Un Pan 021716Public Sector Transparency and Accountability in Selected Arab Countries: Policies and Practices

8/21/2019 Un Pan 021716Public Sector Transparency and Accountability in Selected Arab Countries: Policies and Practices

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Publ ic Sector Transparency and Accountabi lit y in Selected Arab Countries:Policies and Pract ices

Public Sector Transparency

and Accountability

in Selected Arab Countries:

Policies and Practices

United Nat ions

Department of Economic a nd Social Affairs

Division for Public Administration

and Development Management

United Nat ions Development Programme

Regional Bureau for Arab States

ST/ESA/PAD/SER.E/71

Economic

SocialAffairs


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Public Sector Transparencyand Accountability

in Selected Arab Countries:

Policies and Practices

Department of Economic and Social AffairsDivision for Public Administration

and Development Manag ement

United NationsNew York, 2004

United Nations Development ProgrammeRegional Bureau for Arab States

ST/ESA/PAD/SER.E/71


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ii

The Department of Econom ic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is a vital interfa ce bet ween g loba l poli-cies in the economic, social and environmenta l spheres and na tional act ion. The Department w orks in three main inter-linked a reas: (i) it compiles, generates a nd a nalyses a w ide range o f economic,social and environmental data and infor-mation on which States Members of the United Nations draw to review common problems and to t ake stock of policyoptions; (ii) it facilitates the neg otiat ions of Member Sta tes in many intergovernment al bod ies on joint courses of actionto a ddress ongo ing or emerging g lobal challenges; and (iii) it advises interested Governments on the w ays and means oftranslating policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes at the countrylevel and, through technical a ssistance, helps build national capa cities.

MISSION STATEMENT

The designat ions employed and the presenta tion of the ma terial in this publication do not imply the expression of anyopinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country,territory,city or area,or of its authorities,or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The designations developed and developing economies are intended for statistical convenience and do no tnecessarily imply a judgement a bout the sta ge reached by a pa rticular country or area in the d evelopment process.

The term country as used in the t ext of this publication also refers, as appropriate, to te rritories or areas.

The term dollar normally refers to the United Sta tes do llar ($).

Enquiries concerning this publication may be directed to:

Mr. Guido BertucciDirectorDivision for Pub lic Administration a nd Development Mana gementDepartment of Economic and Social AffairsUnited Nat ions, New York,NY 10017,USAFax: (212) 963-9681

NOTES


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This exploratory stud y was initiated by the United Nations and the United Nations Development Prog ramme as aresponse to the increasing public demand for more public sector transparency and accountab ility around t he w orld,including the Arab Reg ion. This demand is driven by, in part, glob alization that p rovides new oppo rtunities and risks.

It can b e argued tha t, to da te, the Arab Region has not b enefited from globa lization to the same d egree as other regions.Since the pub lic sectors in the Reg ion play a pivotal role in defining the development strateg y of their countries, it isimportant tha t they reform their institutions to b etter align themselves with the new demand s of a globa lly integratingand competitive economy. One reason for not fully enga ging in the g lobal economy may b e due to a governance ga p,in enhancing the inclusiveness of society a nd demonstrating stronger public sector accounta bility, betw een the ArabRegion and other regions of the world. To b egin add ressing t his ga p in a practical wa y, this report presents a regionalanalysis of the state of public sector transparency and accountability in selected countries.

This volume presents compa rative policies and pract ices in financial,human resources and information manag ement in

six countries: Jordan, Lebanon,Morocco,Sudan ,Tunisia and Yemen, that have been compiled into a d ataba se and serve asthe basis for this report. (See Databa se, http://www.unpan.org/technical_highlights-Transparency-Arabstates.asp.) It isba sed on the field work carried out in these countries by na tional consultant s that involved an analysis of relevant po licydocuments a nd structured interviews with experts. The volume also conta ins country case stud ies in Annex 1,providinginformation that falls outside of the framewo rk of the regional analysis but a s deemed to b e important b y the na tionalconsultants. The identification of g ood practices and ga ps in policies and programmes can a ssist g overnments, dono rsand the w ider public in ma king policy recommendat ions and funding decisions. Thus this report ha s att empted to high-light the common public sector manag ement challenges in the region and suggested that a poo ling of solutions mayalso assist individua l countries to meet their particular challeng es.

For the sake of convenience, this report refers to country-specific informat ion by country rather than by the nat ionalconsultants w ho provided the information. In this context, the reader is requested to bea r in mind that the country-specific information represents the national consultants' work rather than any official position of the national govern-ments o r the United Nat ions.

Guido Bertucci, Director Zahir Jamal, ChiefDivision for Public Administration Division for Regional Programmeand Development Management Regional Bureau for AfricaUN Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNDP2004 2004

FOREWORD


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The Transparency and Accountabil ity in the Public Sector in the Arab Regionproject w as conceived b y staff memb ers of theDivision for Public Administration and Development Management of the United Nations Department of Economic andSocial Affairs and the Reg ional Bureau for Arab States of t he United Nat ions Development Programme. Elia Yi Armstrong(Public Administration Officer), Shabb ir Cheema (Principal Adviser and Programme Directo r for Governance) and AdelAbd ellatif (Adviser, Programme o n Governance in the Arab Reg ion -- POGAR) developed t he research proposal, ba sed ona similar study carried out by the Division in 2000 and 2001, namely the Public Service Ethics in Africa.

