DGP-Net Ongoing E-discussion
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Concept Note: E-discussion: Rethinking Democratic Governance and Leadership for Achieving the MDGs
This e-Discussion is cross-posted on DGP-Net (lead network) & MDG-Net, New York.
In collaboration with Democratic Governance Group – NY & Oslo (OGC), & Millennium Development Goals Support Team (MDGST) - NY Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP
Schedule:
- Duration: 09 June – 31 July 2008
- Pre-Launch Message: 05 June 2008
- Launch Message: 09 June 2008
- View e-Discussion Contributions
- Contribute to the e-Discussion (Requires Log in/Create an Account)
Background
This year we are half-way between the Millennium Summit (2000) and the deadline for achieving the MDGs (2015). In one of his recent messages, UNDP Administrator rightly asserted that “UNDP must do its part, by helping” … developing countries “make informed choices; by mobilizing support for pro-poor policies and people holding their governments to account” . This assertion builds on the Millennium Declaration’s (2000) acceptance of the importance of democratic governance for poverty reduction and the World Summit Outcome Document (2005) which called for strengthened policies in the areas of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Jan Vandermoortele reminded us that the diagnostic, planning and costing MDG exercises are short term by design . Yet the MDGs are a step on the long road to sustainable human development; it is a long term struggle that will be won as much with sound economic calculations as with the alignment of forces within a democratic governance structure in support of meaningful participation in open and accountable policy processes.
Financing the MDGs will require as much development assistance and quick fixes as it will require institutional building of responsive and capable states, and, informed leadership at all levels of government backed by strong political will. The legacy of development in the last century shows that economic growth is necessary but not sufficient to improve the human condition. Equitable social service delivery and respect, protection and enforcement of social, economic and cultural rights (along side civic and political rights) are good guarantees for inclusive growth, social cohesion and peace.
As the substantive e-discussions on practice networks are thought of as virtual ‘policy forums’ that allow practitioners to engage in an in-depth discussion and exchange on emerging issues and common challenges facing the Practice, the present e-discussion will provide members of relevant communities and e-networks an opportunity to revisit recent trends and practical issues of democratic governance and leadership for achieving MDGs. One of the key features of UNDP’s business model as highlighted in the 2008-2011 Strategic Plan is the effective knowledge management through the use of the UNDP global presence and knowledge and resource management systems – two of its main comparative advantages. The e-discussion will capitalise these advantages to promote interactive discussion among practitioners and network members
The e-discussion will examine the essential role of democratic governance principles (gender, human rights, anti-corruption etc.), and state organs (i.e., parliament, judiciary, public administration, local governments etc.) in prioritising, and implementing MDGs as part of the national development agenda. The role of NGOs and civil society in promoting corresponding agenda will also be addressed. The discussion will focus on the issue of leadership and innovation at different levels in carrying forward the international obligations expressed in the Millennium Declaration 2000.
Justification - Responding to Network Demands
Thematic e-discussions on practice networks act as virtual ‘policy forums’ allowing practitioners to engage in in-depth discussions and exchanges on emerging issues and common challenges facing the given Community of Practice (CoP).
Typically the process of identifying e-discussion themes starts with an analysis of queries and consolidated replies posted on the previous year in the DGP-Net. The analysis ascertains knowledge gaps and prioritises members’ demands. The analysis is often followed by a Virtual Focus Group Discussion (VFGD) with the active participation of the 20 top contributors to the network. The VFGD provides critical inputs in refining the annual e-discussion priorities identified through the network analysis.
A brief assessment of past e-discussions and knowledge products across the Practice informed the process of this e-discussion. The identified themes were put to a vote in the network “priority poll”. The DGP-Net priority poll identified MDGs & Democratic Governance as one of the priority themes to be discussed on the DGP-Net in 2007. However, considering number of e-discussions themes proposed in 2007, it was rescheduled for 2008.
The e-discussion will be cross-posted on DGP-Net and MDG-Net. The DGP-Net will be the lead network for the e-discussion, and, coordinate its overall arrangements.
