruption into its development programs. This meant a shift from focusing solely on public administration reform, to a broader focus on policy issues, including politically sensitive. For example, more recently an evolving mandate emanated from the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and its review mechanism. The UNCAC provides an opportunity to develop a global anti-corruption language and a coherent implementation strategy. It gives an opportunity to establish an effective set of benchmarks for anti-corruption strategies, and to collaborate with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as the Secretariat to the Conference of State Parties for the UNCAC. UNDP country presence in 24 countries in the LAC Region, can play a key coordinating role among UN agencies and serve as a bridge between the government and civil society, and thus is well positioned to further promote UNCAC implementation. There are a number of other emerging issues, such as anti-corruption and MDGs (with emphasis on sectoral approach such as health, education and water). Lack of transparency and accountability hinders efforts to achieve the MDGs by reducing access to services and diverting resources away from investments in infrastructure, institutions and social services. Success in meeting the MDGs largely depend on the “quality” of democratic governance at all levels. Also, UNDP’s work in mainstreaming anti-corruption into climate change programming, including mapping and assessing emerging trends and future scenarios based on the linkages between corruption and climate change. Sharing knowledge and experience of integrating anti-corruption work into climate change initiatives is an important emerging issue. Last but not least, social accountability and ethics training are also two key emerging issues. Objective of the 3rd Community of Practice (COP) This Third Meeting is part of an effort to articulate transparency and accountability issues in Latin America and the Caribbean that began in 2008, when the 1st Latin American and



33

Caribbean Community of Practice on Anti-Corruption was held in Lima, Peru. In June 2009, the 2nd UNDP Latin American and Caribbean Community of Practice on Anti-Corruption was held in Bogota-Colombia, and provided a number of inputs about the needs in Country Offices and other regional initiatives. Against this background (context, trends and challenges), the 3rd UNDP Latin American and Caribbean Community of Practice on Anti-Corruption will take place, focusing on sharing the accumulated experiences and practices, as well as exploring how to continue mainstreaming transparency and accountability across sectors. The COP will also provide an opportunity discuss the relevance for UNDP to pursue initiatives dealing with transparency and anti-corruption areas and to explore best ways and entry points to mainstream these topics into current and future programs and initiatives. The COP will provide not only the opportunity to analyze possibilities of promoting and supporting transparency activities, but also about the challenges and possible methodologies and strategies to be pursued. It will also constitute a forum to listen and learn about good practices and lessons from across the region and to explore possible synergies not only with current strategic initiatives, but also with regional and global initiatives. The COP will be a key forum for pursuing cutting-edge cross practice initiatives within UNDP. The main key objectives of the COP are:

Exchange ideas on how to mainstream transparency and anti-corruption thinking and actions across current and future programming in the Region;

Strengthen the stock of knowledge, both qualitative and quantitative at the UNDP country offices, about mainstreaming anti-corruption programming;

Share and exchange practices, tools and experiences; Increase capacity to plan and implement cross-sectoral transparency programming; Explore possibilities for south-to-south cooperation with other regions; and Develop and discuss and agenda for follow up of regional and country level initiatives

on anti-corruption.

AGENDA

Monday September 5, 2011

08:00 – 09:00 Registration

09:00 – 10:00 Opening Session

Welcome to the Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community of Practice (COP) in Latin America and the Caribbean Mr. Alvaro Pinto, Democratic Governance Cluster Coordinator UNDP/RBLAC

Opening Statement Ms. Luiza Carvalho, UNDP Resident Representative, Costa Rica

Statement of Host Government Rocio Aguilar Montoya, General Comptroller, Costa Rica

10:00-10:15 Introduction of Participants

Introduction of participants and presentation of the agenda and objectives of the Meeting

10:15 – 10:30 Coffee Break

10:30-11:30 First Session: Progress of Anti-Corruption Efforts in the World and in Latin America and the Caribbean



34

Moderator: Gerardo Berthin, Governance and Decentralization Policy Advisor, UNDP Regional Service Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean

Brief presentation on current global trends on anti-corruption and emerging issues.

