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No. 20

April – May 2012

Regional Centre LAC

In this Issue Viewpoints Highlights Article – Results of a Governance Survey: Local Citizen

Participation Event - New Methodologies Towards the Increase in

Political and Electoral Participation of Indigenous Women and Youth

Thematic Web Site Golstat Welcome

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Access to Information: Analyzing some Challenges and Dilemmas from a Democratic Governance Perspective

Local Governance and Decentralization

During the past three decades a wave

of democratization has swept across

countries in different continents. Yet

most new democracies are still dealing

with an array of accountability and

transparency challenges and dilemmas.

For example, some public affairs are

still managed and/or implemented with

high levels of opacity; public

information is more available, but the

architecture to ensure wider

dissemination is still limited; citizens

are not using their right to access

information in more constructive ways;

and is still a challenge to balance the

need to be transparent with the need

to protect personal data. It is not

surprising that along with the

democratization wave, during the past

three decades there has also been a

surge of Freedom of Information Laws

(FOI Laws). A decade ago, only a

handful of nations had specific

legislation that guaranteed the right of

citizens to access public information.

During the last decade, more countries

have adopted Freedom of Information

laws than in any other period in recent

history. According to

www.right2INFO.org as of January

2012 nearly 90 countries had passed

FOI laws. In the Latin American and

Caribbean region, nearly 20 countries

have passed FOI laws (Antigua &

Barbuda, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,

Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El

Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,

Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,

Peru, St. Vincent & Grenadines,

Trinidad & Tobago, and Uruguay), and

in other countries there are

presidential decrees on freedom of

information (Argentina and Bolivia).

The laws which have been adopted

vary considerable in terms of depth

and scope and the extent to which

access to information is guaranteed in

practice. And more than the number

of FOI Laws, the main and most difficult

challenge is one of implementation. As

was recently reflected in the

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Third International Seminar on the

Impact of the Right to Access to

Information held in Chile, and the

UNDP study on Access to Information

(which analyzed the implementation of

Laws in 8 case studies), analyzing

countries´ experience with

implementation, provides a number of

inputs to understand the challenges.

Freedom of information has long been

recognized as a basic human right.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights (1948) explicitly states

that everyone should enjoy freedom of

opinion and expression, including the

right to “seek, receive, and impart

information and ideas.” In addition,

freedom of information is also about

having access to the widest possible

diversity of points of view on a

particular issue. As such, FOI laws go

beyond the rights of freedom of

expression, embracing a fundamental

premise of democratic governance: the

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notion that the government apparatus

and its public entities hold information

not for themselves but as guardians of

a public good, and that this information

must be accessible to citizens. Without

information, citizens cannot effectively

exercise their political participation

rights and their obligation. Rights to

information can consist of three main

elements: (1) to seek and receive

information, (2) to inform and (3) to be

informed.

An informed citizenry is a critical

condition of democratic governance.

Citizens need access to the information

upon which decisions rest as well as

relevant information about the output

and consequences of national and sub-

national government policies.

Moreover, citizens also need to have

the opportunity to voice their opinions,

to influence choice among possible

policy outcomes and to reward or not

public officials accordingly. FOI laws

promote transparency, which in turn

subjects elected officials to greater

scrutiny from their constituencies, and

therefore potentially can generate

greater levels of accountability. As

such, FOI laws can be a major

anticorruption tool. Journalists and Civil

Society Organizations (CSOs) can use the

right to access information to monitor

public policies, to hold policy makers

accountable and expose wrongdoings.

FOI laws can provide a baseline of

factual information, rather than having

journalists and CSOs rely solely on

speculation and/or being manipulated

by political forces. In short, FOI Laws

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have important practical, not just

theoretical implications to enhance

democratic governance.

FOI laws are important because they

provide more specific means to ensure

and uphold the public’s right to know

and the government’s obligation to

inform. Nonetheless, by themselves,

FOI laws do not necessarily guarantee

a more open, transparent and

accountable democratic government.

That is, they are a necessary, but not

sufficient condition for strengthening

democratic governance. FOI laws

might be excellent on paper, but they

are limited unless they are rooted in an

enabling environment that allows for

their full implementation. The latter

includes ensuring sufficient

institutional, technological and human

resources as well as the political will

on the part of the government to

disclose information and the capacity

of citizens to request public

information, understand and analyze

the information provided. This explains

why often trust in government,

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transparency and accountability do not

automatically increase due to the

introduction of FOI laws. Often real

access to information remains

circumscribed by the vagueness and

interpretability of the laws,

cumbersome bureaucratic procedures,

frequent reluctance by government

officials to provide access to

information, and judiciaries’ failure to

enforce the legal frameworks. The very

same goals of FOI laws could

undermine its real impact, as requests

obtained through FOI laws can help

obtain information about policy failures

and/or perceived injustices, while

requests not granted could only serve

to reinforce perceptions of secretive

and opaque government.

