messagis guest piece was originally published on ABC The Drum 

on the 22nd September

at http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s3018100.htm

Kevin Rudd delivered his first address as Foreign Minister last week. He talked of his plans to attend the United Nations MDG Summit. 

"The MD wha...?" came the response from the press gallery. Rudd was referring to this week's United Nations Summit on the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). The deafening sound of bewilderment should come as no surprise considering only six per cent of Australians have
actually heard of the MDGs, according to a poll conducted by anti-poverty agency ActionAid. This research left the development sector crying OMG.
It is with this in mind that it is necessary to illuminate WTF the MDGs are.

The MDGs are a set of eight goals agreed upon by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, committing nations to a global partnership
and a framework for action for states, NGOs, corporations and civil society to reduce extreme poverty.

Extreme poverty is defined by the World Bank as living off less than US$1.25 per day. The Global Poverty Project, a group who conduct community
education presentations on extreme poverty, say that this is enough to buy two basic meals with ten cents left over for everything else: health care,
transport, education, shelter and clothes. This is what life looks like for around one billion people on the planet right now. Extreme poverty is poverty
that kills and kills for unnecessary reasons such as preventable and treatable disease as well as access to affordable food and healthcare. The bottom
line is that extreme poverty ought not to be the reality for anyone anywhere in 2010, but is found in countries such as Malawi in Sub-Saharan Africa,
and closer to home, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. 

The main objective of the MDGs is to see extreme poverty halved by 2015. This week's summit will see 140 heads of state and governments in New
York to reflect on how the world is tracking, ten years on. There are eight goals and 21 targets to measure progress. Here are the goals along with
some key targets:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

• All children to complete a full course of primary schooling

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

• Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education

4. Reduce child mortality

• Reduce by two thirds the under-five mortality rate

5. Improve maternal health

• Reduce the maternal mortality ratio by two thirds and achieve universal access to reproductive health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

• Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

• Halve the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015, and achieve a significant
improvement for 100 million slum dwellers by 2020

8. Develop a global partnership for development

• Develop a non-discriminatory trading and financial system, deal with countries' debt and work with the private sector to make available new
technologies for poor nations

The MDGs provide quite a grand and welcome vision. Yet, the project is also quite the coordination effort. Economic, political and cultural shifts must
occur within and between both recipient and donor nations. Cooperation is absolutely necessary between a range of actors.

Ten years after the goals were agreed upon, how are we faring? There have been many positive changes. 400 million people have been lifted out of
extreme poverty between 1990 and 2005. Examples of positive progress include Vietnam, where extreme poverty has fallen from 63 per cent in 1993
to 21 per cent in 2006. Bangladesh has halved maternal mortality rates since the 1980s and reduced the total fertility rate from seven children per
woman in 1978 to two in 2008. In Malawi, the under-five mortality rate fell from 209 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 111 in 2007. Ghana, South
Korea, Egypt and Nepal offer even more encouraging examples of improvement.

Despite the many successes, there are three major challenges that must be overcome in order to fully realise the MDGs.

1. Gender equality

When the goals were formulated, it was with the understanding that gender equality is paramount to achieve real change. More and more NGOs and
governments are realising the importance of women to alleviate poverty. Yet the disparity between men and women in developing countries impedes
progress. Access to healthcare and education for women is proving to be difficult, but is central to eradicating extreme poverty. However, gender
equality must not simply be seen as an instrument to achieving the MDGs, but rather ought to be understood as intrinsic to eliminating extreme
poverty and therefore be prevalent in each of the goals and targets. The New York Times journalist Nick Kristof and his best-selling book, Half the
Sky, as well as The Girl Effect movement, further illuminate the central importance of women. There are signs of improvement, for instance in Sierra
Leone, which historically has the worst maternal health records, yet has just introduced free health care for pregnant women. 