Brief presentation on current anti-corruption trends in Latin America.

Presentation on UNDP’s A/C work in the region. (Miguel Peñailillo, UNDP Associate Expert)

Looking to the future perspectives and challenges. (Gerardo Berthin Plenary discussion and Q&A

11:30-12:30 Second Session: Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption Thinking into and across Key Development Sectors I

Moderator: Diana Torres, Senior Researcher, UNDP Virtual School for Latin America and the Caribbean

Vulnerabilities to Corruption in the Health Sector: Perspectives from Latin American Sub-systems for the Poor (Karen Hussmann, Associate Expert UNDP)

Accountability in the Water Sector: The Cases of Colombia and México (Jose Ricardo Puyana/UNDP-Colombia y Paola Gomez/UNDP-México)

Plenary discussion and Q&A

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch & Group Photo

14:00- 15:00 Third Session: Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption Thinking into and across Key Development Sectors II

Moderator: Estelle Fach, Programme Analyst, Knowledge Management & Governance (REDD/UNDP, Nueva York)

Local Governance, Anti-corruption and REDD+ in Latin America and the Caribbean: Exploring Synergies to Strengthen Transparency and Accountability, Beatriz Garcia, UNDP Consultant

The Experience of the Environmental Court of Costa Rica, Adriana Bejarano Lawyer Environmental Court


15:00 – 16:00 Fourth Session: Support for Macro and Micro Preventive Anti-Corruption Measures: Key Lessons I

Moderator: Rocio Galiano, UNDP-Paraguay

El Cercado Te Ve, Dominican Republic (Anyarlene Berges, UNDP/Dominican Republic)

Transparency in Regions and the Role of the Ombudsman Office (Mario Solari, PNUD/Peru)


16:00-16:15 Coffee Break

16:15-17:15 Fifth Session: Support for Macro and Micro Preventive Anti-Corruption Measures: Key Lessons II

Moderator: Lara Blanco: UNDP-Costa Rica

Promoting Ethics, Transparency and Accountability in Local Governments in Colombia (Marco Stella, UNDP-Colombia)

Building Civil Society Capacity to support good Governance by Local Authorities in Jamaica (Sonia Gill, UNDP-Jamaica)


17:15-17:30 Close of Business and Announcements

19:30 -- Social Event (Dinner together)

Tuesday September 6, 2011



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08:30 – 9:30 Sixth Session: Access to Public Information

Moderator: Gilda Pacheco, UNDP-Costa Rica

Access to Public Information in Central America and Mexico: Assessment and Some Recommendations (Alejandra Rios, CIDE México, Maria Adilia Serrano and Rafael Reyes UNDP Associate Experts

The Experience of the Transparency and Ethic Council in Access to Public Information in Uruguay (Paula Veronelli, PNUD/Uruguay)


9:30-10:30 Seventh Session: The Role of Civil Society and the Private Sector

Moderator: Jose Ricardo Puyana (UNDP-Colombia)

Multi Stakeholder and Participatory Self-assessment of the Implementation of UNCAC in Chile (Marcela Rios, PNUD/Chile)

The Experience of the Global Compact and the Private Sector (Rocio Galiano, UNDP-Paraguay)


10:30 – 10:45 Coffee Break

10:45 – 11:45 Eight Session: Regional Approaches to Promote Anti-Corruption

Moderator: Gerardo Berthin, UNDP Regional Service Center for Latin America and the Caribbean

SIGOB (Alejandro Genovesi)

Virtual School (Diana Torres)

Capacity Development (Ines Brill)

TRAALOG (Maria Angelica Vasquez) Plenary discussion and Q&A

11:45 – 13:00 Ninth Session: Anti-Corruption Conventions (the Inter-American Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption)

Moderator: Marcela Rios, UNDP-Chile

The Inter-American Convention against Corruption and the MESICIC (Gilberth Calderón Alvarado/ Attorney General/Director Public Ethics Department, Attorney General´s Office of the Republic

The Review Mechanism of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (Walter Hoflich, United Nations Office against Drug and Crime, UNODC-Peru)

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:45 Programming on Anti-Corruption in the Region

Facilitated Working Group discussions. Proposals and Analysis to be shared in Plenary according to these cross-cutting themes:

1. Decentralization and local governance 2. UNCAC and future activities 3. Anti-corruption, Human Development and MDGs 4. Anti-Corruption and UNREDD 5. Opening new areas for Anti-Corruption

15:45-16:00 Coffee Break

16:00-17:00 Agenda for Follow Up of Regional and Country Level Initiatives on Anti-Corruption

Discussion in plenary of the Programming on Anti-Corruption in the Region.

