Making their voice count
Working together
Gaining ground against poverty
Success stories
Resources
Contact

Corruption has a strong presence in the lives of disadvantaged groups. They face it in the struggle for resources, justice or in a simple visit to a health care centre. Often, they find that their protest against corruption goes unheard or is met with force.

TI’s global and national surveys confirm how little faith is placed in politicians, public administrations and the police in addressing corruption. The lack of trust that comes with corruption has a lasting impact, undermining participation in democratic processes and increasing social and economic exclusion. International and domestic investment to increase living standards and lift people out of poverty, have limited impact when fundamental failures in governance remain unaddressed.

Transparency International (TI) is partnering with other civil society organisations and disadvantaged populations to ensure that corruption is overcome and local needs are prioritised. It is the main victims of corruption, those already disadvantaged and excluded, that have the greatest stake in fighting corruption.

TI’s Development Pacts work to achieve just this. These voluntary agreements allow TI Chapters to work with committed public officials that are keen to demonstrate their integrity and deliver on promises. The Pacts are based on local priorities, be it service delivery, infrastructure or greater participation in local planning. They bring together local politicians, public officials, service providers, service recipients and other citizens, who agree on a joint roadmap to prevent corruption and ensure tangible results.

The agreement is especially relevant to political representatives because their time in office is directly dependent on individual votes. The Pact offers them a means to providing credible evidence of their commitment to disadvantaged constituencies. At the same time, the Pact offers an opportunity to re-engage the general public disillusioned with political leadership.

Based on the notion of a social contract, the pacts are used to ensure a just and fair society combined with the premise of a private sector contract that presumes clear deliverables and timelines. Development Pacts introduce greater contractual specificity, incentives and sanctions into the relationship between those that entrust power to the government and those that exercise it on their behalf.

Disadvantaged populations, social movements and civil society increasingly demonstrate their power to shape public debates and influence the outcomes of elections. In engaging with Government, TI Chapters work closely with development NGOs, community level organisations, women’s movements, youth volunteers, and media.

The pacts provide a win-win situation for all parties. In addition to receiving improved services, citizens find that their needs are listened to and respected. An atmosphere of transparency and accountability allows the work of well-performing politicians and officials to be recognised, while problems can be quickly identified. Cutting corruption out of the chain is shown to be to everyone's benefit.

Development Pacts

• Focus anti-corruption efforts on local development priorities
• Ensure greater inclusiveness and a transparent mediation of interests – preventing private gain at public cost
• Contribute to political competition based on concrete issues
• Augment existing efforts towards development effectiveness and social accountability

TI chapters and contact groups in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, India, Liberia, Uganda and Zambia are currently at the forefront of experimenting with Development Pacts. TI chapters in South Asia are approaching the Pacts as a regional effort.

Bangladesh

A TI Bangladesh survey revealed that 53.4 per cent of households who had come into contact with local government bodies reported experiencing some form of corruption. In response, the chapter introduced the pacts at 18 local institutions. The results have been dramatic. In participating schools incidences of bribery have stopped, the distribution of scholarships and text books is fair and transparent, the number of students dropping out has decreased, enrolment has increased and examination results have improved. At the local government level, the quality of services provided has improved and humanitarian relief, pensions and birth/death certificates are now issued according to legal procedure.

The chapter has pioneered the Integrity Pledge, which builds on Development Pacts and has succeeded in committing entire local government bodies to greater integrity in decision-making on public service delivery.

India

When TI India's surveys showed that poor rural households reported paying significant bribes each year to access free government services, the chapter started a grassroots initiative to help 8,000 rural families living in poverty access direly needed public services and state welfare schemes. They began by raising awareness among the families, local politicians, officials and civil society groups, about local governance processes, right to information legislation and the citizen’s charter. The Development Pact is building on these efforts in a number of states, including challenging ones such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh where TI India can build on its existing engagement.

Africa

As part of a ‘Poverty & Corruption in Africa’ Project, TI chapters in Ghana, Liberia, Uganda and Zambia are working through local organisations to identify and engage committed public officials on the Development Pacts. Using existing efforts in Government and the political leadership, concepts such as the ‘social contracts’ and borrowing ideas from neighbouring countries such as Kenya, TI Chapters are developing strategies to make the Pacts a tool of choice of political and administrative representatives.

Civil society organisations that have been approached for a closer partnership on the Pacts see its advantage in the greater responsiveness to local priorities during budget preparation. TI Chapters are equipping local communities with video cameras and training to produce short films on the conditions they face – concrete evidence on which to base their demands for better services. These videos also intend to accompany and support the dialogue between public officials and local communities.

Through them, communities can easily demonstrate and widely disseminate the direct benefits of engaging public officials along with the development outcomes that can be expected when all parties act with integrity.

Overview: Poverty and development work at TI

Poverty and Corruption in Africa (PCA)

Call for promoting integrity pledge for ensuring accountable and participatory governance at local level

India: Pact to make politicians more accountable

RTI powers change in Chhattisgarh villages

Transparency and Integrity in Service Delivery in Africa programme

Previous work on poverty and corruption

Accra Aid Forum and corruption

UN Millennium Development Goals

Kulan Amin
Programme Manager, Poverty and Development
Global Programmes Department
Tel. +49-30-3438 20-411
E-mail. kamin@transparency.org