The Division would like to tha nk the Project Advisory Group, compo sed of My Abd elkrim Do unia (Arab Orga nization o fSupreme Audit Institutions -- ARABOSAI), Mohamed At-Twaijri (Arab Administrat ive Development Organizat ion --ARADO),Gha lib Ali Gamil (Arab Council for Econom ic Unity),Sa lah Eldin Hafez (Federat ion o f Arab Journalists),Sa lim Nasr(Arab Social Science Research Netw ork), Kamal Al-Deen Sinada (The League of Arab Sta tes) and Foua d Sha ker (Union ofArab Banks). Under the g uidance of this Group, the project ha s been implemented by Elia Yi Armstrong, with theassistance of Oum-Hani Aloui (Consultant) and Laila Benmellouk (Consultant). Adel Abd ellat if has b een the focal po intfor the project in the UNDP Reg ional Bureau for Arab Sta tes. The Division would like to tha nk the na tiona l consultants:

Zuhair Abed Al-Kareem Al-Kayed a nd Okleh Mohammed Mubaidin (Jord an), Randa Anto un (Lebanon), Azeddine Akesbi(Morocco), Abd alla Mohamed Ahmed Kafeel (Suda n), Ahmed Essoussi (Tunisia), Ahmed Moha med Al-Shami andMoha med Abd o Saeed Moghram (Yemen). The Division would also like to tha nk the consultants who cont ributedconcept papers on the substantive themes of the project: Shaden Halazoun, Suresh Shende and Tony Bennett, AhmedSakr Ashour, and Fred Schenklaa rs and Imram Ahmad. Finally, the Division would like to acknowledg e the invaluablecooperation and support of the national g overnments and the UNDP country offices of t he participating countries.

Based on the contributions of the a forementioned people, the final report ha s been prepared b y Elia Yi Armstrong,assisted by Laila Benmellouk. Nirjhari Delong formatt ed a nd Shab bir Cheema , John-Mary Kauzya (Chief,Governance andPublic Administration Branch), Adriana Alberti (Chief Technical Adviser) and Jide Balog un (Interregional Advisor) of t heDivision provided valuable comment s. Karima El-Korri and Selma Belgh iti translated the report into French and HassanaMardam Bey into Arabic. Rima Rifai layed out a nd proofread t he publication. In ad dition, Catherine Gazzoli developedthe project da tab ase tha t is available on http:/ /www.unpan.org/ technical_highlights-Transparency-Arabstates.asp..

The project o utputs have b een d esigned to stimulate policy d ialog ue and action a t t he regional and country levels toassist governments and other stakeholders in the Arab region to improve transparency and accountability in publicsector institutions. The information presented w as collected by independent national consultants who were notemployed by o r otherwise affiliated with their national governments. Although a ll efforts were mad e to consult t henat ional government s,not all the informat ion provided by the project necessarily reflect the ir views, nor does the projectclaim to cover exhaustively all information available from them. Despite these limitat ions, it is hoped that the projectoutput s will serve as useful too ls in disseminating information ab out the current policies and pract ices on public sectortransparency and accountab ility in the stud y countries.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


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Public Sector Transparency and Accountabi lit y in Selected Arab Countries:Policies and Pract ices

Executive Summary

IntroductionProject on Transparency and Accounta bility in the Public Sector in the Arab Reg ionContext of GlobalizationContext of t he Arab Reg ionPromotion of Pub lic Secto r Transparency and Accounta bility by the UN SystemProject ObjectivesScopeMethodologyOutputs a nd Outcomes

Overview of the Arab RegionThe Arab Reg ionThe Reg ion TodayCultural and Historical ContextSocio-Economic BackgroundTransparency and Accounta bility in the Region

Context of Study CountriesPublic Sector StructuresPast Reform Initiatives

Financial ManagementFinancial Mana gement Framew orkBudgetRevenuePayrollProcurementPrivatisat ion and Service ConcessionsPaymentsAccountingInte rnal AuditExternal Audit

Human Resources ManagementHuman Resources Management FrameworkCodes of ConductLegal Restrictions on Criminal ConductSelection ProcessConflicts-of-interest DisclosuresReport ing of Wrongd oingInvestigationDisciplinary Procedures

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

CONTENTS

2

77788

10101213

141414141618

191922

2425262628283132333434

373739404141424243


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CONTENTSvi

Information ManagementInformation Management FrameworkAccess to InformationRecords ManagementInvestiga tive Journalism

Civil Society Orga nisations

ConclusionRegional Context of the Study Count riesStructure of the Pub lic Sector in the Study CountriesFinancial Mana gementHuman Resources Mana gementInformation Manag ementOutlook

References

Country Case Studies:JordanLebanonMoroccoSudanTunisiaYemen

Interview Guide:Introduction to Interview GuideDesk ReviewFinancial Management

Human Resources Mana gementInformation Manag ement

Interview Results

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Annex 1

Annex 2

Annex 3

4545464848

48

51515252545556

58

59596471798794

102102104108

110111

113


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United Nations DocumentsSelected UN DESA Act ivities on Pub lic Sector Transparency a nd Accounta bilityProject Advisory Group

Results o f Transparency Marocs Study o n Integ rityInterviewee Comment s on Financial ControlInterviewee Comments on BudgetingInterviewee Comments on RevenueInterviewee Comments on PayrollInterviewee Comments on ProcurementInterviewee Comments on OverspendingInterviewee Comments o n Officially Stated ValuesInterviewee Comments on Codes of ConductInterviewee Comments on Legal Restrictions on Criminal ConductInterviewee Comments on Selection ProcessInterviewee Comments on InvestigationInterviewee Comment s on Disciplinary ProceduresInterviewee Comment s on Access to Informat ion

Interviewee Comments on Public Consultat ionsInterviewee Comments on Investiga tive JournalismInterviewee Comment s on Civil Society Orga nisations

Proportion of Central Permanent Civil Servants to PopulationProportion of Women in the Central Permanent Civil ServiceBudgetPayrollPayments: OverspendingAccess to Informat ionCivil Society Orga nisations

Study IssuesModern History of Stud y CountriesLegal Systems and Latest ConstitutionKey IndicatorsGovernment Consumption and Central Government MinistriesRecent Initiatives Related to Public Sector Transparency and Accounta bilityFinancial Mana gement Framew orkGeneral Financial ControlRevenue CollectionProcurementOverall Procurement SystemPrivatisat ion and Service Concessions

Inte rnal AuditExternal AuditHuman Resources Mana gement Framew orkOfficially Sta ted ValuesStandards of ConductLegal Restrictions on Criminal ConductSelection ProcessConflict-of-Interest DisclosureInvestigationDisciplinary ProceduresInformation Management FrameworkAccess to Informat ionPublic Consulta tionsInvestiga tive Journalism

Box 1:Box 2:Box 3:

Box 4:Box 5:Box 6:Box 7:Box 8:Box 9:Box 10:Box 11:Box 12:Box 13:Box 14:Box 15:Box 16:Box 17:

Box 18:Box 19:Box 20:

Chart 1:Chart 2:Chart 3:Chart 4:Chart 5:Chart 6:Chart 7:

Table 1:Table 2:Table 3:Table 4:Table 5:Table 6:Table 7:Table 8:Table 9:Table 10:Table 11:Table 12:Table 13:Table 14:Table 15:Table 16:Table 17:Table 18:Table 19:Table 20:Table 21:Table 22:Table 23:Table 24:Table 25:Table 26:

99

10

2226272728313339394041434447

484950

21212628334750

111516172023252627313232

343538

13940404142434346474849

Boxes

Charts

Tables


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2

IntroductionThe present exploratory stud y was initiated a s a responseto the increasing public demand for more public sectortransparency and a ccountability a round the w orld, includ-ing the Arab Reg ion. This demand is driven by, in part,globalization that provides new opportunities and risksthrough liberalization of trade, foreign investment andcapital flows, technological changes and informationflow s. Given the new globa l nature of the competition forscarce resources, the private sector and civil society asinvestors and consumers of public goods and services are dema nding mo re information a nd a ccountability fromthe public sector for its performance and use of public

resources.

It can be argued that, to date, the Arab Region has notbenefited from g lobalization to the sam e deg ree as otherregions. In order to benefit more from the advanta ges ofgloba lization and reduce the risks, the countries in theRegion stand to gain from repositioning themselves toface new challenges that g lobalization brings. Since thepublic sectors in the Reg ion play a pivotal role in de finingthe d evelopment strategy of t heir countries,it is importantthat they reform their institutions to better align them-selves with the new d emand s of a globa lly integrating andcompet itive economy. A crucial component of this reformis to enhance the transparency and accountability of the

institutions, not o nly to att ract more investment but alsoto promote more participation from the private sector a ndcivil society t o improve the q uality of decision-making anda mo re rational use of public resources.

Transparency a nd a ccounta bility a re interrelated a ndmutua lly reinforcing concept s. Without transparency--tha t is unfette red access to timely and reliable informat ionon decisions and performance -- it would be difficult tocall public sector entities to a ccount. Unless there isaccountability-- tha t is mecha nisms to report on the usageof public resources and consequences for failing to meetstated performance objectives -- transparency would beof little value.The existence of both cond itions is a prereq -

uisite to effective, efficient a nd eq uitab le manag ement inpublic institutions. And as such, bot h conditions are alsonecessary in trying to achieve sustainable human devel-opment through better g overnance in an era of g lobaliza-tion. For without a solid b ase of sound public administra-tion,these final goals would remain elusive.

Most of the countries of the Region now recognize theurgent need to reform their public sectors.Recent reformsintroduced were particularly aimed at establishing amodern legal and regulatory framework for propertyrights a nd foreign d irect investment. What remains is acommensurate level of institutiona l reforms, not only in

the trade and investment sectors but also in other sectorsand in the provision of public services. However, thecentralization o f pow er and impediments to public partic-ipation constitute an obstacle to transparency andaccountab ility in both the public and private sectors. Agovernance gap, in enhancing inclusiveness of societyand d emonstrating stronger accountability on the part ofthe state, betw een the region and ot her parts of the worldhas been noted.1

Purpose

To begin ad dressing this gap in a pract ical way, this report

presents a regional analysis of the state of public sectortransparency and accountability in selected countries.Comparative policies and practices in financial, humanresources and information mana gement for the six coun-tries under study : Jordan,Lebanon,Morocco,Sudan,Tunisiaand Yemen, have been compiled into a da tab ase and serveas the ba sis for this report.(See Data base,http://www.unpan.org/technical_highlights-Transparency-

Arabstates.asp.)

Methodology

The study is based on a qualitative ana lysis of as many

pertinent policy documents as possible and over 400structured interviews with experts (some of the sameexperts participating in different interviews) about prac-tices. The identification of good practices and g aps inpolicies and programmes can a ssist g overnments, donorsand the w ider public in making policy recommendat ionsand funding d ecisions.

Because the participating countries were chosen to berepresentative, the ma in findings and policy recommen-dat ions may be applicable to other countries in the region.In ad dition, country-level situations and analyses havebeen provided. Country case stud ies in Annex 1 provideinformation that should be highlighted or fall outside of

the framewo rk of the regional analysis but d eemed to beimportant. They a lso provide specific policy recommen-dat ions, targeted t o each country in the study. They weredrafted by national consultants and circulated to thenational governments for comments and feedback.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1World Ba nk 2003, MENA Developm ent Report : Better Governance

for Development in the Middle East and North Africa,Enhancing

Inclusiveness and Accountabili ty


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Scope

As the study aims to assist central governments in theparticipating countries to reinforce and improve publicsector transparency and accountab ility, it begins with the

executive branch and pertinent independent oversightag encies. Because t he legislative and judicial branches ofgovernment are equally important to promoting trans-parency and a ccountability,the study also add resses thoseaspects of the legislative and judicial branches that inter-face with the ag encies under study. Likewise,t he need forprivate sector and civil society involvement is also indis-pensable in improving public sector transparency andaccountab ility. Thus the study also examines relevantinterfaces among these g overnance pa rtners.

Main Findings

Public Sector Structures

To begin, the publ ic sector-- or the core central levelgovernment departments a nd ag encies and public enter-prises and establishments (for the purposes of the study) -- is difficult to demarcate from country to country. Itsboundaries,size and composition are also difficult to iden-tify and compare. Nonetheless, an effort was made tocollect basic data on the share of general governmentconsumption of the g ross domestic product, the numberof cent ral level ministries and pub lic secto r employment -- where possible. Through this effort, the project teamdiscovered that some key statistical information and abreakdow n by related variables are often no t available or

accessible. (The count ries in the study,and in the region ingeneral,may gain by investing in systematically collecting,updating and sharing ba sic public sector dat a.)