Needs, “who does what how” and actions to enhance AC initiatives in



36

the region.

Technical assistance windows (DGTTF, PACDE, TRAALOG and others)

Final Reflections

17:00 – 17:30 Closing Session

19:00 Farewell Dinner & Welcoming Participants of the Social Audit Workshop

List of Participants

Name Charge Email

1. Luiza Carvalho,

UNDP-Costa Rica

Resident Representative UNDP/ Resident Coordinator UN

[email protected]

2. Lara

Blanco,UNDP-

Costa Rica

Human Development Coordinator

[email protected]

3. Gilda Pacheco, UNDP-Costa Rica

Governance and Gender Equity Officer

[email protected]

4. Anabelle

Gallegos, UNDP

Costa Rica

Logistical Coordinator Support in Costa Rica

[email protected]

5. Gerardo Quiroz, UNDP-Costa Rica

Coordinator of the Project from Recovery to Sustainable Development: Beyond the Earthquake of Cinchona, 2009

[email protected]

6. Paula Zuñiga,

UNDP Costa Rica

Programme Consultant, Environment, Energy and Risk Management

[email protected]

7. Gilberth Calderón Alvarado, Costa Rica

Procurator - Director of Public Ethics Area

[email protected]

8. Adriana Bejarano, Costa Rica

Lawyer of the Environmental Tribunal

[email protected]

9. Guillermo Bonilla, Costa Rica

Ombudsman [email protected]

10. Aida

Arutyunova,

DGG/BDP –

UNDP

Programme Specialist Anti Corruption and MDGs

[email protected]

11. Tsegaye Lemma,

DGG/BDP –

UNDP Specialist Anti Corruption

[email protected]

12. Estelle Fach, Programme Analyst, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]














37

BDP/UNREDD Knowledge Management & Governance (REDD)

13. Vanessa Retana, UNDP RSC LAC/UNREDD

Project Manager UNREDD [email protected]

14. Paola Gomez, UNDP México

Programme Manager Democratic Governance

[email protected]

15. Alejandra Rios, CIDE México

Professor - Researcher, Public Administration Division, CIDE

[email protected]

16. Anyarlene Berges, UNDP- Dominican Republic

Governance Officer

[email protected]

17. Mario Solari, UNDP-Peru

Governance Programme Officer

[email protected]

18. Marcela Rios, UNDP-Chile


[email protected]

19. Sonia Gill, UNDP-Jamaica

Assistant Resident Representative and Governance Advisor

[email protected]

20. Jose Ricardo

Puyana, UNDP

Colombia

Coordinator – Democratic Governance Area

[email protected]

21. Marco Stella, UNDP Colombia


[email protected]

22. Diana Torres, Virtual School

Head of Research Area [email protected]

23. Rocio Galiano, UNDP Paraguay

Officer Programme and Communication

[email protected]

24. Paula Veronelli, UNDP Uruguay

Programme Analyst [email protected]

25. Walter Hoflich, UNODC Peru

Consultant, Organized Crime

[email protected]

26. Miguel Calix, UNDP Honduras

Technical Advisor – Democratic Governance

[email protected]

27. Marcela Smutt,

UNDP El

Salvador Governance Coordinator

[email protected]

28. Laura Rivera,

UNDP El

Salvador Programme Officer

[email protected]

29. Agueda Herrera, SIGOB Dominican Republic

High Direction of the Presidency

[email protected]




















38

30. Alejandro Genovesi, SIGOB Paraguay

Coordinator Computer Component

[email protected]

