Open for Development Achieving Greater Post-2015 Results Through an Open Design Process, Monitoring System and Data Portals Executive Summary
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Open For Development Achieving Greater Post-2015 Results through an Open Design Process, Monitoring System and Data Portals Executive Summary The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have contributed to unprecedented progress in the fight against global poverty. To further accelerate progress in the run-up to the MDG deadline in 2015, and to ensure sustained progress beyond this date, there is an urgent need for greater transparency about investments made in tackling development challenges and about the specific outcomes achieved. Openness – especially transparency, accountability and public participation – must be at the heart of the post-2015 development framework. ONE – along with Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), Development Initiatives, Fundar (Mexico), Global Witness, Global Movement for Budget Transparency, Accountability and Participation, Integrity Action, International Budget Partnership, Luta Hamutuk Institute (Timor Leste), Publish What You Fund, Publish What You Pay, Revenue Watch Institute, Transparency International, W3C (Brasil) – is calling on the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons (HLP), the UN Secretary-General and UN Member States to put transparency and accountability at the centre of the new framework by establishing an open design process, a clear monitoring framework and open accountability portals. Specifically, we urge the HLP to consider the following concrete recommendations: • Recommendation 1: The HLP should capacity, and collect and report on recommend that the UN Secretary- achieved outcomes related to the agreed General’s report to Member States includes development goals and targets. This a quantitative overview of survey-based reporting should be executed on a regular consultations, with concrete proposals and timely basis (e.g. an annual or quarterly for ensuring that input from citizens in cycle with minimal time lags). developing countries forms the core of the new framework. • Recommendation 4: The HLP should Openness and information recommend that UN Member States must be at the heart of the • Recommendation 2: The HLP should commit to identifying, creating and recommend that UN Member States (both publicising opportunities for citizens to post-2015 framework developing and developed nations) report engage in the planning, monitoring and on investments deployed in pursuit of evaluation of efforts related to achieving the development goals and targets to be the agreed goals and targets. agreed. This reporting should be done on a regular, methodologically consistent • Recommendation 5: The HLP should and timely basis. recommend that the UN, the World Bank or other appropriate actors establish, on • Recommendation 3: The HLP should either a national or a harmonised global recommend that UN Member States basis, user-friendly public platforms that commit to provide significant investments provide relevant data in line with emerging in developing countries’ statistical standards for open data. 2 1. Overview In 2000, leaders from 189 Fundamentally, the MDGs helped to launch a • Open design process: Utilising traditional new era that finally took advantage of the end and new technologies and inclusive countries laid out a bold new of the Cold War by putting poverty reduction at practices to solicit and respond to the most vision to tackle global poverty and the top of the global development agenda. They pressing concerns and priorities of ordinary disease by 2015. The Millennium provided a guide for designing policies, allocating people, especially those living in poverty; resources and tracking progress towards Declaration – and the subsequent poverty reduction. They are widely credited • Clear monitoring framework: Collecting Millennium Development Goals with reversing longstanding trends of under- reliable, timely and accessible information investment, by both external and domestic about investments and outcomes; (MDGs) – rallied the world around actors, in agriculture, health, education and a set of global targets aimed basic infrastructure. This suggests that the • Open accountability portals: Investing in at halving extreme poverty, post-2015 framework – informed by extensive open, accessible data platforms that enable UN-led consultations, conferences and citizens and other stakeholders to monitor improving health and education debates – could define how the world results. outcomes and increasing access combats development challenges for at least a generation. These principles are critical to the post- to clean water and sanitation 2015 framework, but relevant stakeholders systems. Since then, the world In late January 2013, the High-level Panel should not wait until 2016 to mainstream has made dramatic progress of Eminent Persons (HLP) meet in Liberia to them into development practices. Many of begin drafting recommendations for the post- these recommended actions can be pursued towards achieving many of these 2015 framework. The report the HLP submits immediately, which will help to better goals, such as: to the UN Secretary-General is expected to incorporate citizen participation, transparency, strongly influence the ultimate shape of the new data improvements and accountability into the • Providing 6.2 million Africans with development architecture. To build upon the final push to achieve the existing MDGs. antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS, success of the existing MDGs, while addressing compared with only 50,000 a decade ago;1 their limitations, especially the scandalous lack • Cutting malaria by 75% in eight African of investment in statistics and quality data, countries;2 ONE – along with Center for Transparency and • Saving over 5.5 million lives through Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), Development the greater availability and utilisation Initiatives, Fundar (Mexico), Global Witness, of vaccines;3 Global Movement for Budget Transparency, • Enrolling an additional 50.8 million children Accountability and Participation, Integrity in primary schools across Africa between Action, International Budget Partnership, Luta 1999 and 2010;4 Hamutuk Institute (Timor Leste), Publish What • Providing access to improved drinking You Fund, Publish What You Pay, Revenue Watch water for over two billion people worldwide Institute, Transparency International, W3C between 1990 and 2010;5 (Brasil) – is calling on the HLP, the UN Secretary- • Reducing the number of undernourished General and UN Member States to put people in Latin America by 15 million, from transparency and accountability at the centre 57 million in 1990 to 42 million in 2012;6 and of the new framework by ensuring an open • Lifting 600 million people out of extreme design process, a clear monitoring framework 8 poverty between 1990 and 2008.7 and open accountability portals: 4 2. The Millennium Development Goals, 12 Years On A Game-Changing Legacy FIGURE 1: MDG PROGRESS BY TARGET AREA, ALL DEVELOPING COUNTRIES10 Over the past decade, many developing countries have achieved 90 unparalleled rates of progress 80 in areas such as reducing child 70 mortality, combating HIV/AIDS, 60 malaria and other infectious 50 diseases, and increasing primary 40 school completion rates.9 Based 30 upon the latest available data 20 and observed trends, at least 60 10 developing countries are “on track” NUMBER OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 0 to reach the extreme poverty, EXTREME HUNGER EDUCATION GENDER CHILD MATERNAL HIV/AIDS WATER POVERTY EQUALITY MORTALITY MORTALITY gender equality, child mortality and water MDGs (Figure 1). ON TRACK PARTIALLY ON TRACK OFF TRACK INSUFFICIENT DATA The MDGs have played a central role in Source: World Bank World Development Indicators and author calculations this progress, through the mobilisation of unprecedented political, financial and programmatic resources. In many ways, the goals have helped to shift the development discourse away from an exclusive focus on monetary inputs and increasingly towards achieving concrete outcomes. Moreover, their global, universal nature has meant that leaders in every country across the globe can be held accountable for achieving the collective targets. 6 After two decades of structural adjustment In turn, many developing countries made programmes that focused on tackling poverty their own financial commitments, which were through macroeconomic reform, often at the broadly aligned with the MDGs. For example, expense of social services, the MDGs have also African countries promised to allocate 15% put renewed focus on the needs of the poorest and 10%, respectively, of their annual budgets people. Health, education, water and other towards health and agriculture.15 Due to the social issues have been placed at the top of the consistent growth of regional economies, this development agenda. There is evidence that has meant a rapid expansion in domestic public a large number of developing countries have expenditures on MDG-related priorities.16 built the MDGs (or locally adapted versions) into their own domestic planning processes Beyond these commitments to increase and budgetary frameworks.11 Moreover, many resources, donors and developing countries International © Transparency donor nations and organisations have fully launched a number of other critical initiatives in UN member states agreed to a mechanism to internalised this approach, utilising the MDGs the years following the adoption of the MDGs, monitor implementation of the United Nations as a blueprint for expanding their programmes. including additional debt relief through the Convention against