Of the information collected from the study countries, in2001, general government consumption (covering alllevels of g overnment) ranged from 13.9 per cent o f GDP inYemen to 23 per cent in Jordan. Also,in 2003, the numb erof ministries rang ed from 20 in Jorda n to 39 in Sudan. Theproportions o f central level civil servants (including t each-ers and health workers in public establishments as theyare covered by the civil service law in many of the coun-tries in the study) of the population ranged from 0.74 percent in Sudan in 2000/1 to 3.0 per cent in Tunisia in 2001.

Where gend er breakdown of these figures were availab lein four of the study countries, the proportion of femalecivil servants rang ed from 0.2 per cent in Yemen in 1999 to39.2 per cent in Tunisia in 2002.

Past InitiativesThe informat ion collected on relevant past initiatives onpublic sector transparency and accountab ility in the studycountries within the past t en years reveals that mo st of theinitiatives involved studies,conferences,public campaignsand administrative reform or modernisation projects.Although many of the initiatives initially focused mainlyon pub lic officials within government, of late, others have

been reaching out to a w ider audience to raise awa renessab out transpa rency,public ethics and anti-corruption.Thus the informat ion collected on the structures of thepublic sectors and the past initiatives on promoting trans-parency and accountability indicate the varying condi-

tions and characteristics of the public sector in the coun-tries in the study.

Financial Management

The stud y a lso compa red po licies and practices in financialmanagement frameworks, budgeting, revenue, payroll,procurement, privatisation and service concessions,payments, accounting, internal and external audit. Theinformation submitted for the study countries indicatesthat, as in all countries, there are ga ps between w rittenpolicies and da ily practices.

The leg islat ive and ad ministrative framew ork for financialtransactions seems to be w ell in place. But, the applicationof the provisions for general financial cont rol,a s indicatedby highly visible mea sures and the a ttitudes and perform-ance of finance officers, seemed to be viewed as notconsistently exercised. In particular, attention to thehuman factor such as specific training emphasizingaccountability could improve the situation. Given theimportance of demonstrating commitment to probity insetting the tone for overall financial mana gement, theexamples set by the leadership and other specializedfinance officers through communicating and implement-ing measures for general financial control cannot beunderestimated.

The study examined the pract ices of financial transa ctionsfrom the beginning (implementing budgets) to the end(payments), follow ed up by ex-post cont rols (aud iting).For specific practices, budg ets are perceived to beexecuted more ore less according to existing rules. Inrevenue collection, although the stud y countries havetaken many measures to improve the transparency andefficiency of t ax assessments and pa yments, the recourseto effective appeals procedures seems to be less satisfac-tory tha n other practices.

For payroll, although independen t verifications of payrollamounts and reconciliations with previous pay periods

seem to ta ke place,more att ention should b e given to thephysical identification of personnel to prevent ghostworkers and other abuses. However, in countries thathave already a utomated public payroll, the need may b egreatly reduced.

For procurement, although the experts indicated t hatpublic competitive bidding is required in most largetenders and many sound procedures are in place, they d idnot see consistent awarding of contracts to the mostresponsive and q ualified b idder with the lowest cost. Thisfinding shows that although public procurement in thestudy countries generally conforms to international stan-


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY4

dards,they do not seem to lead to intended ends. An areaof wea kness may be the evaluation of bids, with indica-tions that the criteria are not always clearly stated inbidding instructions nor are all records, apart from thefinal d ecision, kept. Without clear d ocumentation, it w ould

be difficult to establish whether improper political,personal or other considerations overrode technicalmerits of certain bids. In ad dition, there is the perceptionthat the work of contractors is not consistently supervisedby independent experts or that change and variationorders are continuously maintained, once a contract hasbeen aw arded. Since many abuses, such as the delivery ofsubstanda rd good s or work, take place after a contract hasbeen aw arded, it is important to monitor and documentthe execution of the contract.

Although privatisations and service concessions are highrisk areas for financial irregularities and co rruption, thestudy devoted much less time to these activities than to

procurement, given the limitations of time and t he slowdown of privatisations or service concessions made in theMiddle East and North Africa (MENA).

Rega rding payments, a ma jority of the experts indicatedthat the delivery of goods or services and computationsare checked before it is made. However, paying w ithin areasonable time and over spending seem to be areasneeding improvement.

Based on a review o f structures and policies, the studyfindings indicate t hat a uditing, bot h internal and external,needs to be reinforced. For internal audit,m ore independ-ence and training of sta ff wo uld increase the effectiveness

of the assigned units. For external audit, measures toincrease the independence of the supreme audit insti-tutes, publicising and following up on the reports wouldgive the funct ion more credibility. The issue of independ-ence is complex, however, since it is linked to t he inde-pendence of resource allocation and operations and theauthority to make findings public in a timely fashion.Given the pivotal role of aud iting in ensuring transpa rencyand a ccountability in public manag ement, these are keyareas to be target ed for strengthening.

Human Resources Management

To cont inue, the study compared policies and practices inthe human resources manag ement framewo rk, stated offi-cial values, codes o f cond uct, legal restrictions o n criminalconduct, the selection process, conflicts-of-interest disclo-sures, reporting of w rongdoing, investiga tion and discipli-nary procedures.

As in the case of financial management, informationcollected for human resources management frameworkindicates that there are civil service and other publicsector employment laws a nd regulations in place in eachstudy country. Officially stated core values -- mostfrequently defined as neutrality,legality,fairnessor equality

amo ng o thers -- are enshrined in the constitution, the civilservice law or other pertinent texts.However, they a re notwell communicated or seen to be demonstrated consis-tently by leaders in the public sector. They seem to b ebetter known by public sector employees than t he public

they serve, making it difficult for the pub lic to understandthe principles underlying public service or judge publicsector performance.

In add ition, the lega l and a dministrat ive standards in crim-inal codes or codes of conduct are not perceived to befollowed or enforced systematically. The discrepancybetween stated rules and actual practices is common inmost pa rts of the world. As in other countries,t he countriesunder study and others in the region may usefully gainfrom applying existing standards of conduct in promotingemployee accountability and boosting credibility.

For the selection process, the perception is that although

the rules are present,few are seen to be consistently prac-ticed. Recruitment and promotions are not seen to bebased on the merit principle, and there is a perception ofinsufficient protection from po litical interference.

