Donors are reluctant to assist in flood relief efforts because the recommendations of a workshop organised by Transparency International Pakistan in 2006 to support measures and curb the risk of corruption, mismanagement in the country's reconstruction efforts following October 2005 earthquake were not followed by the government.
The International Workshop on Transparent Utilisation of Earthquake Reconstruction Funds Islamabad, held on 7 and 8 February 2006 in its draft conclusions and recommendations for action identified, among other things, framework of relevant good practice and stakeholder responsibilities to be taken by government, local and international civil society and donors. The workshop, which was convened by Transparency International and Transparency International Pakistan (TI-P), saw participation from key government agencies, international donors and experts, and both national and international civil society organisations.
At the opening session of the workshop, the then Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, had emphasised his government's commitment to transparency in the earthquake relief and reconstruction, making enforcement and audit stronger, and ensuring that funds are appropriately managed and benefit the affected people. The workshop drew on lessons learned from the response to previous disasters, in particular the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, as well as considering the specific context of the Pakistan earthquake and the national considerations applicable to it. The following are excerpts from TI workshop's draft conclusions and recommendations for action:
The Government of Pakistan, non-governmental organisations, the private sector, donors and international governmental organisations shall work together with affected communities to ensure transparency in aid delivery and that relief and reconstruction efforts are not tainted by corruption. This enhanced collective action should strengthen trust between stakeholders and lead to more effective channelling of resources to affected communities.
The involvement of affected communities and vulnerable social groups in decisions relating to relief and reconstruction lies at the heart of effective and transparent aid strategies. The active participation of affected communities in relief and reconstruction decisions should be encouraged and facilitated by all stakeholders to minimise the risk of corruption.
In particular, affected communities should be involved from the earliest stages of relief, through to the design, implementation and evaluation of long-term reconstruction activities. Such participation ensures a greater sense of ownership over reconstruction plans and increases the likelihood of their success. Indeed, following past disasters, in situ owner-driven reconstruction of private housing has proved to be particularly effective where properly supervised.
The principle of subsidiary should be followed wherever possible ie decisions relating to relief and reconstruction and its implementation should be taken at the most local level possible to facilitate greater accountability to affected communities. In this regard, as relief efforts come to an end and the task of long term reconstruction begins, a realistic plan for transferring responsibilities from federal civilian and military authorities to local elected institutions should be devised by the government of Pakistan on the basis of broad consultation.
Ensuring full transparency in aid flows and in the allocation and distribution process is vital. Given the expected high level of aid to be given over the coming months and years, public disclosure of all aid flows should be ensured and robust systems of accounting and oversight established.
In particular, all information from all stakeholders should be co-ordinated through a national tracking system specially designed to respond to the emergency. Such a tracking system will contribute to co-ordinating, monitoring and managing the overall rebuilding effort.
Non-transparent or closed procurement systems can lead to the diversion of resources away from intended beneficiaries through corruption or uncompetitive processes. Effective independent monitoring and evaluation is key to ensuring the transparent implementation of relief and reconstruction programmes, including both procurement and service deliver. The development and application of mechanisms to facilitate such monitoring is of vital importance.
In particular, effective internal control and external auditing (including real time and field audits) should be complemented by community-led approaches, such as people's audits, that reinforce accountability towards affected peoples. Such approaches should be promoted by the government and by donors and all stakeholders should implement necessary action to rectify problems identified.
All stakeholders should commit themselves to maintain adequate accounts and provide timely, transparent, comprehensive and accessible information on programming, aid flows, and expenditure. Accountability to beneficiaries is vital as are both horizontal and upwards accountability.
Ensuring appropriate mechanisms and capacity to capture complaints of abuse, investigate potential corruption cases and enforce anti-corruption measures is also of vital importance. Accessible grievance procedures, including corruption reporting channels and protection for whistleblowers and witnesses, should be provided in the context of relief and reconstruction efforts.
In particular, grievance procedures should cover private and public sector employees, the media, and the general public; a toll-free telephone number should be established to allow public complaints to be registered and handled effectively; citizen complaints boxes should be put in place to make reporting of abuse easier; sufficient resources and capacity need to be made available to the institutions responsible for dealing and following up to complaints; PPRA shall make an effective monitoring mechanism for Compliances of the Public Procurement Rules 2004. Auditor General Pakistan and National Accountability Bureau to make special cell in their departments to monitor the Procurement Awards; aid beneficiaries should also be provided access to complaints mechanisms in humanitarian organisations, opening up effective new methods of project evaluation and corruption detection.
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