Policy Paper

September 2011

Transparency, Accountability and Results

For more information, please contact: Carolyn Long Director Global Partnerships InterAction clong@interaction.org

InterAction welcomes this third in a series of roundtable meetings to discuss key issues for the Fourth High Level Forum (HLF-4) in Busan. This paper presents InterAction recommendations on transparency, accountability, and a focus on results. It is intended to initiate a discussion that builds on the previous two roundtables (an enabling environment for CSOs and inclusive country ownership) and demonstrate how transparency, accountability and results can lead to more effective development and the empowerment of citizens. Managing for results and mutual accountability for those results are two of the Paris Declarations five principles. The Accra Agenda for Action recommended that efforts on both transparency and results be improved. However, there has been mixed progress on moving them forward, as documented in the Progress since Paris and Phase 2 Paris Declaration Evaluation reports. The U.S. government recently has made considerable progress in implementing reforms and initiatives to make U.S. foreign assistance more efficient and effective. The Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) states that development assistance should focus on sustainable outcomes, align more closely with developing country priorities, and hold all partners accountable for development results. USAID Forward reforms have begun the implementation of many of the PPDs elements, and the Foreign Assistance Dashboard is an important step forward in sharing information on how U.S. foreign assistance is being used. Such progress places the U.S. government in a leadership position on transparency, accountability, and results, yet it can and should do more. A U.S. government that leads by example can mobilize international support, can encourage other governments to be more transparent, and can advance progress on transparency, accountability and results at the HLF-4 and beyond. InterAction proposes the following recommendations.

Transparency
Transparency is a pre-requisite for inclusive country ownership because it enables citizens in partner countries to scrutinize and monitor development projects. It is also a pre-requisite for accountability, allowing citizens in donor countries to track how their taxes are used, and the results achieved. The U.S. government should: Implement the vision of an expanded and strengthened Foreign Assistance Dashboard. The Dashboard provides clear and accessible information on the budget of USAID and the State Department. We welcome and urge continued progress on the commitment to include: budget information for all U.S. agencies that deliver foreign assistance; standard performance data across agencies; and information on budget, financial, program and performance data. In addition, we encourage the U.S. government to continue to implement this vision through:

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Clear, accessible and time-bound compliance plans for agencies not currently represented on the Dashboard; and Inclusion of documents such as the Country Development Cooperation Strategies, as well as other similar country and regional plans.

tant for alignment with country priorities and increased country ownership, should use participatory development techniques with in-country stakeholders, (including local and international CSOs), to ensure their input in the early stages of this process. Support increased transparency and efficiency of partner governments budgets and use them to the fullest extent possible. The U.S. can help partner countries strengthen financial management, procurement, and audit systems for more effective and transparent management of aid and domestic resources through demand-driven technical assistance and clear expectations for reform. Channeling aid through these improved country systems will enable better planning and, ideally, increase efficiency, ownership and sustainability of development efforts. Build the capacity of citizens and CSOs in partner countries. The U.S. must not only provide mechanisms for accountability to its own citizens, but should also work to provide better accountability by partner governments to their citizens. Transparent reporting by donor and partner governments is a necessary step in accountability, but it can be challenging for citizens to utilize the information to demand results. Capacity strengthening to local civil society, plus resources and political space to do effective monitoring, evaluation, and advocacy on budgets and programs are equally important.

Ensure alignment of the Foreign Assistance Dashboard with the standards established by the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). Alignment will increase the availability of comparable, timely and accessible information and enable comparison of aid information among agencies and other donors, at country and global levels. Lead in providing information about planned projects and expenditures to partner countries, to the greatest extent possible. As part of the Paris Declaration, the U.S. and other donors committed to improve predictability, and further deepened this commitment in Accra. Recognizing the challenges, it is nevertheless important to provide relevant information in the timeliest way possible to partner countries on planned projects and expenditures, in a given year (short-term predictability) and in coming years (medium-term predictability). Better information will give partner governments the opportunity to strengthen ownership and improve the coordination and ultimately the impact of development efforts through the ability to plan and to integrate aid flows into their expenditure frameworks.

Results Accountability
Mechanisms that allow a countrys citizens to monitor spending and performance are an important check against the risk that funding (either foreign assistance or domestic resources) will be lost to corruption, inefficiency or mismanagement. The U.S. government initiative, Domestic Financing for Development (DF4D), is an important tool to address corruption and to work with partner governments to build capacity for better domestic resource management. The U.S. government can enhance this initiative through: Transparent and open decision-making processes in partner countries, by both the partner country and U.S. governments. Citizens should be encouraged and supported to participate in development of their countrys strategies, policies and programs. U.S. missions should also strive for broad-based multistakeholder participation in their planning processes. Country Development Cooperation Strategies, imporRecognizing that some results take years to become evident, it is necessary to integrate benchmarks and methods for measuring progress over time. Muddying the waters further are the competing pressures and motivations to demonstrate results that donors, partner countries and other implementing partners have; different stakeholders may have different views on what constitutes success, even for the same project. The new Partnership for Growth initiative and the Learning Agenda being developed under Feed the Future are important opportunities for the U.S. government to expand best practices learned from USAID, the MCC and others. Both related, and in addition, to these efforts, the U.S. government should: Commit to a common results-oriented framework. Managing for results entails a collaborative process whereby the U.S. government, partner countries, and other stakeholders work closely together to set clear, measurable goals and then coordinate assistance and

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domestic resources to meet them. It is critical to empower U.S. missions in-country to do this. Advance inclusive ownership by working with all relevant stakeholders to establish common results and in the practice of M&E. In addition to the above recommendation, steps that can be taken include: Use of national monitoring systems and survey data, when appropriate, for setting baselines and monitoring performance; Requiring missions to consult citizens and partner governments (including legislatures and regional and local governing bodies) as strategies, baselines for M&E systems, and indicators are established; and Listening more to all involved, including those intended to benefit from aid, those involved in implementation, and those who indirectly benefit or are in a position to observe results (e.g. community leaders, religious leaders, women, youth, business people, etc.). Publish and report results from project evaluations, resource monitoring, and development outcomes in a transparent and accessible manner. Transparency about results is the essential foundation for effective accountability. Not only should the U.S. government include evaluation results on the Dashboard, but also it should create a formal learning system by which development results feed into strategic planning and budgeting decisions. Evaluation results should be easily available to the general and specialized public in both the U.S. and partner countries, particularly those consulted during the evaluation. Invest in results measurement systems for improved data and tracking. Data on development outcomes remains weak, and often various stakeholders have multiple ways of measuring for results. The U.S. government should commit to increased technical assistance to strengthen data collection and statistical capacity in relevant partner country ministries and support the adoption of universal standards so that data is comparable across countries. USAIDs new Evaluation Policy is a solid example of an effort to coordinate and standardize rigorous practices, but it needs to be harmonized with other development partners. Transparency, accountability, and results are emerging as priorities for many countries in the lead up to HLF-4. A commitment to the practice of inclusive

country ownership and the provision of an enabling environment for civil society simultaneously can reinforce good practices in transparency, accountability and results, and contribute to the improvement of their practice and outcomes. U.S. government policies announced over the past year have laid the groundwork for great strides in transparency, accountability and results, positioning the U.S. government as a leader in this area. To lead at Busan, the U.S. government should support the continuation of an effective mechanism for tracking indicators that measure progress towards fulfilling Paris, Accra and new Busan commitments. Such a mechanism is crucial for fulfilling the Paris principle of mutual accountability, as well as MDG 8, to develop a global partnership for development.