As was evidenced in the Third

International Seminar on the Impact of

the Right to Access to Information held

in Chile, and the UNDP study,

previously mentioned, adopting and

implementing FOI laws generally

require three minimum conditions: 1) a

level of political will and domestic

and/or international pressure sufficient

to lead policy-makers to facilitate

and/or guarantee access to

information; 2) a fairly well developed

civil society, with sufficient capacity to

mobilize support and use FOI laws

effectively to promote increased

transparency and accountability; and 3)

an institutional structures with

sufficient capacity to respond

appropriately to citizen requests.

CCoonnttiinnuuaattiioonn ooff VViieewwppooiinnttss Access to Information: Analyzing some Challenges and Dilemmas from a Democratic Governance Perspective

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CCoonnttiinnuuaattiioonn ooff VViieewwppooiinnttss Analyzing some Challenges and Dilemmas from a Democratic Governance Perspective

Similarly, the Third International

Seminar on the Impact of the Right to

Access to Information held in Chile, and

the UNDP study on Access to

Information, have highlighted key and

important policy issues regarding

access to information. For example,

defining clearly the

responsible/guarantor entity and its

responsibilities, as well as giving it

autonomy and enough resources to

guarantee its management, financial

and operational capacities. Also

important are public policies to

manage and archive/file information,

and the use of information

technologies, beyond computer and

web based platforms. Also key is

promoting a transparency culture

beyond the right to request

information, such that freedom of

information becomes part of every

institutional routine. In this way,

citizens’ requests are only a link in a

more sophisticated chain of

transparency-- that ensures a more

proactive access to information

through open government and

participatory budget among others—

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and in turn articulates with other

accountability mechanisms. Also

important is mainstreaming and/or

creating a deliberate strategy to build

“transparency capacities” in the

education sector, in political life and in

sub-national governments.

A final but central question for the

implementation of FOI laws is the

strength and independence of the

judiciary. While the creation of

independent information agency might

be a way of easing access to information

without resorting to the courts, in the

end, when information is neglected for

whatever reason, the appeals end in the

courts. The effective transition to a

culture of transparency is

institutionalized when an independent

and credible justice system exists.

As with any other piece of legislation,

FOI laws are not static documents; they

keep changing depending on new

political issues emerging in the public

arena, the emergence of new political

actors, technological changes, and

shifting political coalitions. These can

be critical areas for policy and

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programming. While it is important for

access to public information to be

acknowledged in specific law, 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 system, 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 not only because they feel

watched), and for citizens (that know

and exercise their right).

To comment on this article, please

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The Local Economy: The Functions of

Development Agencies

Clark Greg, Huxley Joe and Mountford Debra

CAF y OECD

Public Policies and Productive Transformation

Series N° 2, 2012.

This study departs from the premise that the objective of local

development is to build institutional and productive capacities of a

defined territory, to improve their economic future and quality of life

of its inhabitants. In this direction, an effective local development can

contribute to reduce disparities, create jobs and multiply enterprises,

among other institutional benefits. In this context local development

agencies play a key role. The study makes a conceptual introduction

to local development agencies, identifies how local development

agencies are structured, what their role in the economy is and what

are those activities that bring added value. This study analyzes the

cases of local development agencies in Barcelona, Bogota, Curitiba

and Bilbao. Similarly, the study contextualizes and defines the

functions that the local development agencies have, the success

factors and the constraints associated with their operations. A central

issue is to establish a clear institutional framework and strategy for

the proper functioning of the agencies, between local governments

and regional partners. The study concludes that the success of local

development agencies lies in the ability to consolidate the various

efforts of different actors and their ability to focus the work in those

niches where existing interventions can have an impact.

[To download click here] Sub-national Revenue Mobilization in Peru Canavire-Bacarreza Gustavo, Martínez-Vázquez Jorge and Sepúlveda Cristián Inter-American Development Bank 2012 This paper examines the status of sub-national revenue mobilization

in Peru and proposes a series of policy reforms to improve collection

performance, while maintaining a sound revenue structure.