Regarding conflicts-of-interest disclosure requirements,although three of the countries reported existing policies,their actual application seems to be varied in terms ofbeing mad e public or being verified. Likewise,there are noofficial policies for having to report wrongdoing or forprotect ing the w histle-blow ers. The introd uction and fullimplementat ion of disclosure law s and a n official policy ofprotecting tho se who report wrong doing are important t otransparency in human resources manag ement, particu-

larly at top levels.

Although investigations by the police are generallyperceived to be prompt and fair, (perhaps due to the factthat in most countries the police must conduct criminalinvestiga tions), other investigations a re not perceived tobe ca rried out by independentag encies. Nor are past casesperceived to be documented and analyzed to generatelessons for future work.

Disciplinary measures are set out clearly but are seen notto b e consistently taken. In the interest of justice and t hedeterrence effect, countries need to properly apply andenforce sta ndards.

Aga in, these ob servations show that there is a significantga p b etween policies a nd practices,particularly for report-ing on and investigat ing wrongdoing. Since these twoactivities are critical to ensuring accountab ility, theyshould a lso be given prompt a ttention.

Information Management

Finally,t he stud y compa red policies and practices in infor-mation manag ement framew ork, access to information(including the holding of various methods of public


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consultat ions), records mana gement, investiga tive jour-nalism and the freedom of association of civil societyorganizations. It defined information managementbroadly. Thus the study considered no t only policies andpractices within and pertaining to the public sector but

also to relevant informat ion- disseminating entities withinsociety.

The mat erial submitted for mana ging information in thestudy countries suggest that this area is less developedthan in the other two a reas of public management. Incomparison to financial or human resources manage-ment, the legislative and administrative framework formanag ing information is in the beg inning sta ges, despitethe numerous law s that have been recently introduced orupdated. For example,there are no laws on access to infor-mation, apart from a bill introduced in Lebanon. Incomparison to other developing countries, this finding isnot unexpected. Even among the w ealthier countries,

access to information laws have been relatively recentlyintroduced.

For diffusing public information, in general, the studycountries are characterized b y few independent a nd a lter-native sources of reporting -- with governments dominat-ing the dissemination of public information. However,with the introduction of the satellite dish, access to theinternet and other telecommunication services in theregion, countries can now receive information fromaround the globe.

For soliciting information, public consulta tions have beentaking place mainly through the use of advisory groups on

government programmes a nd services over other means.And there has b een limited utilisation o f new informationand communication technologies in disseminating orsoliciting information by the government.

Regarding t he state of record keeping, it is not perceivedto b e of high q uality. Whether due to resource constraintsor other reasons, records management and a rchivingseem to be given low priority.

Away from the public sector and within society itself, it isimportant tha t there b e independent sources of informa-tion,a part from the government,such as the press and themedia. The experts indicated that investiga tive journalism

is underdeveloped, often w ith limited freedom of thepress, despite legal guarantees. Moreover, there is inade-quate professional training for investigating journalists,despite the importance of the wo rk.

The role of civil society o rgan izations in having a sa y andexpecting more openness from the g overnment is a ma jordriving force for the call for more transparency andaccountability in the public secto r. Althoug h civil societyorganizations in the study countries are generallyacknowledged to have the freedom of association, theyare seen to have a limited role in civic education or inwa tching over pub lic sector performance.

Conclusion

In sum, a b ig picture of public sector mana gement acrossthe participating countries can be drawn from the studyfindings. This picture can also be drawn for other

countries in the region. The picture seems to bedominated by well-developed financial managementpractices, followed by less well implemented humanresources management practices and completed byrelatively newly-introduced or attempts to introduceinformation mana gement practices.

Recommendations

Although all three areas of the functional managementare interrelated and important to transparency andaccountab ility, in terms of q uick ga ins and areas for themost impact for reform efforts, the countries in the study

should target information management. There is stillmuch to d o in introducing a nd fine tuning legislation tha twill encourag e more openness in g overnment, access toinformation and public consultations. The countries canalso benefit by better implementing legislative provisionsthat encourag e independent sources of information suchas the press and media and civil society organizations.These orga nizations also need to b e trained in having aninput in public policy formulation as well as having anoversight role on public sector performance.

These efforts ca n be followed b y a re-examination o fhuman resources manag ement practices. Better commu-nication about overall public service values and standards

of conduct, more merit-based recruitment and promo-tion that rewards performance and protection from po liti-cal interference w ill set a solid found at ion for transparencyand a ccountability. These basic measures should befollow ed b y the introduction o f conflicts-of-interest disclo-sure requirements, an official policy for reporting w rong-doing and proper investigations and disciplinary meas-ures, following wrongd oings.

Then specific aspects o f weaknesses in financial ma nag e-ment, as identified by this study amo ng others, should beaddressed. They start with more emphasis on overallfinancial controls, especially as illustrated b y the leader-ship and financial officers. The computerization o f routine

financial transactions such a s payroll and payment s mayeliminate oppo rtunities for corrupt transactions. Moretransparency and information ab out the evaluation crite-ria and process in public procurement may lead to lessdistortion of the compet itive bidding process. And moreindependence of both internal and external audit, w ithmore reports accessible to the public in the case of thelatter, wo uld strengthen ex-post financial controls.

Other Recent Studies

The overall finding s of this study seem to echo the find-



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ings of recent broader studies of governance in the ArabRegion. The 2003 UNDP Arab Human Development Reportidentified three deficits in knowledge, freedom andwomens empowerment as being development chal-lenges for the Region. Of these,b oth knowledge and free-

dom deficits are linked to inadequate informationmanag ement. Sound information is the foundation forbuilding knowledge. And w ithout freedom, informationcannot flow easily.

The 2004 UNDP Arab Human Development Reportfurtherexplores the theme of knowledge deficit. The Reportrecommend s five pillars of the knowledge society, thefirst being unleashing and guaranteeing the key free-doms of opinion, speech and assembly through g oodgo vernance. The findings of this current study indicatethat not only should t he states implicated improve upontheir information management in the public sector butalso greatly enlarge their roles in encouraging the free

flow of information.