How Governance Matters for the MDGs: Reflections from past e-discussions
Recent e-discussions in UNDP networks reiterated the role of governance and leadership in strengthening efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, widening fiscal space to expand pro poor spending. The e-discussions also showed the importance of fostering effective partnership among relevant stakeholders and promoting innovative leadership on national and local levels.
In 2006, HuriTalk and the MDGNet hosted a six week e-discussion titled: ‘How to Effectively Link the MDGs and Human Rights in Development?’ The e-discussion examined complementarities and differences between the MDGs, human rights and related processes, and explored how the links could be strengthened in practical programming work. A resounding conclusion of the e-discussion was that the link between the MDGs and human rights is both necessary and beneficial. At the same time, practitioners identified the key concerns and ‘tensions’ when applying these links in their work and expressed the need for more guidance on how to make them operational in MDG-based programming, analytical and advisory work. Based on the findings and recommendations of the discussion, the Primer: ‘HR and MDGs- Making the Link” and a Web Portal on Linking Human Rights and MDGs were developed. The Web Portal provides in-depth information for practitioners, including examples of specific UNDP Country Office programs and initiatives that have sought to integrate human rights into MDG programming.
The MDGNet e-discussion on ‘Strengthening Efforts to Eradicate Poverty and Hunger’ (March 2007) manifested a need to strengthen the democratic governance dimension of the MDGs, as echoed by the Economic Commission for Africa . Many voices have referred to a direct link between poverty and inequality, on one hand side, and bad governance on the other. The e-discussion participants observed that governance is a prerequisite for sustainable poverty reduction, and argued that if power is abused, policies are derailed by powerful interest groups, services are not delivered to the poor, property rights are concentrated in the hands of the few, and police and other legal services do not offer protection to all equally. They proposed to find concrete measures on: 1) how to strengthen leadership on all levels of society to make changes happen, 2) how to empower the powerless, and 3) how to strengthen information exchange (access and sharing). They also drew attention to the political nature of many of the policies that reduce poverty, with special reference to decentralization as a means of attending to equality through formulas redistributing and securing transfers among regions.
The joint PRNet & MDGNet e-discussion on ‘Fiscal Space’ (June 2007) showed that expanding fiscal space for the sake of expanding pro poor spending is embedded in an institutional context. The institutional context, in turn, reflects national power relations. This is a fundamental argument to establish the organic link of fiscal space expansion as a technical question with democratic governance. The argument is made pertinent by a recent IPC one pager, showing that we should not have ODA as our sole focus for fiscal expansion; that mobilizing domestic resources to expand fiscal space is possible. Domestic resource mobilization brings the relationship of government and governed to the forefront: who is to pay, who is to benefit and who is to lose.
As to the issue of fiscal spending, spending effectively requires sound public financial management, and good sector-level policies. In detail this invites us to look at the formal and informal rules governing relationships within the state asking for functional and structural bottlenecks to sound, effective social spending. The participants also drew particular attention to the sorts of bottlenecks that need to be released to free and develop local capacity to spend and deliver. As fiscal resources often go to finance huge salary bills, the issue of civil service reform become pertinent. This is often not only a technical problem but also a reflection of other problems related to weak political stability, and conflict management.
The DGP-Net e-discussion on Local Governance and Development Agenda (August 2007), placed, among others, urban development dynamics and their consequences at the center of the national and regional strategies on local governance and decentralization. The UN Millennium project task force on improving the lives of slum dwellers estimated that US$20 billion per year is needed to upgrade slums and provide alternatives to new slum formation, globally. In line with the magnitude of cities’ financial needs, participants insisted on the need to involve private sector in the design and implementation of local economic development strategies. In particular, we found support for the widespread use of Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) financing schemes, and for the involvement of non-state service providers as a critical part of civil society. The discussion reiterated the importance of strengthened partnership among relevant stakeholders and innovative leadership in promoting and achieving the local governance and development agenda.
