Incorporating Transparency and Accountability Issues into the Post-2015 Development Agenda

MDGs and Post-2015 Development Agenda

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will expire in the year 2015. Currently, one of the most prominent processes in regard of the next global agenda for development is under the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons (HLPEP) on Post-2015 Development Agenda. Established by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the HLPEP is mandated to advise the global development framework beyond 2015. The recommendation will be presented before the UN General Assembly.

We have two lessons from MDGs. On one hand, MDGs have successfully became an instrument for mainstreaming the eight key issues of development agenda at all levels – global, national, to sub-national. This mainstreaming, at least to some extent, has succeeded in mobilizing and directing resources that are important to achieving a number of global development targets. On the other hand, it was recognized that some government (and/or private) interventions to achieve the MDGs have not been effective. Especially in developing countries, this was caused by the intransparent development process, and excluded multi-stakeholder participation including the engagement with civil society.

Against this backdrop, we hold that a development should be

P O S I T I O N N O T E

No. 01, 2013

This note is an excerpt of a series of discussions coordinated

by Article 33 Indonesia together with Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia coalition

involving the following individuals and institutions:

Chandra Kirana;

Ridaya Laodengkowe;

Ambarsari Dwi Cahyani;

Maryati Abdullah, Aryanto Nugroho

(Seknas PWYP Indonesia); Chitra Retna S, Riko Wahyudi,

Ermy Ardhyanti, Lukman Hakim, M Rasyid Ridla, Kanti

(Article 33 Indonesia); Fabby Tumiwa, Yesi Maryam,

Morentalisa Hutapea (IESR);

Sulastio (IPC); Lukman Hakim, Biah

(Seknas FITRA); Iskandar Saharuddin, Widiyarti D

(PATTIRO); Dyah Paramita, Resa Raditio

(ICEL).

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Position Note No. 01, 2013

undertaken within a democratic framework, one that opens substantial public information, enhance transparency, and promote spaces for public participation. These are fundamentals for democratic accountability in all development process. And these, in our view, have yet to gain sufficient attention in the current MDGs and must be incorporated in the coming post-2015

development agenda.

Why do transparency and accountability matter?

Transparency in the ways development is governed constitutes an acknowledgement of people’s right to information. Right to freedom of information is recognized internationally (Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1945, Article 19). Since 1946 the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 59 (1) which states that “Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.” In the public domain, its fulfillment is manifested in the form of full disclosure to all relevant public information, at the right time (timely), and the process is systematically institutionalized. The rights of citizens in this regard include, among others, the right to know, the right to obtain public documents (right to access), the right to be informed, and the right to disseminate information.

A fulfillment of these rights can generate a constructive impact towards the governance of development. With transparency, asymmetric information between actors of development can be reduced. Development policies will likely be implemented more effectively as the sense of responsibility from policymakers increases, which in a large part a result of increased public control. Check and balances are allowed to be exercised. Transparency also reduces the level of irregularities, such as misappropriation of public revenues from taxes or the rent of natural resources, and improves basic public services to be more efficient, such as in education and health. Above all, transparency has the opportunity to encourage government to be responsive to the demands and needs of the citizens, in particular, if transparency is also equipped with a working feedback mechanism from development stakeholders once public information is made accessible. In this context, transparency is a prerequisite for accountability and responsive government as important aspects of sustainable development.

Transparency and accountability have other relevance as well. A vital pillar of sustainable development –in addition to the economic, social and environmental pillars– is governance. Governance, in which transparency and accountability become its essential elements, is the enabling dimension of sustainable development and a guarantee for the effectiveness of any development intervention by any development actor in any level. Without transparency and accountability, a post-2015 world that we dreamed together, the future we want, will be hard to embrace.

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Two options to bring transparency and accountability issues on board in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

In translating the framework of the Development Agenda Post-2015, Article 33 Indonesia together with Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia, a civil society coalition for transparency and accountability, propose the following two possibilities to include transparency and

accountability in the agenda.

First: to make the issues of transparency and accountability as one standalone goal in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. This option will ensure that the issues of transparency and accountability to be mainstreamed in a more straightforward manner.

Second: to formulate key aspects of transparency and accountability as target in each development goals. This will ensure the implementation of transparency and accountability to be taken seriously, enable the establishment of an effective government and development system, and encourages coherence and inter-linkages among development goals.

If the first option is taken, we propose the following formulations.

The proposed goal:

Ensure an open, accountable and responsive government.

Proposed targets:

• Ensure the rights to public information.

• Ensure public and private entities involved in development process to manage information according to the freedom of information principles.

• Ensure transparent and accountable management of public finance.

• Ensure public involvement in establishing a responsive government.

On Partnerships and Means of Implementation

The forms of partnership for transparency and accountability should involve all stakeholders, at all levels (global, national and sub-national), and in all phases of the development process (from planning to measuring the achievement of the policy).

There are means of implementations necessary for us to achieve the post-2015 development agenda. On the issue of transparency and accountability, capacity building is one of the most essential means of implementation, for example, improving the capacity of public agencies in relation to information access and data exposure. Capacity building is also important for the civil society, especially in terms of monitoring the implementation of transparency and accountability. One is to improve their ability to do activities that encourage accountability of government or the private sector, such as social audit or social accountability.

Another important means of implementation is knowledge sharing, for example through the exchange of experiences, studies and best practices in terms of transparency and accountability. A common international standard in the areas of transparency and accountability practices are also necessary. The common standard will serve to provide a set of guidance for practices of effective transparency and accountability, as well as a benchmark in measuring transparency and accountability practices.

Financing is another required means of implementation. The sources and mechanisms of financing should be formulated. Financing sources can be from public resources, private initiatives, or co-financing scheme through public-private partnerships. As for financing mechanisms, through which financial resources are to be channeled, there is a need to design mechanisms which set the incentive right for the practices of transparency and accountability to be institutionalized.

Article 33 IndonesiaJl. Tebet Timur Dalam 1M No. 10Jakarta Selatan 12820, Indonesia

Tel/Fax +62-21-83787963sekretariat@article33.or.idhttp://www.article33.or.id

PWYP Indonesia SecretariatJl. Intan No. 81 Cilandak Barat

Jakarta Selatan 12430, Indonesia pwyp_indonesia@yahoo.com

http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/ where/coalitions/indonesia