Development & Accountability New opportunities for Civil Society

Overview Taking stock: Where are we in promoting development accountability Old & new strategies for advancing citizen participation in decision-making & the prevention of corruption Outlook: What can we build on – what needs to be done differently

Achievements for CSO Participation Agreement on central concerns: human rights, transparency and accountability Stronger recognition of civil society role (AAA) Openings for civil society participation in policy and implementation Central role of citizens and legislatures

Challenges Legitimacy and accountability in question Shrinking space (Civicus, Budget Aid) Capacity Competition Limited impact on mainstream

Approaches to citizen participation Different engagement strategies: timing, style, focus – upstream/downstream, partners Demanding rights and accountability Negotiating inclusion in planning / monitoring Focusing on legal frameworks, horizontal accountability mechanisms Giving a voice: Speaking for or with citizens

Challenges Exclusion of political and social movements Pro-forma inclusion in decision-making Social accountability vs. political accountability Power structures and backlash Domestic solidarity ?

The Corruption-Democracy-Poverty link The corruption of democratic processes results in unequal development The empowered democratic participation of the poor prevents the dominance of the interests of a few over the many

Strengthening links Strengthening the democratic dialogue within societies Embedding strategies in the operational mainstream of decision-making Addressing jointly the separate debates on political rights, social and economic empowerment and human rights

Political Representation today

TI‘s approach to corruption in development Addresses: the accountability of political and administrative representatives to citizens Uses: a rights based approach Negotiates: participation in decision-making that converts election promises to development deliverables Instruments: MoUs, Pledges, DIPs

Example of 2 tools Development Integrity Pacts Citizen participation in political processes Bargaining power based on basic political rights Partnerships for Change Citizen participation in administrative processes Bargaining power depends on laws or administrative provisions, aid modalities etc.

Development Integrity Pacts Pacts between citizens and political representatives on development promises Shaping and covering all links of the decision- making chain Containing concrete time-bound commitments on: institutionalised, informed & inclusive participation institutional reforms to mainstream incentives for accountability (decentr., SEZ, MCA, MoU)

Determining the Process Dialogues and negotiations between citizens and administrative or political representatives Build Citizen Capacity To exercise rights and negotiate development commitments LEAP Content: Procedural: Agreement on integrity in decision - making Substantive: Development priorities of the poor Facilitation, Neutrality & Monitoring Negotiate as part of the DIP a self- monitoring mechanism along with an arbitration procedure between community and representatives to ensure DIP commitments are delivered Advocacy for Replication Maintain high public scrutiny and create demand for more DIPs by citizens and administrative or political representatives Screen & identify partners Identify NGOs to partner with Identify organized CBOs, federation s, etc. Possible fields: Rights to land, water, forest, access to clean water, health, education, credit, markets… Steps in the creation of a DIP TI involvement as Facilitator

Partnerships for Change Pacts based on legal/adm. frameworks between citizens and administrations Covering decision-making from policy to implementation and monitoring Examples of commitments: Citizen, community, CSO participation (Round tables, SPSP, Pov.Obs., PRSPs)

Outlook Working more effectively with others  Complementarities (politial access & constitutencies)  Examples of ongoing dialogues (Kenya, India)  Learning from your experiences – networks, strategies, tactics  Arriving at ideas to strengthen impact – using DIPs as the envelope to scale up existing pilots?

Group Work Sharing how impact could be achieved What role networks played What accountability relations were addressed What made the difference