Closely related to better information flows -- or trans-parency are the a ctions taken as a result o f the informa-tion -- or accounta bility. The ea rlier noted 2003 World BankMENA Development Report observes that Driving thegovernance gap between MENA and the rest of the worldare the striking weaknesses in external accountabilitiesand in the access to ba sic political and civic rights. Allcountries in the region, wha tever their income, score w ellbelow the world trend 2 Conversely, the same Reportobserves, Most MENA countries do not perform muchworse in the quality of their administration than othercountries at similar income levels, and several countries do

better. 3 Thus it is in the area o f accountability to thepublic that the governance gap is noted. The presentstudy also highlights the weak public consultation struc-tures and the limited role of the press and civil societyorganizations in monitoring public sector performance.

The Way Forward

This report has hig hligh ted commo n public sectormanag ement challenges tha t are faced by the countries inthe region. There seems to b e no easy or simple solution.Rather,t he study findings sugg est tha t a careful examina-tion of current policies and practices may show certain

gaps that can be plugged in to strengthen manag ementin key areas. A commo n pooling of prob lems and solutionsat the regional level may assist individual countries tobetter meet their particular challenges.

In order to ensure that the results of the study will beconducive to action, they w ill be regionally disseminated.It is up to the pa rticipat ing count ries themselves to ta ke alead in chang ing policies, improving institutions, furtherdeveloping public management and training public

personnel. By supporting a more transparent andaccountab le public sector, better d ecision-making and amore rational use of public resources, the ultimate end ofthis project is the improvement of the lives of the o rdinarypeople in the Arab Reg ion.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY6

2World Bank 2003, MENA Developm ent Report, p. 62

3Ibid,p.58


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Project onTransparency and Accountabilit y inthe Publ ic Sector in the Arab Region

The project on Transpa rency a nd Accounta bility in thePublic Sector in the Arab Region is a t echnical compa rativepolicy study. The goa l of the project, as indicated b y thesource of its funding, is Support for Policy and ProgrammeDevelopment (SPPD). As such, the study is primarilyintended for a technical audience of policy makers andprogramme mana gers in the public sector in participatingcountries. However, its findings may also be of interestand use to other key stakeholders and the general publicin the countries as well as to other countries in the reg ion.

The stud y wa s carried o ut by the United Nat ionsDepartment o f Econom ic and Social Affairs, Division forPublic Administration and Development Management(UN DESA DPADM) in 2002 and 2003, in cooperation w iththe United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),Reg ional Bureau for the Arab Sta tes (RBAS). Participationby the countries in the study has been based on theconsent o f the nat ional government s.Initially, 11 countriesin the Arab region were approached, but t he study coverssix: Jordan, Leba non, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.

The criteria for choosing the initial pool of 11 countrieswere to sample countries in the Arab Region, reflecting :

Sub-regional, linguistic and ad ministrative diversity;

Commitment or interest by the leadership inimproving transparency and accountability in thepublic sector; and

Existing partners with whom UN DESA and UNDPRBAS have worked successfully in the past.

The stud y is ultimate ly aimed a t a ssisting na tional g overn-ments in the pa rticipat ing and ot her countries in the ArabRegion to improve their institutional capacity to promotetransparency and accountab ility in the public sector. Itqualitativelycompares existing policies and practices infinancial,huma n resources and information manag ementto identify goo d practices and g aps to this end.

A transparent and accountable public sector is crucial fornot only Arab but all countries to meet the challengesbrought on by globalization. It is hoped that anyimprovements linked t o t he study findings tha t b oost theperformance o f key public sector institutions w ill, in turn,reinforce investor confidence and build general publictrust in State capacity.

The q ualitatively comparative information o n current po li-cies and practices has been compiled into a d ata base a nd

serves as the basis for this report. The diag nosis of goodpractices and gaps in policies and programmes is a pre-requisite to improving transparency and accountability inthe public sector. It w ill also assist g overnments, regionalorganisations, donors and t he wider public in makingpublic policy choices and prioritising resource allocation.It may also be used t o stimulate programme d evelopmentto improve the day-to-day operations in the public sectorin the region. The da tab ase and other project outputs areavailable on the project w ebsite:http://www.unpan.org/technical_highlights-Transparency-Arabstates.asp

Context of GlobalizationThis study is a response to the increasing public dema ndglobally for more transparency and accountability inpublic sector operations. Globalization, or the increasingand intensified flows between countries of goods,services, capital, ideas, information and people, whichproduce national cross-border integration of a number ofeconomic, social and cultural act ivities, 1 is the greatestdriver of change tod ay. It demands complex decision-making processes to take place a t sub-national, nationaland trans-national levels, leading to a m ulti-layeredsystem of governance. Governance, or the exercise ofeconomic, political and administrative authority to

manage a countrys affairs at all levels,2 in this contextneeds to ada pt to these new realities. Increasingly, theState is called upon to act as a linking pinof processes ofplanning, consultations, nego tiation a nd decision-making,involving diverse players, State and non-Sta te, at differentlevels of governance.3 Good governance, then, is aparticipatory, transparent and a ccountable exercise ofauthority that is based on the rule of law and a broadconsensus in society.

While glob alization has the potential of bringing g reatadvances for humankind by providing new opportunitiesto countries around the world through liberalization oftrade, foreign investments and capital flows, technological

change and information flow s,m arkets alone have shownto be inadequate in ensuring that these advances willequitably benefit all members of the global community.This observat ion can be more readily applied todeveloping countries, trying to achieve sustainablehuman development, or expanding the choices for all

CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION

1United Nations,World Public Sector Report 2001, p .8

2United Nations Development Programme,Governance for

sustainable human development,1997,p.23

United Nations,World Public Sector Report 2001, p.314

United Nations Development Programme, Governance for

sustainable human development,1997,p.1


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people in society particularly the poor a nd vulnerable.4

The collective vision of susta inable huma n development,as expressed by the international community in the UnitedNations Millennium Declaration,becomes more difficult forthose countries not adequately equipped to face the

challenges of globalization. Consequently, its adverseeffects have to be mediated by governments withappropriate reforms to governance structures. A key stepin this direction is the better institutionalization of atransparent and accountab le public sector.

