Friday, 7 November 2014

Fwd: Eldis Governance Reporter

In this issue: taxation, aid dependency, and political representation in Benin, options for strengthening civil society-led monitoring and accountability, consolidating the regional diplomacy of Côte d'Ivoire, public services fight inequality and the question whether rising democracies will adopt pro-human rights foreign policies

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Highlighting research relating to democratic governance, fragile states, institutional development, justice, good governance, public sector & service delivery and urban governance.

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Eldis Governance Reporter

7 November 2014
www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/governance

This is our regular bulletin that highlights recent publications on governance issues.

The documents highlighted here are available to download online without charge. If you are unable to access any of these materials online and would like to receive a copy of a document as an email attachment, please contact our editor at the email address given below.

In this issue:

A democratic rentier state? Taxation, aid dependency, and political representation in Benin

Authors: Piccolino,G.
Produced by: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (2014)

Drawing on the history of statebuilding in Western Europe, fiscal sociology has proposed the existence of a mutually reinforcing effect between the emergence of representative government and effective taxation. This paper looks at the case of Benin, a low‐income West African country that underwent a fairly successful democratization process in the early 1990s. It finds, in contrast to previous studies that have emphasized dependency on aid rents, that Benin appears to have reinforced its extractive capacities since democratization.

However, the effect of democratization has been largely indirect, while other factors, such as the influence of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the size of the country's informal sector, have played a more direct role in encouraging or inhibiting tax extraction. Nevertheless, the hypothesis that effective taxation depends on a quasiconsensual relationship between government and taxpayers finds some confirmation in the Beninese case.
[Summary taken from author]

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=69613

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Accelerating progress in Family Planning: options for strengthening civil society-led monitoring and accountability

Produced by: Results for Development Institute (2014)

In recent years, accountability initiatives led by citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) have proliferated, particularly in the health and education sectors. These initiatives, also referred to as social accountability (SAc) initiatives, are designed to empower citizens and ensure that government policy, spending, and services are high-quality, efficient, and responsive to citizens' needs. There is growing evidence that when appropriately designed and implemented these interventions produce important results including greater citizen agency and engagement, higher quality and more appropriate services, improved provider performance, increased service utilization, more efficient allocation and use of resources, and improved development outcomes. With appropriate support, social accountability initiatives in the Family Planning (FP) sector can address bottlenecks and help FP programs achieve their goals.

This study – led by the Results for Development Institute (R4D) with generous support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation – was designed to identify options to support stronger monitoring and accountability (M&A), particularly social accountability, around Family Planning 2020 and family planning more broadly.

To inform the design of these options, R4D participated in numerous FP events and activities, interviewed major stakeholders in the FP community, reviewed the literature on family planning monitoring and accountability, and benchmarked M&A efforts around comparable international initiatives in other fields. In addition, in February and April 2013, R4D teams made visits to India, Indonesia, Senegal, and Uganda to observe family planning activities on the ground, assess the plans and early impact of FP2020 at country level, and consider new ways in which M&A could be strengthened.

Overall, R4D's fact-finding and analysis suggest that significant progress is being made in family planning monitoring and accountability, in great part thanks to FP2020's focus on M&A. Over the past year, FP2020 has established the systems and infrastructure necessary to monitor the impact of family planning programs and to strengthen accountability for the implementation of financial, policy, and programming commitments.

[Summary adapted from author]

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=69610

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Consolidating the regional diplomacy of Côte d'Ivoire

Authors: Padonou,O.
Produced by: South African Institute of International Affairs (2014)

Côte d'Ivoire has gone through two decades of political instability and conflict, leading to the near collapse of many of its government institutions. President Alassane Ouattara's arrival on the political scene in 2011 heralded a renewal of Côte d'Ivoire's foreign policy. The president's determined focus on the region and the increased diplomatic activity associated with his term have ensured that the country has regained its regional leadership position. His approach has been two-pronged: (i) focusing on regional peace and security issues, without (ii) neglecting the pursuit of the country's economic development objectives through active regional diplomacy.

