AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST Our chapter in Mozambique is working with partners ranging from community-based organisations to high-ranking government officials to reduce poverty and improve citizen access to critical services. Centro de Integridade Publica has built relationships with officials who oversee the country’s poverty reduction strategies. Locally, the chapter works with civil society groups to improve the delivery of medical, water, education and other basic services, conduct anti-corruption training and enhance local governance. Community radio stations interview citizens about perceived abuses by authorities, and local campaigners use participatory videoing to ensure that citizens’ concerns are heard.
AMERICAS In August 2010, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court sided with Acción Ciudadana by ruling that the chapter should be granted access to the beneficiaries list of a government social programme. The chapter was concerned that the ‘My Family is Making Progress’ (Mi Familia Progresa) initiative – which pays parents to send their children to school, and pregnant women to go to the doctor – was subject to clientelism and corruption. The chapter is pleased to receive access and hopes that the appeal challenging the confidentiality of this information will set a precedent for many as-yet unprocessed information requests.
// PUTTING COMMUNITIES IN THE DRIVING SEAT Corruption strikes disadvantaged communities harder than most, forcing people to pay for services that should be for free, and undermining development. To address this issue, we are working in six SubSaharan African countries to build community capacity and empower vulnerable individuals so that they can take a lead in the fight against corruption. By bringing service providers and receivers together, local officials can demonstrate their commitment to their communities, and the public can hold them to account. We believe that this collaboration is critical to creating a more effective and sustainable platform for change. In 2010, communities in Ghana and Sierra Leone formed monitoring groups to enhance transparency in the provision of basic services and the work of public officials. In Liberia, citizens implemented poverty watch councils that engage with government agencies to identify how poverty alleviation efforts can be improved. Our chapter in Mozambique partnered with community radio stations to broadcast call-in conversations between service providers and citizens reporting abuses. In all six countries, local communities received training in how to plan, shoot, direct and edit their own films. These ‘participatory videos’ are powerful tools for demonstrating how corruption affects people’s lives, and what they want to see changed.
ASIA PACIFIC Our Development Pacts (see p.54) have been signed in the Indian states of Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Led by TI India, the agreements encourage poor and marginalised people to monitor water, healthcare, transportation and other public services. Regular reviews on the progress of the pacts are made available for public review. An additional pact was negotiated at local government level in the state of Rajasthan.
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Transparency International Annual Report 2010