2. Achieving the Growth/Governance Balance

Economic growth remains central to achieving the MDGs. This has been the case for India and China where growth has been the key to lifting millions
out of poverty. Similarly, Vietnam has seen average growth rates of 7.4% per year between 1990 and 2008. However, it is problematic to simply
assume that economic growth is all that is required to alleviating poverty. A paper put out by the Overseas Development Institute in the UK states
that while economic growth is important, the distribution of services such as education and healthcare is vital to ensure that a nation's poorest benefit
from the provision of these public services and goods. Good governance and political processes are essential to guarantee service delivery for those
in extreme poverty. It has been argued that there has been too much emphasis on economic growth and that more concentrated efforts on
governance is required. Anti-corruption group Transparency International issued a report that demonstrates how anti-corruption mechanisms directly
amount to progress on the MDGs. The introduction of community notice boards to increase transparency in Kenya provides a terrific example of
where progress has been made in this area, and many more opportunities exist for similar models in other locations.

3. Ongoing challenges: Conflict, mass people movement, and the GFC

42 million people are currently uprooted and in 2009, developing nations hosted four fifths of the world's displaced people. Conflicts in the Democratic
 Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan are a major challenge to ending poverty. The Enough Project is an arm of the Centre for
American Progress working towards ending genocide and crimes against humanity and implores the international community to ramp up law
enforcement and step up diplomacy in order to reduce conflicts. Again, there have been positive steps taken such as the Obama
Administration choosing to adopt some of Enough's recommendations in places like Sudan. Secondly, the GFC resulted in an estimated 64
million people who fell back into extreme poverty and saw rising food costs. In the years prior to the GFC, low-income countries enjoyed the longest
economic expansion in modern times including record growth rates. To recover from the economic crisis, John Lipsky from the International
Monetary Fund says there must be a speedy return to rapid, pro-poor and inclusive growth. 

Australia is playing an important role in achieving the MDGs. This year's federal budget allocated $4.3billion to our foreign aid program. This large
amount of funding places foreign aid in the top ten government expenditure items. However, this is still short of the 0.7 per cent pledged in 2000.
Australia gives just 0.34 per cent of our gross national income (GNI) and has pledged to make this 0.5 per cent by 2015. 

Further to increasing aid, we need to ensure that our aid is spent more efficiently. Mechanisms such as an independent AusAID as well as a Minister
for International Development Assistance would ensure better use of our aid money. However, the former Parliamentary Secretary for International
Development Assistance, Bob McMullen, retired a few weeks ago and the role has not been re-created. This means that Kevin Rudd will have full
management of our aid portfolio and will work alongside Robert Marles, the new Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Duncan Kerr, the
Parliamentary Secretary for the Pacific. 

It cannot be denied that the formulation of the MDGs and the improvement in human development has been an example of the fact that international
cooperation is possible between various actors and provides us with hope of other challenges that can be achieved when the world comes together
with a common goal. ActionAid found that even though only six per cent of Australians had heard of the MDGs, 70 per cent would strongly support a
framework to catalyse the eradication of extreme poverty. 

The political will is overwhelmingly there and the MDGs provide the action plan. Progress is being made and this week's summit will provide the
opportunity for the world to re-focus our efforts. It is heartening to know that eradication of extreme poverty is entirely possibly within our lifetime.
FTW*. 

Many of the objections to my blog post, “Another reason why aid to Africa must increase”  centered around corruption.  “I disagree.  Africa
needs to get rid of corruption…” said one commentator, while another said, “Aid to African countries must follow country steps in good
governance, democracy, fighting corruption, etc.”
I think we can agree on the following two facts:
 There is considerable corruption in Africa.  The recently-released Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index for
2009 finds 10 African countries in the bottom decile (with Somalia at the very bottom of the list).  Of the 47 African countries reviewed, 31
scored less than 3 out of 10, “indicating that corruption is perceived as rampant.”  Another data source, World Governance Indicators,
reaches a similar conclusion.
 Corruption undermines economic growth and poverty reduction .
 

About Us

Concern Worldwide US, Inc. is an affiliate of Concern Worldwide and supports the Concern network by recruiting staff, supporting program development, creating public awarenes
humanitarian issues and financially supporting programs.