This brief argues that the corrosive effects of war and instability, which lasted for more than a decade, severely eroded the country's capacity to drive active regional diplomacy. Therefore, creating an enabling framework, accompanied by strong institutions, is without doubt the key test facing Côte d'Ivoire in its quest to regain its place as the key interlocutor in francophone Africa's diplomacy. This is particularly relevant in
how it engages with the region's premier regional economic community.

Recommendations:

develop an evidence based and coherent foreign policy strategy through the iteration of a 'white paper' process and strengthen the country's diplomatic oversight mechanisms
institute a regular (eg, biannual) conference of ambassadors to evaluate and redirect, if necessary, the country's diplomatic activities
accelerate the implementation of SSR before the presidential elections in 2015
improve the training, development and specialisation of diplomats through an inclusive process in order to enhance national reconciliation
encourage more frequent policy engagement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with local experts such as academia, business and civil society organisations, as well as with other ministries

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=69543

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Working for the many: public services fight inequality

Authors: Seery,E.
Produced by: Oxfam (2014)

Free public services, such as health and education, are one of the strongest weapons in the fight against inequality. They benefit everyone in society, but the poorest most of all. They mitigate the impact of skewed income distribution, and redistribute revenue by putting 'virtual income' into the pockets of the poorest women and men.

Across OECD countries public services already provide the poorest people with the equivalent of 76% of their post-tax income. Oxfam is calling on governments to urgently reform tax systems and increase public spending on free public services, such as health and education, to tackle inequality and prevent us being tipped irrevocably into a world that works for the few and not the many.

Key recommendations:

Prioritize increased public spending on and delivery of health and education services, to fight poverty and inequality at a national level.
Prioritize policies and practices that increase financing for free public health and education.
Finance health and education from general progressive taxation, rather than through private and optional insurance schemes, user fees and out-of-pocket payments.
Refrain from implementing unproven and unworkable market reforms to public health and education systems, and expand public sector rather than private sector delivery of essential services.

[Summary taken from author]

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=69614

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Will rising democracies adopt pro-human rights foreign policies?

Authors: Piccone,T.
Produced by: South African Institute of International Affairs (2014)

As democratisation unfolded in countries such as Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa, it was hoped that these states would find common ground with more established democracies. While emerging and established democracies have collaborated in responding to grave human rights abuses in Myanmar, North Korea and Libya, among others, serious cleavages remain.

This report argues that while the common vocabulary on human rights is strong at the international level, there are significant disagreements about how best to promote and protect them, particularly in difficult cases where other interests take precedence.

Recommendations:

human rights advocates can work with parliaments, diplomats, military officials and national security leaders to raise awareness, encourage state action and demand more open and accountable national security decision-making
advocates and researchers can build up their own capacity to understand foreign policy decisionmaking and work with like-minded colleagues around the world on human rights solidarity campaigns
the human rights community should continue to work through existing international and regional institutions to advance multilateral strategies to protect human rights, as
has been done at the HRC. Staying in contact with the Special Procedures mandate holders and offering input
on UPR reports are examples of this
states should engage in bilateral and regional diplomatic efforts to build coalitions and partnerships to reinforce
the importance of elevating human rights as a critical security matter and warning sign of conflict, forced
migration and humanitarian crisis
civil society groups should work with HRC Net and others to mobilise responses to human rights violations, engaging at the national and international level to pressure states to defend core values

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=69500

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Fwd: Our editors' picks of the week

2014/11/7

Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter

The Young, Female Face of HIV in East and Southern Africa
Miriam Gathigah

Experts are raising alarm that years of HIV interventions throughout Africa have failed to stop infection among young women 15 to 24 years old. "Prevention is failing for young women," says Lillian Mworeko, HIV expert with International Community of Women Living with HIV in Eastern Africa, based ... MORE > >

More Women Managers in Argentina, But They're Still Doing the Chores
Fabiana Frayssinet