31. Leticia Santos, SIGOB Dominican Republic

Head of Cabinet of the Minister of the Presidency

[email protected]

32. Karen Hussmann Associate Expert [email protected]

33. Miguel Peñailillo Associate Expert [email protected]

34. Maria Adilia Serrano

Associate Expert [email protected]

35. Rafael Reyes Associate Expert [email protected]

36. Ana Isabel Garcia Associate Expert [email protected]

37. Maria Beatriz Garcia

Consultant UNDP [email protected]

38. Ines Brill, Regional Centre UNDP

Capacity Development Practice Leader

[email protected]

39. Rufino Fernandez

Dean Public Administration Faculty, University of Panama

[email protected]

40. Marta Lee University of Panama [email protected]

41. Gerardo Berthin, UNDP RSC LAC

Governance Policy Advisor [email protected]

42. Maria Angelica

Vasquez, UNDP

RSC LAC

Consultant – Governance and Decentralization

[email protected]

43. Yael Bolaña,

UNDP RSC LAC

Logistical Coordinator – Governance and Decentralization

[email protected]

44. Sabrina Mucaxi,

UNDP RSC LAC Intern

[email protected]

45. Charlotta Sandin, UNDP RSC LAC

Volunteer [email protected]



















39

Annex 1. Evaluation Results of the Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption

Community of Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean

“Mainstreaming Transparency and Accountability to Strengthen Governance and Reduce Inequality”

San José, Costa Rica September 5-6, 2011

1. Please rate on a scale of 1 (deficient) to 5 (excellent) the following:

Average Scores on a Scale 1-5

1. Achievement of the objectives 4.5

2. Content and subjects 4.7

3. Methodology of the Meeting 4.2

4. Presentations 4.4

5. Materials 4.4

6. Relevance to your work/activity 4.5

7. Exchange of ideas and experiences 4.5

8. Networking 4.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

Rate the Following Aspects

1 (Deficient)

2

3

4

5 (Excellent)

No response



40

2. What specific aspects have contributed to enhance your understanding of the subject of the Meeting? (open ended question)

Summary of the Aspects Mentioned in the Evaluation Number of responses

How topics were covered from different approaches/perspectives (sartorial approach) 9

Country Office experiences (bringing the experience to the country level) 5

Presentations, informal conversations/exchange of ideas and experiences 6

Knowledge of the regional context for AC work 2

Access to information topics 2

The participation of Supreme Audit institutions 1

The presentations and working in groups allowed an integrated vision of UNDP and its agenda 1

Contact and Exchange between country offices/regional centre/DGG 1

Knowledge of UNDP work in these topics 1

Proposed strategic vision 1

Presentations were very well structured 1

Possibility to debate presentations 1

Group work 1

Dialogue about Access to information and UN-REDD 1

Assess potential synergies 1

Better understanding of the structures and institutions in the countries 1

The articulation of the Programs at the regional level 1

No response 1

3. What did you see from a different angle thanks to the Meeting? What new insights

complemented your knowledge of the subject? (open ended question)

Summary of the Aspects Mentioned in the Evaluation Number of responses

How the anti-corruption theme was covered (health sector, applied environmental approach, comparative analysis, access to information and MDGs) 10

Experiences of country offices in the topics 4

Anti-Corruption Conventions and the Follow-up mechanisms 2

The regional vision that the Meeting used to cover the topics 3

Various dimensions of anti-corruption and different aspects 1

Clarity over the complexity of the topic 1

The complex institutional context for anti-corruption work and the need to understand the context 1

The role of BDP 1

The AC topic is broad and presents challenges to envision the problem 1

The experience of El Cercado TeVe 1

How panels were constructed and group work 1

The wealth of transformation possibilities and the broad diversity of actions 1

The dimensions and possibilities to work the topic with civil society 1

What was presented in the COP contributes to the work of the Country Offices 1

Work that is being done in other countries and how they can be replicated in the context of other countries 1

Global Compact 1

Strengthen the depth of strategic knowledge in the working agendas of Country Offices 1

