Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 1

The largest ever UN gathering is now

history. On Friday June 22, the last

day of the Conference, representatives

of more than 180 governments

approved the outcome document of

the conference entitled “The Future

We Want.” If one reads the document,

clearly there is a reaffirmation of key

principles and agreements made in

1992. For example, a commitment to

sustainable development and putting

people, equity and inclusion at the

center of that effort; a recognition

that eradicating poverty is the

greatest global challenge facing the

world today and a sine qua non

element for sustainable development;

reemphasizing the importance of

democratic governance (rights,

freedom, gender equality, rule of law);

and acknowledging that sustainable

development can be achieved only if

different realm of policy inter-link and

articulate effectively, as well as the

joint work in alliance and partnership

of government, the private sector and

civil society organizations.

The Rio +20 document is also more

explicit about the role of sub-national

governments and governance in

sustainable development, as well as

issues related to transparency and

accountability. Both topics set the tone

for the enabling environment of

sustainable development, and highlight

the importance of institutions at all

levels of government and their capacity

to design and articulate policies and

action. Essentially, the adopted

document not only is consistent with

the Rio Principles, Agenda 21 and the

Johannesburg Plan of Implementation,

but it also sets the bar higher to

improve and strengthen the current

governance institutional framework. It

is clear that without effective

governance, sustainable development

is unattainable.

This was a key theme expressed by

Helen Clark, the UNDP Administrator,

at a lecture she offered in the

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in

March of this year in Singapore. The

UNDP Administrator highlighted

three elements of why governance is

today essential for sustainable

development. First, government at all

levels is in the business of promoting

development and expansion of

opportunities through “deliberate,

targeted, and pro-active planning and

delivery.” Second, sustainable

development and the resilience it

requires, is a complex and

multidimensional process that

necessarily involves effective

governance and government.

Therefore, as the UNDP administrator

highlighted, “challenges countries face

today demand policymaking which

views economic growth, poverty

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In this Issue Viewpoints Highlights Article - The Viet Nam Provincial Governance and Public

Administration Performance Index (PAPI) 2011: Measuring Citizens’ Experiences

Event - The State of Civil Service and Human Resources in the Public Sector in Latin America

Thematic Web Site Golstat Welcome Agenda

Regional Centre LAC

Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 2

reduction, social development,

equity, and sustainability not as

competing goals to be traded off

against each other, but as

interconnected objectives which are

most effectively pursued together.”

And third, citizens more than ever

need to feel meaningfully engaged

with governments, informed about

policies and have the possibility to

participate in the decisions

taken by government that

affect their lives.

Therefore, transparent and

accountable government

matters for sustainable

development, as does the

existence of independent

institutions, which can hold

government to account. As

the UNDP administrator

highlighted, “fair, reliable,

and accountable governing

institutions build trust between

people and government and such

institutions need to be free of

corruption.”

As such, the key document that

emerged from Rio +20 called for

institutional reform to promote

sustainable development. This is not

about more government, but more

effective governance. Such call could

not be more relevant for the Latin

American and Caribbean region,

which is going through its longest

period of democratic regimes, and

unprecedented prosperity and levels

of human development. This is the

basis for sustainable development.

However, along with progress there is

also a growing citizen frustration with

the persistent wealth and power

inequality, and a growing citizen

insecurity and erosion of the rule of

law. The region not only remains the

most unequal in the world, but it also

shows three additional tendencies

that could directly affect resilience

and sustainable development. First,

the region remains highly centralized,

in spite of some progress in

delegation and desconcentration

some competencies to sub-national

governments; second, the region is

the most urbanized in the world; and

third, despite the impressive human

and economic development trends

and the array of anti-corruption

actors, tools and legal frameworks,

transparency indicators remain

relatively low in the region and the

perception of corruption remains

high.

Therefore, more effective and

accountable governance is needed in

the region, not only to respond to the

Framework of Action and Follow-up

of “The Future We Want,” but also to

manage the transition to a more

decentralized and transparent

region and to handle the

challenges of growing

urbanization. The aspirations of

Rio +20 provide the opportunity

for better governance at both

the national and sub-national

levels, rooted in basic principles

of transparency and

accountability. A centralized,

opaque and un-planned urban

growth could lead to a non-

sustainable future and cannot be an

option. Rio +20 has laid down the

ground for a long-term

transformation, and institutional

reform that offers an opportunity to

enhance governance accountability

capacity from the bottom-up.