In Argentina there are more and more women in management-level positions in the public and private sectors, although they still have to forge their way amidst gender stereotypes, while shouldering the double burden of home and work responsibilities. After earning a university degree, ML started ... MORE > >

Choosing Between Death and Death in Pakistan
Ashfaq Yusufzai

Residents of the Khyber Agency, one of seven administrative districts that comprise northern Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), are in the worst possible predicament: either course of action they choose now, they say, could result in death. As Pakistan's military offensive ... MORE > >

Children in Aleppo Forced Underground to Go to School
Shelly Kittleson

Winter has not yet hit this nearly besieged city, but children are already attending classes in winter coats and stocking hats. Cold, damp underground education facilities are less exposed to regime barrel bombs and airstrikes but necessitate greater bundling to prevent common seasonal viruses ... MORE > >

Hopes of Controlling Sierra Leone's Ebola Outbreak Remain Grim
Lansana Fofana

The fight against the deadly Ebola epidemic ravaging West Africa seems to be hanging in the balance as Sierra Leone's Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr Abubakar Fofana told IPS that the government is overwhelmed by the outbreak. "We were not prepared for this Ebola scourge. It took us by ... MORE > >

Inside Pakistan's Untapped Fishing Industry
Zofeen Ebrahim

If you want to know what 'sea traffic' looks like, just go down to the Karachi Harbour. Built in 1959, the dockyard houses close to 2,000 big and small boats anchored in the grey sludge at the edge of Pakistan's southern port city, which opens into the Arabian Sea. Life on the jetty, an all-male ... MORE > >

Middle-Income Kenya Still in Need of Aid
Miriam Gathigah

Coffee farmer Gabriel Kimwaki from Nyeri County, in central Kenya, is considering "giving up farming altogether". He told IPS that the returns are too low "and with every harvesting season, I am making less and less profit." His is not a unique story. Francis Njuguna, an agricultural ... MORE > >

Dirty Energy, Dirty Tactics
Stephen Leahy

"Greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are higher than ever, and we're seeing more and more extreme weather and climate events….We can't prevent a large scale disaster if we don't heed this kind of hard science." Question: Is that statement about the latest Intergovernmental Panel on ... MORE > >

Growing Up Among the Dead
Karlos Zurutuza

The walls of the Association for the Martyrs of Serekaniye are covered with the portraits of those fallen in combat in this northern Syrian town. Ali Khalil has buried everyone and each of them with the help of Diar, his 13-year-old son. Inside this building west of Serekaniye, 680 kilometres ... MORE > >

Lacklustre Early Warning System Brings Tragedy to a Languid Mountainside
Amantha Perera

When early warning systems fail, death comes quickly to unsuspecting victims of natural disasters. It is a reality that millions of Sri Lankans have experienced repeatedly in the last decade, and yet those responsible for preventing human fatalities continue to make the same mistakes. The latest ... MORE > >

OPINION: One Mexico, or Many?
Joaquín Roy

Mexico can charm, irritate, wound, inspire and confuse the casual visitor as well as the informed researcher. But no one is ever left indifferent by it. Mexico leaves an indelible mark. To understand it properly, one has to assume that there is not one Mexico, but many. This is partly what made ... MORE > >

Child Poverty in Spain Seen Through the Eyes of Encarni
Inés Benítez

"I would like to have a big house, and I wish my family didn't have to go out and ask for food or clothes," Encarni, who just turned 12, tells IPS in the small apartment she shares with five other family members in a poor neighbourhood in the southern Spanish city of Málaga. This girl with ... MORE > >

Fighting the "Neighbour's Disease" in Mozambique
Mercedes Sayagues

Mozambique is reeling under the twin burden of HIV and cervical cancer. Eleven women die of cervical cancer every day, or 4,000 a year. Yet this cancer is preventable and treatable, if caught early. Among African countries, Mozambique vies neck and neck with Malawi for the saddest ... MORE > >