Concern Worldwide is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme
the world’s poorest countries.

Since its foundation in 1968, Concern Worldwide—through its work in emergencies and long-term development—has saved countless lives, relieved suffering and provided opport
a better standard of living for millions of people. We work primarily in the countries ranked in the bottom 40 of the United Nations Human Development Report. Concern implement
emergency response programs as well as long-term development programs in the areas of livelihoods, health, HIV&AIDS, and education.
Our Vision
Concern’s work is informed by a vision for change. We envision a world in which no-one lives in poverty, fear or oppression; in which all have access to a decent standard of living
opportunities and choices essential to a long, healthy and creative life; and in which everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Our Mission
Our mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives that last and spread without ongoing support from Concern.

Our role is to ensure that people living in extreme poverty are able to meet their basic needs, achieve their rights and manage their own development. We do so by working with co
and by using our shared experience and knowledge to address the root causes of extreme poverty.

To achieve this mission we engage in long-term development work, respond to emergency situations, and seek to address the root causes of poverty. 

Organizational Strengths

 Our team of over 3,200 highly skilled and committed workers represents an exceptional depth of experience, talent, commitment and diversity.
 Our on-the-ground presence in 25 of the world’s poorest countries gives us a base in places most likely to be affected by humanitarian crises.
 Our track record, particularly in emergency response, child survival, and nutrition, is recognized internationally as being of exceptionally high quality.
 Our ability to facilitate the various stakeholders to ensure greatest impact on the ground. This facilitation is a key component in how we operate as an organization.
 We have a diverse support base of funds–from private and government sources–which allows us the independence to respond to a crisis when we are needed most.

Core Values
As the organization has grown over the years, the core values that define Concern and its approach to emergencies and long-term development are based upon:

1. An ability to respond quickly, creatively and effectively to people in need.

2. Enthusiasm and necessary risk-taking matched by prudent judgment and a professional approach.
3. A belief in development as a process which occurs in people, proceeds at their pace and is achieved, not given.

Concern’s core values inform our approach and have remained constant. They underlie all our work, and are as follows:

1. Target Extreme Poverty 

Our work is ultimately measured by how well we contribute to eliminating "absolute poverty,” which ranges from circumstances that bring people near death to those that allows on
tenuous grasp of life’s necessities: food, shelter, water, health and educational services.

 2. Respect for People 

Poverty reduces people's choices, not their competence and abilities. Concern upholds respect for the integrity, dignity and development of all peoples with whom we engage.

3. Service and Commitment 

Attracting people with a spirit of voluntary service with a shared commitment to caring professionalism.

4. Development is a Process
Development is a process achieved by people at their own pace, on their own or with outside facilitation. Despite huge obstacles faced by people in extreme poverty, we believe m
possess the personal capabilities to take advantage of local resources and external opportunities for self-development.

5. Emergencies Demand Rapid Response

Our capacity as an organization to respond quickly, effectively and creatively to people in immediate need is vital and requires our staff to be prepared and persevere under difficu
circumstances. This approach is tempered professionalism and prudent judgment.

6. Greater Participation Equals Commitment

Encouraging decision-making by those affected by development initiatives leads to a greater and more sustained commitment to the project, its implementation and ultimate benef

7. Democracy Accelerates Development

Participatory democratic environments are the most favorable settings for states, markets and people to solve global poverty.  Our concern for gender and social equity in carrying
work demonstrates our adherence to this value.

8. Environment Must Be Respected

Along with social equity issues, Concern acknowledges the importance of the physical environment in our work and the need to ensure that our development efforts are consistent
conserving natural resources and sustainable environmental management.

9. Good Financial Stewardship Requires Good Accounting

We hold money in trust for our donors and for their intended beneficiaries, with responsibility to adhere to financial accountability procedures to ensure value for our donors and to
participants.

10. Experience Is the Best Teacher

We value the benefits of being ourselves a learning organization and of participating in networks of other organizations to share experiences and learn from them.

