Governance and corruption

 

Faith institutions, networks and leaders are active in issues of governance in international development. Faith leaders are often allies from Civil Society for good governance and public sector accountability at the country-level. As our knowledge of the effects of good governance on development policy and government programs grows, the roles of faith leaders and communities may take on greater importance. Some of the questions that require analytical work include the following: How are faith institutions, networks and leaders engaged directly, if at all, in the global effort to improve public governance and increase accountability? Are they capable of being effective stakeholders in the greater corruption and transparency dialogue? What short-term and long-term goals can these leaders and institutions play in the global call for improved governance and transparency worldwide? While some of these issues have been discussed in several DDVE events, the empirical evidence for these discussions remains rather weak.

DDVE’s work in the area of governance and corruption is being conducted in partnership with the World Bank Institute. The main project consists in a more systematic analysis than has been conducted so far of a number of recent surveys implemented by the World Bank Institute in order to better measure corruption. For each country, three types of surveys are typically available: household survey, firm surveys, and surveys of public officials. DDVE is focusing first on analyzing the surveys conducted at the household level in a dozen countries. Preliminary and partial results from this work have been reflected in the 2008 poverty assessment for Sierra Leone prepared by the World Bank team. We anticipate to replicate and expand the Sierra Leone analysis to four to six sub-Saharan African countries, two or three countries from Latin America, and two countries from North Africa and the Middle East.

Another way in which the DDVE team is conducting work on governance and corruption is by providing support to better document the experience of World Bank country teams in relying in part on faith-based organizations (FBOs) or faith leaders to promote good governance in the implementation of World Bank projects. In Togo for example, in a recent community driven development project funded by a LICUS grant, the World Bank team and the government agreed that regional councils allocating funds to local projects should include one member who has moral standing within the community, and this often turns out to be a faith leader. Documenting these and other similar practices can help in explaining the gains that can be achieved through participation of FBOs and faith leaders in local development projects.