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DPMF Publications: |
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Opening Address by Executive Secretary of UN Economic Commission for
Africa (K.Y. Amoako) |
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It is my privilege and honour to welcome you to this UN Conference Centre and to this Forum on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa.
Mr. Chairman, if you allow me, I will now proceed to read the statement.
It gives me great pleasure to greet you at the start of the 6th Annual Scientific Conference of the Development Policy Management Forum (DPMF) as we have had a productive relationship with the Forum since it was established.
For us at ECA, the timing of this year’s conference is especially apt and this year’s theme is highly relevant, as they link very closely with the work we are currently engaged in. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to briefly share with you our thoughts on the conceptual question ‘‘Democracy, Sustainable Development and Poverty: Are They Compatible?’’ so as to provide a quick ‘‘first course’’ for what I hope will be fruitful discussions over the next three days. We are, in essence, exploring the links between democracy and poverty reduction in two ways: firstly, via our own research and analysis; and secondly, by promoting dialogue on the subject via the African Learning Group on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP).
Firstly, our analysis: Poverty reduction and sustainable development are the key challenges facing our continent today, and we at ECA believe that good governance is a necessary condition for meeting these challenges. ECA was one of the very first agencies in the international system to highlight the link between governance and economic growth, over a decade ago, and we have since deepened our research in the field.
Our analysis has shown us that governance is perhaps the most critical factor in development. While governance gone wrong impedes progress, governance done well accelerates progress.
Recent empirical work has shown that increases in per capital income are usually, though not always, accompanied by reductions in poverty rates. There is also evidence that democratic institutions have a positive impact on poverty. As a result, there is a presumption in many circles that good governance alleviates poverty. Additionally, there is evidence that popular participation in local and national decisions helps to improve the quality of government projects.
It is clear that although democracy is a difficult process that requires vigilance and constant nurturing, it is absolutely essential to good governance. The issue for us in Africa is not whether to democratise, but how and how soon. We Africans have a tendency at times to excuse ourselves from genuine democracy. I think this has to end. Democracy, its accompanying rights of expression, and other freedoms are the ultimate insurance of all the reforms we are trying to implement to create a better future for our continent and its peoples. There is no substitute. Accountable and transparent systems, political liberalisation, the rule of law and respect for human rights are the bedrock of a democratic state.
But democracy is not sufficient to assure the governance structure a modern state requires. A capable state must be crafted carefully, and we must learn from each other what works under what conditions. While the ends of the capable state seem clear to all, the means are an art form. At ECA we define the capable state as one based on accountable and transparent systems, political liberalisation, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
In the realm of sound economic management, the obligations of the capable state are many: ensuring a stable macroeconomic environment; designing and implementing poverty–reduction policies; successfully convincing the political leadership of the urgency to act on key policy matters affecting the economy; and providing space for all stakeholders to contribute to and benefit from the nation’s economy. The focus on economic governance can, therefore, not be complete without addressing issues of public expenditure allocations, civil service reforms, public sector retrenchments, capacity building based on merit, a code of professional ethics, transparent and accountable resource mobilisation, and tax administration.
So how then do policy makers know whether or not their governance processes are as effective as possible in the battle against poverty? How can they judge the capability of their state?
We at ECA are well aware that much more work needs to be done on indicators to measure governance. This is why the findings of the ECA project on Monitoring Governance will hopefully be especially helpful. Drawing on our definition of a capable state, the project is clustered around three key components of governance: political representation, institutional capacity, and economic management and corporate governance. For each component, we ask a number of critical questions.
On political representation: What constitutional provisions exist for political transition? How predictable are elections? How competitive is the electoral process? How effective is the state in ensuring peace and security? How deep is the equity and representation of different segments of society, including gender?
On institutional capacity: What is the capability and skill of the national legislature to carry out its duty? How efficient and capable are the executive and administration branches? How independent are the judiciary, law enforcement and regulatory bodies? How efficient and responsive is government services delivery to the poor?
On economic management and corporate governance: How efficient and socially equitable is revenue collection and distribution? What systems and processes are available for the adoption of internationally recognised standards and codes? Does a legal and institutional framework exist to facilitate the efficient functioning of the private sector? Is there provision of special financial services targeted at the poor, including rural credit and access to financial services?
The
project is employing three surveying instruments: an opinion–based focus group
that seeks to collect responses from experts knowledgeable on the issues under
each of the three clusters; a national household survey that seeks the
perception of the general adult population; and a statistical instrument
administered by our collaborating research institutes to gather factual
information and hard data.
Our indicators have already been field-tested in Benin and South Africa with fairly robust outcomes, and we are now working closely with national research institutions to implement country level surveys in 14 countries. We will present our findings at forums, where we can engage our member states and other stakeholders in dialogue, to promote buy–in and consensus. On the basis of this, we then plan to publish the first “Africa Governance Report,” a flagship biennial publication. ECA has been mandated to lead the work on New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD)’s Economic and Corporate Governance Initiative, and so the findings from our monitoring governance project will provide substantive technical input into the implementation of the NEPAD.
As I mentioned at the onset, we are also seeking to learn more about the link between democracy, sustainable development and poverty via the African Learning Group on the PRSPs. This ECA initiative was launched this year to provide a forum in which senior African policy makers and civil society experts from ten countries could share their national experiences of the PRSP process in order to identify best practices that can be replicated, flag institutions and capacity constraints, and recommend actions to remedy these constraints.
At the Learning Group deliberations at the beginning of last month here in Addis Ababa, there was consensus that the PRSP process is important and significant because it creates more room for a balanced dialogue between all stakeholders and establishes a basis for transparency and better resources mobilisation.
In some cases, this new emphasis on participation of the poor in the formulation of poverty reduction and development policy was said to give them a voice where macro–level democratic institutions such as the national parliament failed. This to me is clear evidence of the compatibility of democracy and the creation of pro–poor development strategies. However, I will stress that democracy must seek to effectively empower the poor in order to be effective in this field. Participation must also be embedded in the system of governance at all levels in order for sustainable development to take root.
Our work in this challenging field is ongoing and we welcome your constructive critique as we search for a better understanding of governance processes, mechanisms and policies in order to promote an analytically founded dialogue on governance.
For now, I hope that my overview of ECA’s work on the links between good governance and poverty reduction has provided you with a better understanding of where we started as far as this forum’s conceptual question is concerned. We look forward in joining you all in productive discussions over the coming days.
Thank you.