11. Working in Partnership
Eliminating poverty is complicated precisely because of the wide range of issues that need to be addressed all at once. Consequently, Concern believes that the best way to addre
problems is to bring together people, organizations and institutions that can pool their knowledge, skills, and resources, and work together in order to have an impact on poverty. T
Concern’s core ethos is "partnership as mutual learning and sharing development"; this is the lynchpin to all of our development work. We aim to invest in and harness infrastructu
 already exist, not to replicate them.

As previously mentioned, wealth creation is a significant aspect in education

programmes intended to contribute to poverty eradication. How can education
assist learners to create wealth? Integration of school education within the
economic activities of a community is one example. For instance, in a carpet-
weaving village, lessons would also cover various aspects of the carpet industry. In
this way, school education would help children to improve traditional trade skills of
the village alongside other curricular contents. It would ensure their future
employment possibilities and contribute to the (economic) well being of the whole
community. Furthermore, the school would not then be alienated from the
community and traditional trades would reinforce learning.

For the education system to truly respond to the needs of poor children and to
contribute to wealth creation in communities and society at large, it needs to take
the issue of poverty into special consideration in the planning of educational
services. Essentially, it has to stress the preparation of all children to achieve at
school, and empower them by heightening their awareness of their rights and
responsibilities, their abilities, and enhance their self-confidence to enable them to
improve their lives.

CURBING CORRUPTION AND PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY IN LOCAL

GOVERNMENTS: EXPERIENCEOF BUSHENYI DISTRICT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The objectives of the case study are:

ƒ To give the experience of a District Local Government in combating

corruption and promoting transparency.

ƒ To put on record the good practices of curbing corruption in Local

Governments for replication in other areas.

This study gives a diagnosis of corruption in Uganda, the underlying causes

and its effects. Furthermore, it highlights the actions taken to combat

corruption at the District Local government level, the impacts of those

initiatives, the challenges faced in fighting corruption and the way forward.

The main lesson learnt is that corruption is a cancer that eats the social,
political and economic fabric of development and requires the involvement of

every citizen to combat it.

The case study recommends enhanced public awareness and strengthening of

institutions for fighting corruption.

1Curbing Corruption and Promoting Transparency in Local Governments: The Experience of

Bushenyi District, Uganda

______________________________________________________________________________
________________________

1. Background

Uganda adopted a system of democratic decentralisation to improve systems of

governance and foster economic growth especially in rural areas, both of which are

essential to eradicate poverty. Devolution is the model of decentralisation that was

adopted by the Government of Uganda. Through the policy of democratic

decentralisation significant powers, functions, responsibilities and resources were

devolved from the centre to Local Governments. Decentralisation in Uganda is

firmly based on the presumption that improved local governance can be achieved

through devolution of political powers and functions, along with fiscal resources,

and that this will improve service delivery and in turn positively impact on poverty.

The paradigm is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (1995)

and the Local Governments Act, 1997.

The Local Government system in Uganda is based on the district, as a unit under

which there are lower local governments and administrative units. There are fiftysix (56)
Districts in Uganda. Bushenyi District is one of the Districts in Uganda.

(Refer to Appendix 1 for details of Bushenyi District).

The decentralisation policy has been implemented with emphasis placed on

institutional arrangements, and capacity building. Many achievements have been

registered so far, with varying degree of success across the Districts in the country.
Government completed a phased devolution of recurrent financing for most

government services to all districts. A clear schedule of mandated service

responsibilities for Local Governments were established in the Local Governments

Act. Local governments are now responsible for the bulk of administrative and

political processes within their respective areas of jurisdiction. Various reports

point to improved local decision making, improved accountability and ownership of

public investments under Local Government control. There have also been

improved local administrative and planning capacities. In addition, elections of

Local Government Council leaders by universal adult suffrage, is a regular

occurrence.