Specifically, the paper analyzes the current revenues of regional and

municipal governments and identifies the main priorities to reform.

These revenues represent a significant portion of sub-national

budgets and currently are distributed without considering the

relative expenditure needs or fiscal capacity of sub-national units. To

solve this problem, the paper proposes the incorporation of a

measure of fiscal capacity in the formula of the FONCOMUN (Fondo

de Compensación Municipal), the fund established in the Peruvian

Constitution, to promote municipal investments using redistribution

criteria in favor of rural-urban marginalized regions throughout the

country.

To download click here]

Good Practices of Transparency and Social Accountability in which Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Take Part Arias Alicia Grupo Faro / CEDA. Quito, Ecuador, 2011.

The study systematizes 15 best practices on transparency and

accountability implemented by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that

illustrate different possible scenarios for intervention to strengthen the

legitimacy, transparency and social accountability at individual or

collective level, and in partnership with the State. This systematization

begins with the recognition of the role of CSOs in public administration,

demanding higher levels of citizen participation in policy making and in

monitoring the actions of the State. The systematized experiences are

divided into three thematic categories: 1) Best Practices on

Transparency and Accountability at the international level, 2) Best

Practices on Transparency and Accountability in CSOs in Ecuador, and

3) Best Practices on Transparency of joint work between the State and

CSOs. Every experience systematized contains information about the

institution that coordinates the activity, objectives of initiative,

methodology used, key activities and results.

[To download click here]

Political Awareness, Corruption Perceptions and Democratic Accountability in Latin America Jason Ross Arnold L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University 2012

The document argues that effective citizen monitoring of

government officials depends on accurate corruption perceptions,

which depends on the degree to which citizens are politically

informed. Citizens in Latin American at different levels of political

awareness have very different perceptions of corruption in their

countries. Through a statistical analysis of ten Latin American

countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador,

Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) the study

shows that citizens’ corruption perceptions are clearly shaped by

their level of political awareness, which is best measured using well-

constructed indices of political knowledge. One of the first steps to

reduce corruption through accountability mechanisms is to show

citizens, the severity of the corruption problem. The study

concludes that policymakers must contend with widespread public

ignorance as an obstacle to controlling corruption, since in Latin

America, as with much of the world, citizens typically do not have

the motivation, opportunity or ability to acquire much political

information.

[To download click here]

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The UNDP Country Office in Colombia is committed to

promote and strengthen the key role civil society has to

monitor and oversee their public servants and

institutions, so citizens can have more and better

opportunities to lead the kind of lives they value. While

it is recognized that citizens´ quality of life is a task that

involves a number of actors (all levels of government,

the private sector, the academic sector, social

organizations and the citizens), in Colombia there is a

particular emphasis on local governments

administrative capacity because they are responsible

for the design and implementation of development

plans, as well as the provision of public services (such as

potable water, sanitation and health, among others),

that are key to the Millennium Development Goals

achievement.

In this way, UNDP in Colombia supports the processes

of strengthening governance at the local level in

different cities of the country. In this support

framework, and for the specific case of the Municipality

of Cartagena, a survey was developed and

implemented to find out the way citizens perceive

some aspects that impact their quality of life.

This survey, with a representative sample by

neighborhoods, socio-economic level and sex, was

applied last February (2012), two months after the

installation of the new Mayor elected democratically

with over 54% of the votes. As such, the survey results

could generate valuable information about Cartagena´s

needs and challenges, complementing the analysis of

technical indicators and providing more tools to the

Municipal Government for the formulation of its four-

year navigation route- the Development Plan - and

public policies.

What do these results show?

The data collected and analyzed show as a result an

optimistic Cartagena, because little more than half of

the citizens of Cartagena a (53 %) believes that things

in the municipality are on the right direction. Also the

majority of the population (77%) feels proud of their

municipality 65% of the neighborhoods where they

live.

At the same time 8 out of 10 citizens believe that their

condition of life will improve over the next twelve

months. The contrast of these results with those

obtained, for example, in Bogota is evident, since in

the capital of Colombia only 30% of the citizens feel

that things will progress positively, and only a little

more than half is proud of their municipality.

Similarly, in general, the results of the survey show a

growing distrust with the outgoing government, since

the respondents do not give high scores to the Mayor

and City Council.

That mistrust of local representatives could be the reason

for the decline, between 2007 and 2012, of citizen's

participation rates in "spaces of dialogue" that the Law

xxx

AArrttiiccllee

Results of a Governance Survey: Local Citizen Participation, by Marco Stella*

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| 66

makes available, such as Local and District Councils of

Planning, and the Social Policy Council. However,

although the index has decreased, approximately half

(52%) of those surveyed said that they have worked or

are working to resolve problems in their community,

which reflects an important attitude to enhance

community participation.