The generation of an integrated and

strategic approach to strengthen sub-

national governance will be critical to

respond to already emerging and

potential challenges. For example,

unplanned urban sprawl and

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Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 3

population densities of cities and new

urban centers; extreme weather and

natural events including floods, fires

and natural disasters have further

heightened community awareness for

more effective land-use planning that

minimize risk; public transport that

supports fast and reliable transit

within and between urban centers;

supporting better urban design,

quality open and green space with

innovation and research in building

and construction to enhance wellbeing;

and regional and/or commonwealth

development opportunities to alleviate

pressure on capital cities and the

national government.

The sustainable development

implementation gap in the Latin

America and Caribbean region can

only be closed if capacities of sub-

national governments are enhanced.

For example, key capacities in terms

of identifying, managing and

mobilizing resources and designing

investment strategies. Similarly,

capacities are also needed to allocate

and re-distribute resources to ensure

efficiency and equity, and citizen

participation. Sustainable development

at the sub-national level also requires

more effective and adaptable

institutions in the public and private

sectors. It also requires innovative

urban planning and greater

entrepreneurship and clear

cooperation of all the spheres of

government. A new governance

xxxxxxx

design needs to emerge at the

country level, as to have effective

mechanisms to articulate multi-level

governance. There is a policy space

that is dysfunctional at the sub-

national level (municipalities,

parishes, and counties), as dealing

directly with national government

actors, as opposed to sub-national

actors, weakens sub-national

governance capacities. The

intermediate level of government

needs to be strengthened and/or

where non-existent, new and

effective institutional arrangements

need to be designed and

implemented. This can have

enormous potential to promote

sustainable development principles,

but is often not there and/or if it

exists is characterized by overlapping

and fragmented governance

structures. At this level it is important

to develop spatial strategies that

promote an infrastructure

configuration that maximizes sharing

and minimizes excessive mobility and

resource use.

The document “The Future we Want”

is also more explicit in terms of

accountability and transparency.

Accountability is seen as a means and

ends for a broad range of actors, such

as governments, the business/private

sector, the non-governmental sector

and even the donors, including the

United Nations System. Transparency

is seen as a complementary means

and ends, related in particular to the

policy making process, citizen

participation and budget and financial

information. It is impossible to undo

the culture of unaccountability with

the stroke of a magic wand. The

current institutional weave and its

interfaces or lack thereof, cannot be

changed overnight. It is a process

that requires leadership, and long-

term dedicated commitment. What is

needed is a set of drastic incremental

steps to begin creating an alternative

culture of accountability that refines,

reinforces and rewards the habits of

accountability.

Unlike 1992, Rio +20 provided an

opportunity to take stock and to

move forward an agenda to achieve

sustainable development. Amidst

progress and set-backs of the last 20

years, it was an opportunity to renew

political commitments and respect of

previous commitments and building

on the Rio principles, Agenda 21 and

the Johannesburg Plan of

Implementation. Beyond the

multiple demands and the mixed

media coverage, the outcome of the

Rio +20 has injected significant

impetus towards strengthening sub-

national governance and

accountability. And frankly it cannot

be only about the adopted document,

the differences between 1992 and

2012 or the mixed reactions to the

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Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 4

outcome. Ultimately, actions

speak louder than words.

Sustainable development

depends on leadership and

initiative from governments,

the private sector, NGOs,

academic and educational

organizations and donors

working together to enhance

governance capacities for

sustainable development.

There are already many

pledges and commitments

made for the Rio +20 agenda. The

Sustainable Energy for All initiative

for example, and other pledges were

made for green economy and disaster

reduction, and to deal with

desertification. There was a pledge

to plant 100 million trees by 2017,

where more than 7,000 schools in

150 countries are said to participate.

The greatest commitments came

from schools and universities, with

nearly 250 pledges, many in kind,

such as degree programs, campus eco

representatives, and reducing the

ecological footprint (see more

commitments here)

The Rio +20 document also provides

explicitly a number of clues to

zzzzzzzzz

strengthen subnational

governments. Section E of the

document, with numerals 97-

103, lay down a number of

elements to enhance sub-

national governance and

accountability. There has

been already some

constructive reaction from

the Latin American

Federation of Cities,

Municipalities and Local

Government Associations-

FLACMA, the UCLG, the joint

statement, and FOGAR.