Despite the achievements, many challenges have been faced. These include

inadequate capacity in Local Governments to handle the devolved functions and

responsibilities, reduced locally raised revenue in Districts and corruption. Various

measures have been put in place to deal with the challenges and significant

improvements have been registered. However, corruption remains a very big

challenge at all levels in the Country. Corruption manifests into two types namely

petty corruption and grand corruption.

This paper attempts to outline the experiences of Bushenyi District during the

implementation of the decentralisation policy and the measures taken to deal with

the various challenges, especially corruption. The paper brings out the forms of

corruption, the causes, the effects, measures taken to curb corruption, the

achievements and the challenges. The broad conclusion reached is that corruption

is a cancer that eats the social, political and economic fabric of development and

2Curbing Corruption and Promoting Transparency in Local Governments: The Experience of

Bushenyi District, Uganda
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________

requires the commitment and involvement of all stakeholders (including all levels

of Government, civil society organisations, private sector, and the citizenry) to

combat it.

2. The Mission of Bushenyi District Local Government

Bushenyi District mission is to provide quality services through a co-ordinated

delivery system, which focuses on the national and the local priorities for

sustainable development of the district.

3. Corruption in Local Governments

3.1 Definition of Corruption

The case study defines corruption in the Uganda context as “ a diversion from the

set/accepted norms in the course of performance of one’s public duties, for selfish

personal gain”.

3.2 Forms of Corruption

The major forms of corruption include abuse of office; fraud and embezzlement;

misappropriation of public funds and assets; paying for goods/services not

delivered (‘air supply’); paying salaries to non-existent workers (‘ghost employees’);

bribery and extortion; nepotism and favouritism.

3.3 Causes of Corruption

The underlying causes of corruption include poverty; peer group pressures;

political turbulence; weak institutional controls and supervision, moral decay,

greed and excessive ambitions; inadequate remuneration to public servants; and

HIV/AIDS scourge.

4. Measures Taken

The fight against corruption involves government, development partners, private

sector, civil society organisations and the citizenry. The Government has put in

place the legal and institutional framework to combat corruption. The development

partners have enhanced the capacity of Civil Society Organisations, Private Sector

and citizenry to monitor and complain about corruption at all levels of governance.

Efforts at both national and district levels have been evolved to combat corruption

in Uganda. At the national level, the legal framework exists that entails numerous

enacted laws and regulations to contain corruption and are enshrined in the

Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995. They are:

ƒ Local Government Act, 1997.

ƒ Local Government Act (Amendment 2001).

3Curbing Corruption and Promoting Transparency in Local Governments: The Experience of

Bushenyi District, Uganda

______________________________________________________________________________
________________________

ƒ Local Government Financial and Accounting Regulations (FAR 1998);

ƒ Leadership Code Act, 2002.

Furthermore, government has established institutions at National and District

level to fight corruption.

At National Level they include:

ƒ Inspector General of Government (IGG) – Ombudsman.

ƒ Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

ƒ Auditor General.

ƒ Directorate of Ethics and Integrity.

ƒ Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in police.

At district level, they include:

ƒ Internal Auditor Department (Answerable to District Council).

ƒ External Auditor Department.

ƒ District Council which operates through the following organs:

4 Council Committees

4 District Service Commission (DSC).

4 District Tender Board.

4 Local Government Public Accounts Committee.

4 District Land Board.

4.1 Actions Evolved to Fight Corruption in Bushenyi District

The measures taken by Bushenyi District to fight corruption include the following:

ƒ Functional Councils, Committees, Boards and Commissions.

ƒ Bottom–up participatory planning and budgeting.

ƒ Building consensus on resource allocation based on agreed priorities by

stakeholders.

ƒ Allocation of funds to sectors according to priorities and percentages approved

by council.

ƒ Effective Public Service Management.

ƒ Multi-sectoral monitoring of projects and programmes by both political leaders

and the technical staff.

ƒ Involvement of private sector and civil society in service delivery.

ƒ Timely production and submission of activity and financial reports to the

Finance Committee, District Executive Committee, District Council and Line

Ministries.

ƒ Launching and commissioning of projects in public.