With regards to knowledge about participation means

and spaces in the municipality (of a total of 16), those

who have greater recognition are the following: the

Communal Action Councils - Juntas de Acción Local

Comunal- (79% ); the Communal Action Councils

Federation - Federación Distrital de Juntas de Acción

Comunal- (36% ); the District Committee for Displaced

Persons - Comité Distrital de Desplazados (32% );

Municipal Accountability Sessions- Espacios de

Rendición de Cuentas de la Alcaldía -(27% ); and the

Community Councils of Afro-Cartagenian Communities

- Consejos Comunitarios de Comunidades Afro-

cartageneras (26% ).

In spite of knowledge about participation means and

spaces in the municipality, the results of the survey

indicate a low citizen participation rate in these. For

example, in the case of the Communal Action Councils

and the Communal Action Councils Federation, only

16% of the respondents said that they had participated.

At the same time, only 10% of respondents say that

xxxx

they had participated in the Municipality Accountability

Sessions, 9% in the Community Councils of Afro-

CartagenianCommunities, and 8% in the District

Committee for Displaced Persons.

Another interesting issue that comes out of the results

of the survey is the means or sources of information

that are used to find out about the events and

processes that are carried out in the municipality, and

to find out about public decision-making processes and

meetings. For both cases, 78% and 52% respectively,

television is the main source of information. The local

media, newspapers and local radio stations, occupy the

second and third place respectively. To inform about

processes and events that are carried out in the city,

60% of respondents mentioned the local press and 43%

local radio stations. With regards to public decision-

making processes and meetings, 28% of respondents

use the local press and 25% the local radio stations.

Finally, in the survey the citizens of Cartagena

established the following priorities for improving the

municipality: 1) the generation of employment, 2)

greater security, and 3) the reduction of corruption. In

this way, these will be the challenges for the newly-

installed District Administration and other institutions,

both public and private to make La Heroica Cartagena a

better place to live.

CCoonnttiinnuuaattiioonn ooff AArrttiiccllee Results of a Governance Survey: Local Citizen Participation*

* Local Governance Officer UNDP-Colombia

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EEvveenntt

New Methodologies towards the Increase in Political and Electoral Participation of Indigenous Women and Youth,

by Ferran Cabrero *

GPECS-UNDP organized the first BRIDGE workshop in

Latin America and the Caribbean with special emphasis

in gender and intercultural dialogue. Since early 2011,

UNDP is implementing in Latin America and the

Caribbean the Global Programme for Electoral Cycle

Support (GPECS) through the Bureau for Development

Policy (BDP), and the Democratic Governance Practice

Area of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the

Caribbean (RBLAC), and with the support of the Spanish

Cooperation Agency (AECID). In the region, the

program focuses entirely on developing initiatives to

promote political and electoral participation of

indigenous people, particularly women and youth in six

priority countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua,

Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

From the beginning this program has made progress in

close consultation and collaboration with indigenous

organizations and leaders -including members of the

Indigenous Permanent Forum- and jointly with UN

Women and other UN agencies. The Program

promotes the strengthening of various regional and

subregional networks of indigenous organizations,

particularly women, and promotes strategic

partnerships and South-South cooperation between

electoral institutions of the region, which has already

yielded its first outcomes in the cooperation between

xxx

Mexico´s electoral institutions (Electoral Federal

Institute -Instituto Federal Electoral IFE- and Federal

Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary -Tribunal Electoral

del Poder Judicial de la Federación –TRIFE) and the

new Supreme Electoral Tribunal - Tribunal Supremo

Electoral (TSE) of Bolivia. It also supports capacity

building of indigenous leaders, particularly women

and youth, and public servants, in collaboration with

UNDP´s Virtual School and regional indigenous

organizations.

GPECS-LAC is part of the so called “capability

approach” (associated with the concept of human

development), and focuses on women and young

people as they are also shaped by the broader human

rights approach. This approach becomes operative to

develop the capacities of both, rights holders

(citizens), as well as of those who have the obligations

(the State), at national and sub-national levels. In the

GPECS project document the priority is given to:

“Supporting regional knowledge networks to promote

indigenous participation at national and sub-national

electoral processes, especially for women and young

people, and in consultation with them.” More

specifically, the project aims to promote “…training

initiatives to build capacities in political participation

and electoral national and sub-national cycle

programming for indigenous people, especially

women and youth, professional practitioners and

electoral management bodies.”