Pro-active Role of Political and Institutional Leadership and Innovation
All these discussions emphasised the critical need of informed, knowledgeable, innovative and motivated leadership and innovation at political and institutional levels in national, sub-national and/or local governments. Strengthening such leadership along with innovative partnership with NGOs, CSOs, and media is critical to bring about positive social changes for development, and, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Objectives
The prime objectives of the e-discussion are:
(a) To explore specific examples of how democratic governance institutions (i.e., parliament, judiciary, public administration etc.) and principles (i.e., gender equality, anti-corruption, human rights etc.) are being promoted for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in national MDG based development strategies or in sector strategies (e.g. education, health, water, etc)
(b) To identify – based on field experience – linkages between democratic governance institutions and principles, on the one hand, and issues of expanding domestic fiscal space and expenditure for the MDGs, on the other.
(c) To capture specific examples of the promotion of political leadership and inclusive participation for equitable delivery of the MDGs.
Like previous e-discussions, the Rethinking Democratic Governance and Leadership for Achieving MDGs e-discussion will promote knowledge sharing (i.e., comparative experiences based on practical examples/case studies) about key challenges confronted by programme countries. It will also highlight innovative but practical solutions grounded on count.ry level experiences. This will also identify innovative entry points for democratic governance, and, stories of what worked well -lessons learned and good practices
Guiding Questions/Framework for E-Discussion
The e-discussion will be arranged in two phases:
Phase I (09 June - 24 June): Strengthening Democratic Governance Engagements with the MDGs Achievement Process
Generic Questions
1. How necessary and or sufficient are democratic governance reforms related to parliaments, political parties, the judiciary, public administration and local governments) in order to equitably achieve the MDGs? How can we strengthen and diversify the level of our engagements with these institutions to enhance the MDGs implementation and monitoring processes?
2. What challenges do we face in applying democratic governance principles (i.e., gender equality, anti-corruption, human rights and human rights based approach etc.) in the MDG sectors? How can we strengthen and diversify the level of our engagements with these principles to enhance the MDGs implementation and monitoring processes?
Phase II: (25 June-18 July): Promoting Inclusive Leadership and Innovation for Implementing MDGs based National Agenda
Generic Questions
1. What are the key challenges in identifying sectoral champions/change agents, innovators including those representing disadvantaged and vulnerable groups through formal and informal processes at national/sub-national level? How can we strengthen their leadership ability to pursue an integrated approach to MDGs based development agenda?
2. How are we strengthening their leadership ability to pursue an equitable approach to MDGs based development? How can we also facilitate the leadership role and innovative work of non-state actors (i.e., political party, faith based organisations, civil society organisations, media etc.) in the implementation of MDGs?
Note: Actual questions will differ from generic guidelines mentioned above.
Collaboration
Members of both the DGP-Net and the MDG-Net will participate in the e-discussion. Members of the Millennium Campaign, an interagency initiative of the United Nations, The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard University, and the United Nations University, a think-tank for UN system, will also join the e-discussion. It will also engage development think tanks, research institutions, NGOs/CSOs, social activists, and faculty members from academic institutions. The e-discussion will actively promote south-south cooperation in knowledge sharing.
Moderation
The e-discussion will be moderated by a panel of UNDP and external policy experts/specialists in close collaboration with the facilitation team.
Phase I (09 June- 25 June): Noha El-mikawy, Policy Advisor for Governance and Poverty, UNDP Oslo Governance Center, Democratic Governance Group, Bureau for Development Policy & Ernest Rwamucyo, Policy Adviser, Governance, MDGs Support Team, Bureau for Development Policy
Phase II (26 June-18 July): Professor Gowher Rizvi, Director, The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard University & A.H. Monjurul Kabir, Knowledge Management Specialist and Focal Point for Global Leadership Initiative, Democratic Governance Group, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP New York
A number of external experts is invited to share their expertise on the theme. They will guide, inform, and energize the discussion. They will also contribute to the finalization of the practitioners’ agenda for action. Other thematic specialists/policy advisers will be invited as ‘special contributors’ to substantially contribute to the process of discussion.
Outputs
The result of this discussion will be summarized as a ‘Reference Note’, highlighting what UN/UNDP and participating agencies are doing in this area and providing suggestions, for use by development practitioners. It is also expected that a list of relevant knowledge products and resources will be captured through the e-discussion.