A strong signal could be sent, if in the

region more commitments and

pledges are made and implemented

to strengthen sub-national

governance and accountability for

sustainable development.

To comment on this article, please click

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Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 5

The Use of the Integrated Financial Management System as a Financial Tool for Transparency and Control by Society IADB March 2012.

The study analyzes and discusses the role of the Integrated Financial Management System as an inducer of transparency and control by the society, it serves as a tool for generating reliable and accurate information; and the technological aspects to produce and disseminate the State´s financial information. Through online search, the transparency web sites of 18 countries in Latin America were evaluated, with the purpose of identifying three types of requirements related with: (i) the disclosure of contents on public finances management; (ii) availability of historical and timely information ; and (iii) usability and accessibility. The results show a positive evolution of fiscal transparency in the majority of the countries evaluated. The study identifies three preconditions for greater fiscal transparency: (i) the public financial management (PFM) needs of the Integrated Financial Management System as an integrator operating system of all the other systems, using Public Accounting as a tool for registering and integrating information from the (PFM); (ii) Institutional capacity generated by qualified human resources; and (iii) the disclosure of public information to the society as an instrument of social audit.

[To download click here] Linking Local Government Discretion and Accountability in Decentralization Serdar Yilmaz, Yakup Beris and Rodrigo Serrano-Berthet. Development Policy Review, Blackwell Publishing, 2010. This paper suggests a methodology to analyze the links between local government discretion and accountability. It integrates both supply side (public sector) and demand side (social) perspectives, in three dimensions: political, administrative, and fiscal. From the analysis of existing literature and taking as an example cases from Asia and Latin America, it is argued that the relationship between local discretion and accountability is far more complex than accountability being an automatic outcome of increased discretion. In fact, increasing resources allocated for public services and expanding local government discretion over the use of these resources require a special attention to fixing accountability incentive structures. Otherwise, decentralization efforts will most likely not convert into more accountable governments. As decentralization reforms become more widespread across the world, they often try to increase the autonomy and discretion of local governments without thinking through bout the incentive structure of accountability that are crucial to obtain more responsive and governments. Even when accountability is taking into consideration, the efforts tend to emphasize only internal governmental mechanisms, neglecting external and citizen vigilance and political oversight, or vice versa. In addition, the relationship between discretion and accountability in decentralization reform is further complicated when fiscal, administrative and political aspects are separated – a point often missed in such reform efforts.

[To download click here]

Sustainable Development and Sub-national Governments: Going Beyond Symbolic Politics? Sander Happaerts Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA) 2012. This paper takes a closer look at the sustainable development policies of subnational governments. In the past decades many sub-national governments have taken many concrete initiatives to institutionalize sustainable development. The paper shows that most subnational policies are characterized by symbolic politics, which means that they have a high political-strategic effectiveness, but low impact effectiveness. Those symbolic politics can be explained by two dynamics. First, sub-national governments lack an overall political will to pursue fundamental changes for sustainable development, although they perceive the need to do something’ about it. Second, symbolic politics are favored by the sub-national governments’ ambition to follow international standards. The paper has two sections; the first section presents a comparative case study analysis of five subnational governments: Quebec (Canada), Flanders (Belgium), Wallonia (Belgium), North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and North Holland (the Netherlands). The second section offers a conceptual framework of symbolic politics. Finally, the paper also looks ahead to the possible impact of Rio+20 and the new concepts that the summit might endorse, such as “green economy.”

[To download click here]

Towards an Accountability Policy in Mexico Superior Audit of the Federation/CIDE/RRC 2011. This book is the result of the discussions and presentations in the framework of the International Seminar "Towards an Accountability Policy in Mexico” that was held in August 2011 in Mexico, organized by the Accountability Network of Mexico (RCC), a coalition of about 50 organizations committed to the topic of accountability. The objective of the Seminar was to define and discuss the causes of the problem that generate lack of accountability in Mexico. The Book is a product of the Seminar and contains 7 articles that analyze various issues and dimensions of accountability. It is recognized that the reforms achieved in the last few decades have created a set of public expenditure oversight institutions, which has allowed evaluation of public policies, to measure government´s performance and analyze the impact of access to government information. Similarly, there is an acknowledgement that civil society has gained more and better capabilities to participate in public life, and demand accountability. In spite of this progress, one of the main conclusions of the book is that to overcome the accountability challenges in Mexico is not necessary to have more laws and uncoordinated entities, but instead to build an articulated institutional framework, concrete and with well-defined objectives.