4Curbing Corruption and Promoting Transparency in Local Governments: The Experience of

Bushenyi District, Uganda
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________

ƒ Public notices on resource allocation, projects to be implemented, their

locations and costs.

ƒ Information dissemination on projects using print and electronic media.

ƒ Effective Investment Committees at Sub-county level and Project Management

Committees (PMCs) at community level.

ƒ Mentoring of lower councils, private sector and civil society organisations.

ƒ Apprehending corrupt civil servants/political leaders and prosecuting them.

ƒ Public suggestion box.

4.1.1 Results

Bushenyi District Initiatives to combat corruption have yielded the following: -

ƒ Public funds are being spent on community priorities, for example: Primary

Health Services, Water and Sanitation, Education, Feeder Roads and

Agriculture Extension.

ƒ Increased community contribution, ownership and sustainability of projects.

ƒ Good working relationship between political leaders and the technical officers.

ƒ Increased involvement and participation of civil society organisations and

private sector in service delivery.

ƒ Enhanced service delivery in the district, e.g. District revenues have increased

from Ushs.13.9 billion in 1998 to Ushs.26.4 billion. In the same period water

coverage increased from 51% to 62.5%, while Feeder Roads coverage increased

from 670kms to 810kms in 2002. Out of these kilometres, 65% are well

maintained.

ƒ Recruitment and retention of qualified and competent personnel in public

service
ƒ Selection of competent contractors.

ƒ Increased public awareness on key issues of development and corruption.

ƒ Adherence to financial regulations.

ƒ Apprehending, prosecuting, interdicting and dismissal of corrupt civil servants.

4.1.2 Challenges

The following challenges are being faced while fighting corruption:

ƒ Low household incomes and high dependency burden on civil servants and

political leaders.

ƒ Inadequate resources to facilitate the process of fighting corruption.

ƒ Very high salary compression ratio (1:75 i.e. Lowest earns Ug. Shs. 60,000 (US$

33) and highest earns Ug. Shs. 4,500,000= (US $2,500)

ƒ Political influence and moral decadence of society.

ƒ HIV /AIDS scourge.

4.2 Inter-District Measures to Fight Corruption

Given the challenges faced by the Districts and lower local governments during the

implementation of the decentralisation policy, the local governments formed Local

Government Associations, namely the Uganda Local Authorities Association (ULAA)

5Curbing Corruption and Promoting Transparency in Local Governments: The Experience of

Bushenyi District, Uganda

______________________________________________________________________________
________________________

and Urban Authorities Association of Uganda (UAAU). The mission of the

Associations is to unite all Local Governments and to build democratic and

accountable Local Governments capable of delivering efficient and sustainable

public services. The role of the associations is to build unity of Local Governments

in order to advocate and lobby for their interests at Central Government level.
Amidst accusations of increased corruption in local governments and calls for recentralisation to
‘reduce powers of local governments’ and thus ‘curb’ corruption,

the local government associations formulated a Charter on Accountability and

Ethical Code of Conduct to strengthen Local Governments’ commitment to uphold

the principles of accountability, transparency and integrity. The Charter was

adopted by all Local Governments at a National Conference on decentralisation on

23rd

April 2003.

5. Recommendations to Strengthen the Fight against Corruption

To curb corruption at all levels, the following recommendations need to be adhered

to:

ƒ Increased Political commitment to fight corruption

ƒ Intensified Capacity building in Planning, financial management, investigation

and prosecution of corruption cases.

ƒ Strengthen co-operation and collaboration between the government and civil

society organisations in service delivery and fight against corruption

ƒ Establish mechanisms to ensure greater accountability and control over

corruption.

ƒ Increase public awareness on corruption through the print and electronic

media.

ƒ Increase citizen participation in governance

ƒ Efforts to fight HIV/AIDS should be strengthened.

6. Conclusion

Corruption is a cancer that eats the social and economic fabric of development,

people need to be involved in the planning, formulation and implementation of

anti-corruption programmes for them to be successful.

6