The BRIDGE methodology (not as widespread in Latin

America and the Caribbean, http://bridge-

project.org/) is a valuable means to promote skills in

political participation and electoral cycle programming

for both citizens and public servants. In this context,

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from the 12th to the 23rd of March in Granada,

Nicaragua, the UNDP´s GPECS-LAC Programme

implemented the Regional Training of Trainers,

“Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and

Elections,” BRIDGE Workshop. The workshop was

inaugurated by the United Nations Resident

Coordinator in Nicaragua, Pablo Mandeville; the

Country Director of UN Women, Isolda Espinosa; by

the GPECS regional team composed of Miguel Alonso

Majagranzas and Ferran Cabrero. The workshop also

benefited from the special participation of the

President of the Permanent Forum of the United

Nations on Indigenous Issues, Mirna Cunningham.

The workshop, a joint initiative between UNDP and

UN Women, was an opportunity to target a group of

trainers on political participation and electoral cycle

for Latin America and the Caribbean, with particular

emphasis on gender, youth and indigenous

organizations. Based on the GPEC´s strategy to

develop capacities using a cascade approach in various

countries through the national electoral commissions

and the indigenous organizations and civil society in

general, it is important to invest in a group of these

characteristics to promote citizen participation in the

elections and national and sub-national political

processes, and especially the participation of actors

historically excluded, such as indigenous people.

More concretely, the aim of the workshop was to train

16 BRIDGE trainers to be the focal points and leaders

of political and electoral training using this

methodology in their respective institutions/

organizations and countries of Latin America and the

Caribbean. The presence of diverse participants, who

were from civil society, state institutions, as well as

the United Nations system, enriched the discussions

and the learning process. In addition to being the first

BRIDGE workshop with these characteristics in the

region, the synergies generated by the two week

event, were extremely positive, in that it encouraged

regional alliances and networking, and the realization

of an unprecedented product: the first draft of a

future module of intercultural dialogue, the number

24 of the international BRIDGE methodology for the

election cycle.

CCoonnttiinnuuaattiioonn ooff EEvveenntt

New Methodologies towards the Increase in Political and Electoral Participation of Indigenous Women and Youth, by

Ferran Cabrero *

*BDP/RBLAC Regional Expert, Democratic

Governance Practice Area, UNDP

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According to the Access to Information and

Protection of Personal Data Institute of the

Federal District in Mexico Annual Report, in

2011 the number of requests for information

was 89.610, which means an increase of 3.9%

over the requests received in 2010. By

thematics, the information required by

applicants was the following, the majority

were about Acts of government (21%),

Programmatic, budgetary and financial

(15.5%), Internal organization (12%),

relationship with society (12%), regulatory

(7%), Reports and Programs (20%), and other

(12%). Of the 89,610 requests made by

citizens, 94% were admitted and treated, 5%

were canceled because the applicant failed to

respond to requests for more information and

clarifications to the request, and 0.5 were

canceled by the requester and/or were

pending respectively. Nearly 60% of the

requesters were between 20-39 years of age.

And, 68% of all requests came from men, while

32% from women.

Visit Our Web Site

Walk21 promotes the development of sustainable, healthy

and efficient communities, where people can choose

walking instead of other forms of transport. Walk21 aims

to meet the growing demand for governments,

researchers and professionals, creating an international

platform for inclusive discussion topics related to walking,

and advocating for this kind of mobility at the political and

policy levels. In the website one can find information

about Walk21 conferences, and calls for the upcoming

International Conference about Walking and Sustainable

Cities, which will be held in Mexico City from September 3

to October 4, 2012. The website also has documentation

on the topics of inclusive mobility, architecture and

design, planning and sustainable development, among

others.

We are pleased to welcome Luis Ruiz-Giménez, who since March has

incorporated to the Democratic Governance Team in the Regional

Centre. Born in Catalonia, Luís Ruiz-Giménez has a degree in Political

Sciences from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona. He obtained

a Master Degree in International Relations from the Institut Barcelona

de Estudis Internacionals, with a specialization in Development Policies

and Programmes.

Luís Ruiz-Giménez has collaborated with the UNDP Country Office in El Salvador in the coordination of the

Political Analysis and Prospective Scenarios Project –PAPEP-. Prior he worked for two years in the Social

Services Department of the Catalonian Government, coordinating knowledge management projects.