[To download click here]

Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 6

A country’s transition from low-income to middle-income

status implies a shift in the relationship between

government agencies and civil society organizations in the

way they interact to each other. In low-income countries,

policymakers generally rely on anecdotal

evidence/narrative to assess the quality of its public

administration and public services delivery, but this

information is often misleading and at best incomplete.

To confront the new social, economic and institutional

challenges, policy-makers need to be informed; citizens

(i.e. civil society) with information are empowered, and an

informed/empowered citizen can have a greater

responsibility towards his/her community and country.

The relationship between governments and citizens has

shifted in most developing countries in the last decade,

and Viet Nam is not an exception. The better educated

and informed citizens are the better and more efficient

administrative services they will demand from

governments. Nowadays, as Viet Nam enters into the

range of middle

income countries,

citizens increasingly

demand a public

administration

system free of

bureaucratic and

administrative corruption, patronage, nepotism, diversion

and stealing of public funds. Similarly, they demand public

administration systems that promote development and

equity, more participation in the decision-making

processes of public policies, as well as on their

implementation and monitoring.

In a context of increasing demands for engaging citizens in

government affairs, UNDP Viet Nam has stepped up its

policy an advisory service with innovative ways to provide

objective and evidence-based measures to policy–making

decisions. The Provincial Governance and Public

Administration Performance Index (PAPI) is a pioneering

effort to engage citizens’ experiences on how to reduce

corruption and improve governance in a one-party State.

The PAPI gives voice to citizens on their experiences with

governance and public services. It is the largest exercise of

its kind measuring experiences with governance drawn

from citizens’ interactions with governmental authorities

at different levels, including issues of transparency,

accountability and control of corruption.

A total of more than 13,600 citizens were consulted on

their direct experience with the performance of provincial

and sub-national authorities on various governance and

public administration issues. The PAPI research offers a

comprehensive picture of the current state of affairs of

sub-national governance in all 63 of Viet Nam’s provinces.

It also provides extensive analysis of governance and

public administration performance at the national level.

The PAPI policy research also includes information on a

range of issues affecting ordinary Vietnamese, including

on land, health

and education. In

the area of land

for example, the

PAPI survey finds

that 8 out of 10

citizens at the sub-

national level are unaware of land use plans. Getting land

use rights certificates remains a problematic public

administrative service that systematically scores lowest

among the four types of administrative procedures

measured in both the 2010 and 2011 PAPI surveys.

According to PAPI 2011 findings, of the one-third of

citizens who lost land only 9% of those surveyed said the

compensation they received was close to the market

value. This is a decline from the 2010 results, where 17%

said the compensation was close to the market value.

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Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 7

In the area of corruption in the public sector, a third (31%)

of those surveyed said bribery is needed to receive

medical care; almost a third (29%) that it is needed to get

a job in the public sector; two in five (21%) that it is

needed to apply for a land use right certificate; and 17%

that bribery is needed for children to get better treatment

in schools.

The research is helping policy

makers and the international

development community better

understand Vietnamese people’s

experiences, and to draw

concrete lessons on how to

reduce corruption and improve

citizen satisfaction with public

administration.

For example, in 2010 Kon Tum

province in central Viet Nam was

ranked as one of the lowest

performing provinces in the

index. As a result, the provincial

authorities decided to use the

survey data and good practices

from other provinces to develop

an action plan to tackle

corruption and informal payments and improve public

services. This plan is now being implemented across the

province.

The PAPI survey looks at six different dimensions of

provincial governance and public administration. This

includes: (i) participation at the sub-national level; (ii)

transparency; (iii) vertical accountability; (iv) control of

corruption in the public sector; (v) public administrative

procedures; and (vi) public service delivery. The full report

is available here.

Since the launch of the 2011 survey

in May 2012, there has also been

extensive Media coverage and

discussion of the results. The media

debate is continuing and this is

helping to keep attention on the

issues and problems raised, as well

as the need to focus on solutions

and actions.

PAPI is a joint policy research

initiative implemented

collaboratively between the Viet

Nam Fatherland Front, the Centre

for Community Support and

Development Studies under the Viet

Nam Union of Science and

Technology Associations, the

Commission on People’s Petitions

under the Standing Committee for the National Assembly,

and UNDP in Viet Nam.

*Policy Advisor, Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption, UNDP Viet Nam.