Intergovernmental organizations are increasingly recog-nizing that globalization offers great opportunities forhuman advancement but only with good governance.Thus,glob alization req uires closer monitoring and quickerpolicy responses at the country,regiona l and glob al levels.National governments play a central role in ensuringeconomic competitiveness and growth,good governanceand sustainable human development. But to be truly

responsive to a countrys specific needs, go vernments arelearning that they need to work better with the privatesector and civil society. Such a pa rtnership can b e bestoptimized w hen the g overnment a nd o ther public sectorentities operate on principles of transparency by ma kinginformat ion availab le and accessible and accountabilityby b eing answ erable for their decisions and actions.

Transparency a nd a ccounta bility a re interrelated a ndmutua lly reinforcing concepts. Without transparency, tha tis unfettered access to timely and reliable information ondecisions and performance, it would be difficult to callpublic sector entities to account.Unless there is accounta-bility, that is mechanisms to report on t he usag e of pub lic

resources and consequences for failing to meet statedperformance ob jectives, transparency wo uld b e of littlevalue.The existence of b oth cond itions is a prereq uisite t oan effective,efficient a nd eq uitab le manag ement in publicinstitutions. And as such, bot h conditions are also neces-sary in trying to achieve sustainable human developmentthrough bet ter governance in an era o f globa lization.

Context of the Arab Region

The Arab Region is currently home to a number of geopo-litical developments that threaten the stability of theregion and impose additional challenges,apa rt from g lob-

alization, for the countries to achieve sustainable humandevelopment. These events include the ong oing Israeli-Arab conflict and an externally imposed regime chang e inIraq, among others. These events, and the lingering asso-ciation with the 11 Septemb er 2001 attacks, are puttingadditional pressures on the governments in the region asthey seek to better engage in an increasingly integratedworld economy.

Public sectors in Arab countries play a pivotal role in plan-ning and implement ing their countrys development strat-egy. They a re also significant employers of their citizens aswell as providers of public go ods and services.5As in ot her

parts of the world, many count ries in the Arab region haveembarked on reform programs in response to new oppor-tunities brought ab out by g lobalization. They have triedto revitalize their economies through the promotion oftheir private sectors to serve as the main engine of

economic growth. Several countries have improved theirinvestment climate and attempted to reduce the regula-tory burden in order to attract foreign investors.

Although public sector reform has appeared on theag enda of ma ny Arab countries,t he process of implemen-tation has been slow and has manifested problems of itsown. And in general, the traditional omnipresent Statedoes not seem to be evolving quickly enough to give agreater role in governance to a weak private sector andcivil society. Rather, reforms have empha sized increasingthe efficiency and the effectiveness of public sectorope rations. Thus institutiona l reforms aim more at estab -lishing a modern information and communication infra-

structure as well as streamlining bureaucracies to fa cilitateeconomic development.

Given the limited nature of public sector reformsundertaken to da te and d ue to other factors, the ArabRegion has no t b enefited from g lobalization to the samedeg ree as other reg ions of the wo rld. While the region hasbeen spared t he ravages of recent financial crises, it hasalso failed to benefit fully from the spreading trend ofmarket liberalization and world economic integration.6 Asin many ot her count ries in the developing w orld, Arabcountries are characterized by a centralized executive,inadequate institutional checks and balances and anunderdeveloped political culture of public participation.

Initiatives to promote transparency and accountability inthe public sector in those countries can contribute tobroadening the scope of public sector reforms to find anew governance equation among State and non-Stateactors in the d evelopment o f the region as a w hole.

Promotion of Public SectorTransparency and Accountabilityby the UN System

In response to the emerging international consensus onthe current necessity of public sector transparency andaccountab ility, a number of international organizations

have undertaken specific initiatives to promote theseconcepts. The United Nations System has also beenforging international consensus and implementingspecific activities, highlighting public sector transparencyand accountab ility, especially under the rubric of g oodgovernance and sustainable human d evelopment.

CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION8

5United Nations (unpublished con cept pa per by Shade n

Halazoun),Key Publ ic Sector Instit ut ions in The Arab Region:

Responding to Globalizati on and Promoting Investment,p .16

ESCWA Reg iona l Meeting on Financing for Deve lopment, (Beirut,

Lebanon 2000),The Reform of the International Financial System and

the Arab Region


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To give expression to the internationa l consensus, theGeneral Assembly has introduced a number of docu-ments, ranging from the United Nations MillenniumDeclaration to the United Nations Convention againstCorruption.These documents introduce specific provisions

for promoting public sector transparency and accounta-bility under other overarching themes. (See Box 1. This isnot an exhaustive list but rather selected key documentssince 2000.)

At the g loba l level,the Secretariat has recently organized anumber of meetings, conducted research and publishedreports on the topic (see Box 2). The United NationsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs promotes amulti-disciplinary approach to sustainable development.Its Division for Public Administration and DevelopmentManagement supports the United Nations intergovern-mental deliberations on the role of g overnance a nd publicadministration in sustainable development. In addition,

the Division has, for over fifty years,been assisting UnitedNations Member States, upon request, to implementreforms in their administrative and financial systems,through capacity-building and technical cooperation.Throug h its United Nat ions Online Netwo rk on PublicAdministration and Finance (UNPAN: www.unpan.org) theDivision promotes sharing knowledge and best practicesthroughout the w orld.

For specialized funds a nd a gencies, the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP) developed theProgramme for Accounta bility a nd Transpa rency (PACT)since 1997. It represents a g loba l initiative supportingselected recipient countries through technical assistance

in improving systems of financial accountability andmanagement. Since 2001, PACT developed the CountryAssessment in Accountabil it y and Transparency(CONTACT),guidelines aimed at assisting g overnments in cond uctingself-assessment of their financial management and anti-corruption w ork. This tool w as d eveloped jointly w ith UNDESA and t he World Bank. In add ition, the UNDP hasesta blished a Democratic Governance Themat ic TrustFund through which it supports technical cooperation inaccountability, transparency and integrity. As of 2003,UNDP has identified over 80 projects undertaken byCountry Offices in accountability, transparency andintegrity.

