WUNRN
DAWN - Development Alternatives with
Women for a New Era
RECONSTRUCTING GOVERNANCE TOWARDS AN
EQUALITY OF THE HIGHEST STANDARDS
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By Marina Durano |
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Accounting for our Powers Let me begin with a quotation from Prof. Peter Evans who wrote
on the role of institutions in development. He said that, “The better part of
human needs and desires are culturally constructed. Enabling people to
construct and reconstruct their aims is as basic a task of institutions as
enabling people to satisfy the needs and desires that have been constructed[1].” This last phrase of enabling people to satisfy their needs and
desires is at the core of the Millenium Development Goals. The outcome
document that is currently being negotiated devotes several paragraphs on
ways of improving our abilities to achieve the MDGs. On the other hand, the idea of “enabling people to construct and
re-construct their aims” receives much less attention. And, by this neglect,
we accept the perpetuation of a type of disempowerment. There will be people
who are unable to construct and re-construct their aims. When this neglect
occurs in the presence of social hierarchies, be they based on gender, caste,
ethnicity, then there will be difficulties in overcoming these inequalities
and exclusions. I raise these issues because our subject is accountability. It
is difficult to discuss accountability without discussing issues of power and
empowerment[2]. So that today, as we
account for our performance we must also account for our powers. Accountability among Unequally Powerful States Letʼs take MDG 8, a global partnership for development.
Progress with this goal, and more broadly, in the area of financing for
development is important for gender equality and womenʼs empowerment
because of its potential for expanding fiscal space. In order for
gender-related indicators to catch up with the progress of others, more
resources are needed. The additional resources for MDG 3 and MDG 5 will not
come from a re-allocation of existing budgets because the overall shortfall
for the rest of the MDGs is still very large. In addition, a re-allocation of
resources places gender equality goals in competition with other MDGs. Thatʼs
a losing proposition. The expectation here is that the global partnership for
development will create an enabling environment for the expansion of fiscal
space. An accountability question arises. What happens if MDG 8 falls
short of these expectations? One response in a state centered multilateral
system is to change the configuration of political alignments as way of
shifting the balance of power and influence. In between, for example, G-20
and the UN, the Global Governance Group or the 3Gs came together seeking
consultation, inclusion and transparency. It is an imperfect response because it is never clear how the
attempted shift in balance of power translates into a new policy directions.
A heavy burden is on the presumably sovereign but very likely weak state. A
partnership on MDG 3 and MDG 5 needs to be based on new policy directions.
Some of these are: a sovereign debt workout mechanism and exit strategies
from aid can help to lower dependence on unpredictable, volatile, and
politically-weighted external financing sources. Ensuring that public
financial management reforms integrate gender-responsive budgeting recognizes
the value of efficiency and accountability while seeking to improve the
balance of outcomes among beneficiaries of public finances. Putting in place
a system of automatic macroeconomic stabilizers along with flexible use of
counter-cyclical policies and capital controls recognize that macroeconomic
conditions are subjected to external events that are beyond the control of
many governments, particularly those who are not systemically-significant. Contested Powers of the Nation-State The expansion of fiscal space and policy space does not bring
guarantees of success as the experience of Nigeria suggests. Nigeria is one
of the biggest beneficiaries of debt relief arrangements. It is also
receiving additional aid for the MDGs. Nigeria established an Office of the
Senior Special Assistant to the President on the MDGs, which manages funds
for various MDG-related projects. In addition an institutional infrastructure
is present, including the involvement of state governments and two Millenium
Villages. Despite the high-level attention, the extensive infrastructure,
debt relief, new aid, and economic growth, progress in poverty reduction
remains slow. From an accountability perspective, there might still be some
appeal to this topdown approach because within state structures and in a
constitutional democracy, there are internal accountability mechanisms that
are fairly straightforward and established. In addition to the usual checks
and balances across branches of government, there might be, for example,
possibilities of using litigitation as a way of securing rights. Womenʼs
organizations in India have used this approach to improve service provision
in some states. But there is more. Accountability mechanisms exist within
political processes. These mechanisms mediate political relations among
diverse social groups beingserved by state structures. A challenge in this
setting of competing demands on state structures is that promoting gender
equality and womenʼs empowerment is not a universally-accepted value,
even when it is enshrined in formal laws, rules and structures. It is easy to think of equal and inclusive partnerships for MDG
3 and MDG 5 as increasing the participation of womenʼs organizations and
networks in planning and programming and delivery of interventions.
Certainly, among the Mexican states, even with differential trends in health
provision due to decentralization, there are notable gains where there is
high civil society engagement with the state and with the health system. But
part of the political work happens to be about defending the gains from being
eroded by groups that do not subscribe to gender equality. At other times, the political work is about stopping social
programs[3] from making things worse.
Take conditional cash transfer programs. These have been criticized for
adding burdens on poor womenʼs time because it relies on her
volunteerism to deliver the milk to her neighbors[4] or to bring her children to
school. We need to be more conscious of womenʼs responsibilities for
care. These impinge upon the time available Our Task of Empowerment Our task of empowerment is a crucial element in the building of
institutions for development. Where else will we derive the information that
we need to improve upon our efforts? Only from the voices of those we claim
to serve. Institutions of governance and accountability thrive on empowered
peoples. I am tempted to look to the Nordic model of the welfare state for
inspiration, which was described by Jon Magnussen, Karsten Vrangbaek and
Richard Saltman in this way: “At the core of this welfare model lies the
principle of universalism and broad public participation in various areas of
economic and social life, which is intended to promote an equality of the
highest standards rather than an equality of minimal needs[5].” September is our
opportunity to create an enabling environment to construct and reconstruct
our aims towards an equality of the highest standards. *** Presented at the Thematic Session 2: Equal and
inclusive partnerships: Accountability in the fight against poverty (Informal
Interactive Hearings of the General Assembly on the Millenium Development
Goals, 14-15 June 2010, United Nations Headquarters in New York) |
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