E-mail jairo.acuna@undp.org,

www.papi.vn

Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 8

On July 9th the

Conversatory “The

State of Civil

Service and

Human Resources

in the Public

Sector in Latin

America: Where

are we and How

are we Doing?” was held in the LAC Regional Centre-

Panama. The event target practitioners from UNDP’s

Panama Country Office, the Regional Center, and other

United Nations System, and academics. It was an

opportunity to exchange ideas about the state of the civil

service in Latin America and to share results of recent

studies. What follows is a summary of the main issues

highlighted in the event.

The ensuing regional and sub-regional studies that have

been promoted by international organizations since 2000

(Reports of Civil Services, IDB, 2006; BAROMETER 2009

and 2012) to monitor the degree of implementation of the

principles contained in the Ibero-American Charter for the

Public Service show that the efforts in building

meritocratic and flexible civil services have been a partially

and diversely successful. There are distinctions between

the countries, but within each country there is also a

mosaic that combines segments of meritocratic, parallel,

clientelistic and administrative bureaucracy (See How

Democracy Works).

Within that regional diversity that shows more shades of

gray, the deliberate focus was on unique experiences that

cannot fit in a general model of “the” Latin-American civil

service, far from being a homogenous whole.

According to the Ibero-American Charter for the Public

Service, professionalization implies combining merit and

flexibility in the civil service system’s design. It also implies

the translation of these principles into concrete management

practices. This requires regulatory capable and politically

supported institutions and senior executive management

level involvement. (See Iacoviello y Strazza, 2011,

Iacoviello y Pulido, 2012) Let's see some concrete regional

experiences in terms of professionalization of the civil

service.

Management of merit requirements

The meritocratic incorporation has been installed as a

general principle in the Costa Rican, Brazilian and Chilean

civil service, but also in segments of public employment in

most of the countries in the region. In addition, the

dramatic situation that countries such as the Dominican

Republic, Peru and El Salvador had to deal with in the

early years of the XXI century have been reversed, thanks

to the initiatives that promote the gradual introduction of

competitions of access to public employment.

At the time of design, it is interesting to consider the

option of selection committees that are integrated by

third parties such as it occurs for example in the case of

the Senior Public Management System implemented in

Chile, which incorporates the figure of a Council of

technical profile and political diversity. This Council is the

guarantor of sustained improvement in the process.

Implementation of flexible mechanisms

The management model that supports the Ibero-American

Charter for the Public Service does not propose a scheme

of a "zero sum" between merit and flexibility. Rather,

flexibility is meant to be what ultimately guarantees

sustainability of meritocracy (LONGO 2002).

Among the mechanisms of contractual flexibility, the

employment relationships without stability with defined

deadlines and pre-defined tasks. There are many examples

of successful policies to reduce the labor condition gap

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Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 9

between contracted and permanent staff in the region. For

example, the “hiring” system in Chile, with the right to have a

career and results-based responsibilities; the changes

introduced in the recruitment process in Argentina through

the Law of Public Employment; and replacing "non-personal

services" with administrative contracts in Peru.

Functional flexibility helps to adapt the decisions of human

resources to the challenges faced by public organizations.

In this line the Senior Public Management System

implemented in Chile (Sistema de Alta Dirección Publica ),

the Board of Government Administrators in Argentina

(Cuerpo de Administradores Gubernamentales) and most

recently the Board of Public Managers in Peru (Cuerpo de

Gerentes Públicos de Perú) are

examples of flexible employment

management approaches, with

meritocratic selection based on

background and skills.

The wage flexibility completes the

repertoire although there are fewer

experiences in the region. The case

of Chile can be highlights with its

equitable wage structure and

variable payment through a bonus

that is associated to individual and institutional

performance (both are for permanent and recruited staff).

In the rest of the region there is still a large deficit in terms

of internal and external remuneration equity. Although

critical situations such as the cases of Ecuador and Peru

have been reversed in recent years.

Hierarchy of the regulating body for human resources policy

Having a regulatory capable and politically supported

institution is an unavoidable requirement to sustain the

professionalization of civil service. Much of the sustained

improvements in the civil service in Chile, Brazil, Colombia

and Costa Rica, as well as more recently in the Dominican

Republic, Peru, Paraguay and El Salvador, can be

attributed to the institutional strengthening of the civil

service responsible.