I did not know about this community of practice and experiences 1

No response 2



41

4. What sub-topics, or related areas, of the subject of the Meeting should be

developed/addressed in the future? (Be as specific as possible) (open ended question)

Summary of sub-topics, or related areas mentioned in the Evaluation Number of responses

Anti-corruption and transparency at the local level ( and how to enhance local governance, climate change) 8

Transparency and accountability public policy (Metrics of the transparency and accountability processes) 6

Climate change and AC (Transparency and natural resources) 3

Topics related to the civil service and links with civil society sectors 3

The role of political parties in the fight against corruption 2

Role and relations with the private sector 2

MDG agenda and performance indicators (progress in accountability) 2

Law Enforcement (how to respond to citizen expectations) 2

Methodologies to transfer experiences/Exchange of experiences 2

UNDP indicators on this topics 2

Institutional arrangements for UNDP to work with NGOs 1

Impact analysis 1

Present more models 1

Follow-up to the topics of the COP 1

Work wit parliaments and judicial branch 1

Context of oversight 1

Implementation of anti-corruption laws 1

Support to AC institutions and sectors to know more about actions in the region 1

Public sector management and civil service 1

Financing for projects/or initiatives 1

Work with Young people (youth) 1

Evaluation of the UNCAC two years after 1

Inter-agency work in AC topics 1

Metrics and indexes 1

Closer collaboration with academic entities 1

Corruption and human rights 1

No response 3



42

5. How has the Meeting contributed to the following aspects? Please rate on a scale of 1

(deficient) to 5 (excellent)


1. My knowledge of and interest in the subject has improved 4.4

2. It has motivated me to act as soon as possible 4.4

3. The Meeting has given me ideas on how to apply what I have learned 4.5

4. The meeting has fulfilled my expectations 4.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

My knowledge of and interest in the subject

has improved

It has motivated me to act as soon as

possible

The Meeting has given me ideas on

how to apply what I have learned

The meeting has fulfilled my

expectations

How has the Meeting contributed to the following aspects?

1 (Deficient)

2

3

4

5 (Excellent)

No response



43

6. What is your rating of the following? Please rate on a scale of 1 (deficient) to 5 (excellent)


1. Panelists 4.4

2. Topics covered 4.4

3. Meeting room 4.4

4. Organization of the event in general 4.8

5. Materials and information 4.4

7. Additional specific observations and comments of the Meeting

Summary of Observations and additional comments mentioned in the Evaluation Número de respuestas

Excellent organization 7

Little time to debate and go more in-depth 4

It is an Exchange space and potential generation of networks 2

Many topics too Little time 2

Better management of time in the presentations 2

Allows to know the work of other colleagues 2

Excellent quality of panelists 1

It is a space to promote and share innovative ideas 1

Methodology (in the first day there could have been a group work 1

Short time for the second day 1

Devolution in second day to key actors 1

Invite Experts of other cooperation agencies and bilateral donors (WB, DIFID) 1

Material should have been given at the end and not wait two weeks 1

Regional differences (sub-regions) 1

8 knowledge products should have been distributed at the beginning to have material to reflect and be informed 1

Integration of efforts among UN Agencies and others 1

Broaden the agenda 1

Preliminary distribution of materials 1

The COP is an important moment to construct 1

Great ability to focus on the topics of the Meeting 1

No response 9

0

5

10

15

20

25

Panelists Topics covered Meeting Room The organization of the event in

general

Materials and information

What is your rating of the following aspects of the meeting?

1 (Deficient) 2 3 4 5 (Excellent) No response



44

Annex 2. Evaluation Results of the Social Audit Workshop for Young

Leaders and Entrepreneurs



45



46



47



48

Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean, Panama

Local Governance and Decentralization Area/Democratic Governance Transparency and Accountability in Local Governments (TRAALOG) Project Internet: http://www.regionalcentrelac-undp.org/en/democratic-governance/66 United Nations Development Programme – Costa Rica Democratic Governance Practice Area Web Site: http://www.pnud.or.cr/ Cover Photo: Third Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Community of Practice (COP) in Latin America and the Caribbean

http://www.regionalcentrelac-undp.org/en/democratic-governance/66