| July
2005 |
- [From ELDIS] NINE
AFRICAN BUDGET TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION CASE STUDIES Author(s):
IDASA; African Budget Project Produced by: Institute for Democracy in
South Africa (IDASA) (2005) The findings from this study explore budget
transparency from the ordinary citizen's perspective. It sheds some
light on information required to engage meaningfully with budgetary and
other decisions involving public resources from the ordinary citizen's
perspective. In this regard, the study evaluates mechanisms promoting
good governance accross nine African countries (Botswana, Burkina Faso,
Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia) and
identifies the main weaknesses of the budget process. As such, the key
elements covered by this study are: * legal frameworks for transparency
* clarity of roles and responsibilities * public availability of
information * capacity and systems in the budget process * management
of extra-budgetary activities * participation in the budget process *
the role of donor funding. (Posted 22/07/05)
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| June
2005 |
- eGovernment
for Development Using ICTs for Government Transparency Part
of the eGovernment for Development Home Page. Topic headings:
Topic Overview 1a. What is this page all about? Answer 1b. Where can I
find a quick summary of this topic? Answer 1c. What are transparency,
e-transparency, and accountability? Answer 1d. How can I add my
resources and ideas to this topic? Answer Why eTransparency? 2a. Why
proceed with my e-transparency project: what are the potential benefits
and costs? Answer 2b. Why use ICTs in my transparency project? Answer
2c. What/who really drives my e-transparency project forward? Answer
Understanding eTransparency Projects 3a. What type of e-transparency
project am I dealing with? Answer 3b. What causes success and failure
of e-transparency projects in developing/transitional economies? Factor
Answer or Design-Reality Gap Answer 3c. Where can I find some case
examples of e-transparency projects in developing/transitional
economies? Answer Practical Techniques for Successful eTransparency 4a.
Who is involved in my e-transparency project (stakeholder mapping)?
Answer 4b. How can I predict and/or identify and/or understand
e-transparency project failure? Answer 4c. How can I make my
e-transparency project more likely to succeed/less likely to fail?
Factor Answer or Design-Reality Gap Answer 4d. In my e-transparency
project, what factors should I bear in mind for poor communities?
Answer Other Materials 5. Where can I find other online materials about
this topic? Answer Training Guide 6. I want to run a training session
on e-transparency. Training Guide (Posted 16/06/2005)
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| May 2005 |
- Public Sector Transparency: What Works? "The
lack of transparency in official governmental transactions is one of
the biggest barriers to development today. Shining a publicly
scrutinizing light on otherwise veiled economic, political and social
goals of nations is the core goal of transparency, lessening the
possibility of corruption and advancing democratic practices.
Increasingly, the argument for transparency also now extends to its
role in global poverty reduction and economic growth. This Special
Report on Public Sector Transparency illustrates current international
trends in advancing transparency through civil society, government and
the media. Through extensive interviews with leaders across a range of
sectors as well as survey feedback from Development Gateway users, this
Report explores the practical issues of ensuring openness in
governments around the world." (posted 28/12/06) See also on the same webpage:
- Transparency: The next generation of government reform.
Daniel Kaufmann, Director of Global Programs at the World Bank
Institute, looks at the links between development indicators and a
country’s level of public sector transparency.
- NGOs promote transparency through rewarding excellence
Rhoda Kadalie, executive director of South Africa's Impumelelo
Innovations Award Trust, works to fight corruption by rewarding
transparent governance.
- How media pluralism advances government transparency
Wijayananda Jayaweera, director of UNESCO’s International
Programme for the Development Communication, discusses how the media
serves public sector transparency.
- How best is public sector transparency achieved?
- What tools help sustain public sector transparency?
- What practices promote public-private partnerships?
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| Jan 2005 |
- Budget
transparency: A Kenyan Perspective. A Mwenda and N M Gachocho
(2003) 94 pages (825KB) If fiscal policy is to be effective, national
budgets, and the processes by which they are developed and implemented,
must be transparent and participatory. This report from
Kenya’s Institute of Economic Affairs shows how a lack of
openness and accountability in that country’s budget process
has led to poor utilisation and management of public finances. Goals
such as poverty reduction can only be achieved by improving budget
transparency. (Posted 26/01/05)
- Secrecy
and Transparency in Lesotho’s General Elections.
The twin concepts of transparency and secrecy are central to any
discourse on the freeness and fairness of elections. How and why do
these concepts have an alienating effect in practice? How can elections
in Lesotho be better managed to serve the interests of voters? This
paper from the Institute for Security Studies highlights the dangers of
depoliticising elections and relegating them to the legal
sphere.(Posted 26/01/05)
- Tools
to Support Transparency in Local Governance
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