Leadership of senior public managers

The best design of public employment policies falls in a

vacuum without a cadre of senior managers with

competencies and incentives to be actively involved in

managing their teams or units. For this reason it is

important to analyze and highlight the regional

experiences of regimes especially for senior public

managers (vis-à-vis those generic civil service), such as the

case of Chile and Mexico with senior management

employment systems, or the

already mentioned cross-

cutting professional systems in

Argentina and Peru.

In sum, in spite of uneven

development and the ongoing

unresolved challenges in Latin

America, in its civil service

experience one can find in all

four aspects mentioned above

initiatives that are aligned with the precepts of the Ibero-

American Charter for the Public Service. We are referring

to initiatives that go far beyond the establishment of

merely normative rules of the game. That is, it is a

question of implementing meritocratic and flexible

management approaches.

As was done in this event, it is worth highlighting positive

experiences of civil service professionalization, not to

transfer them automatically to other political-institutional

environments but rather to inspire reforms situated in the

concrete reality of Latin American countries

*Associate Expert of the Democratic Governance Area of the UNDP Regional Service Center for Latin America and the

Caribbean. www.mercedesiacoviello.com.ar

Local Governance and Decentralization Newsletter 10

The Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate (GOV)

GOV is a specialized website of the Organization for Economic Co-

operation and Development (OECD), which provides governments with

tools to adapt their public sector arrangements to the changing needs of

modern society. It is a comprehensive platform that contains reports,

documents and statistical analysis. GOV has seven main areas of work: 1)

budget and public expenditure, 2) fighting corruption in the public sector,

3) public employment and management, 4) innovation in the public sector

and e-government, 5) regional development, 6) regulatory policy and 7)

risk management. GOV provides access to the Observatory of Public

Sector Innovation, aimed to systematically collect, categorize, analyze and

share innovative practices from across the public sector, via an online

interactive database. The website is aimed at civil servants, academics,

policy makers and practitioners. To visit the web site, click here

According to the Pro- Decentralization Peru Newsletter No

13, in 2011, local and regional governments in Peru had a

lower implementation rate of public expenditure in

investments than the national government. Local and

regional governments implemented 62%, and 64%

respectively, while the national government had an 82%

implementation rate. Similarly, if the 2011

implementation rate is compared with 2010, the observed

trend is negative, as only the National Government shows

a positive variation of 9.5%, while regional and local

governments present a declining trend of 5% and 13.5%

respectively. In 2010, local governments implemented in

national currency (new soles) approximately the

equivalent of US$ 3.6 billion, and in 2011 3.2 billion

respectively was implemented. As far as regional

governments, in 2010 they implemented in national

currency (new soles) approximately the equivalent of US$

1.8 billion, and in 2011 1.7 billion respectively was

implemented.

http://www.regionalcentrelac-undp.org/en/

Mission of Associate Expert Alvaro Galvez to UNDP Honduras, to provide advisory services for institutional strengthening of the Rafael Landaverde Foundation August 1

st to 15

th, Tegucigalpa,

Honduras.

International Youth Day, August 12.

Regional Workshop: From the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to Anti-Corruption Policies in Latin America, August 23 – 24. UNODC and Regional Service Centre UNDP, Panama.

Youth Organizations Dialogue Meeting: Opportunities and Challenges of Youth Participation in Subnational Governance. August 26 – 29, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Regional Caribbean Workshop “Enhancing Young Leaders’ Skills for Engaging in Social Audit Processes”, September 19- 21, Kingston, Jamaica.

Regional Workshop on Governance and Accountability in the Water

Sector, September/October, Panama City, Panama. Democratic Governance Area Community of Practice Meeting,

October 24 – 26, Mexico.

Fifth UNDP Global Anti-Corruption Community of Practice Meeting,

November 5 – 6. Brasilia, Brazil.

We are pleased to welcome Lissa Schafer, who since August

has incorporated to the Democratic Governance Team in the

Regional Centre. Lissa was born in Heidelberg, Germany, and

holds a BA in Public Translations at the University of Saarland.

Currently she is studying a Master in International Relations

at the University of Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with

main emphasis in development, economy and cooperation.

In 2010, during her last semester of the translation career

she made an internship for 4 months in the Argentinian Main

Consulate in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

She worked in the representation group REFRA which belongs

to the Argentinian Embassy. Among other projects,

translations and exercises she helped in the organization of

the Argentinian representation as honor guest of the

international Book Fair in Frankfurt.