At the regional level, the UNDP Reg iona l Bureau for ArabSta tes (RBAS) has published tw o Arab Human DevelopmentReportsin 2002 and 2003,providing some o f the mo st up-to-date information.Furthermore,UNDP RBAS Programmeon Governance in the Arab Region (POGAR) was launchedin 2000. POGAR consists of an information portal andother technical cooperation activities, devoted to thepromotion of good governance practices in the ArabStates. The Prog ramme focuses on participation, the ruleof law a nd t ransparency and accountab ility. The informa-tion portal presents publications, dat aba ses and usefulweb links for the reg ion on these themes.

The World Bank, in add ition to having organized many

meetings on the subject, has published a report on BetterGovernance for Development in the Middle East and NorthAfricain 2003.

Apart from the United Nations System, many regionalorganizations (especially those involved in the ProjectAdvisory Group listed in Box 3) have also been carryingout activities on various aspects of public sector reform.For example, the Arab Administrative Development

2000: The Un ited Nat ions Millennium De clarat ion (A/RES/55/2)

http://www.un.org/millennium/summit.htm

2002:Report o f the International Conference on Financing for

Development-Monterrey Consensus (A/CONF.198/11)

http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/aconf198-11.pdf

2002:Repo rt of the World Summit for Sustainab le Development

(A/CONF.19/20*)

http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/

2003:United Nations Convent ion Against Corrup tion (A/58/422 )

http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/convention_corruption/signing/Convention

-e.pdf

Public Sector Transparency and Accountabi lit y in Selected Arab Countries:Policies and Pract icesPubl ic Sector Transparency and Accountabi lit y in Selected Arab Countries:Policies and Pract ices

Box 1:United Nations Documents

1999:Transpa rency and Account ab ility in Governme nt Finan cial Mana ge ment , an o n-line Expert Group Meeting, New York,USA

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan000234.pdf

1999/2000: Public Service Ethics in Africa, a com para tive policy study http://www.unpan.org/ethics

2001: Financial Mana geme nt, Transparency a nd Accountability,a n Expert Group Meeting, Rome, Italy

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan002250.pdf

2002: Manual fo r Online Procedures Enha nceme nt for Civil Applications (OPEN),a n o n-line ma nua l

http://www.unpan.org/training-open-manual.asp

2003: Public Service Professiona l Ethics for Africa, an o n-line training manual

http://www.unpan.org/guide.asp

http://www.unpan.org/dpepa-gpab-ethics.asp

BOX 2:Selected UN DESA Activities on Public Sector Transparency and Accountability


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Organization (ARADO) held an international conferenceon New Front iers for Strengthening Administrat ive Integrity,Transparency and Accountabilit y: Strategic and Instit utionalPerspectivesin 1999 and published the proceedings in2001. It also held another conference on Creative

Leadership and Innovation under Transparency and Integrityin 2002. Moreover, the Leba nese Center fo r Policy Stud ies,part of t he Arab Social Science Research Network, has a lsounderta ken a reg ional study on civic educat ion in the Arabregion.

Project Objectives

Through a compa rative study of existing po licies and prac-tices in financial, human resources and information

manag ement, this project aims to assist central govern-ments in the participating countries to reinforce andimprove public sector transpa rency and accountability. Tohighlight good practices and policy or operational gaps,this report of a regional analysis and country case studiesand a dat aba se have been prepared.The dat a collected b ythis study is intended to:

serve as reference for those participating g overnmentsinterested in improving policies and practices toincrease public sector transparency and accountability;

bene fit other countries in the region from the finding s,since the participating countries were intended to

represent, to the extent possible, the diversity in theArab region; and

Assist key stakeholders and the wider public inchoosing policy and programme options and thedevelopment partners in making resource allocations.

Scope

To complement the wo rk cited above a nd that carried o utby other organizations generally in transparency andaccountab ility, this research study on compa rative policy

analysis was launched. In research, much quantitativework has been conducted recently at the global level bythe World Bank on g ood go vernance indicato rs andTransparency Internat ional on corruption perception a ndbribery propensity indices. These approaches focus on

measuring the state of governance or corruption. Othersimilar quantitative research efforts supra-national,national and sub-national have also aimed to identifythe causes of corruption and quantify the negativeconsequences of the phenomenon, particularly oneconomic performance. This current study aims toqualitativelydiagnose the capacities of public sectorinstitutions in the Arab region to achieve transparencyand accountability, capacities to prevent and combatcorruption and maladministration.

Although all branches of government are important inpromoting public sector transparency and accountability,the study focuses mainly on the executive branch and

pertinent independent oversight agencies. Initially, theproject tea m also mad e an attempt to collect informationon public and mixed enterprises. However, due to theirlarge numbers and their differing regulatory regimes, itwas not possible to collect in-depth or comparative infor-mation on them.

The leg islat ive and judicial branches o f g overnment arecentral to promoting public sector transparency andaccountability. However, since little previous research hasbeen carried out on policies and practices in the region,this current effort begins with the executive branch.Nonetheless, the study a lso concentrates on t hose aspectsof the legislative and judicial branches that interface with

the ag encies under study. Likewise, the need for privatesector and civil society involvement is also indispensablein improving public sector transparency andaccountability -- not to mention within themselves.Accordingly, the stud y also examines relevant interfacesamong these governance partners. The project teamwishes to stress that the stud y is explorato ry. Hopefully, itcan serve as a pilot that will lead to other studies on therole of the other branches of government and othergovernance partners in the region.

To carry out its task at ha nd, the study employs both aregional ana lysis and country case studies. In the former,individua l policies and practices are examined regionally

that is although the d ata are grouped by country, the unitof analysis are the po licies or practices themselves. (Thepresentat ion by country is unavoidab le since policies, andtherefore practices associated with them, exist at anat ional rather tha n a reg ional level.) In the latt er, nat ionalpolicies and practices are presented within country-specific contexts. These case studies were written bynational consultants, experts on t he subject.

In ad dition, the policies were mainly analysed through areview of policy documents (what is on the books) andlimited consultat ions with policy experts. Practices wereexamined through highly structured and systematic inter-


The Arab Orga niza tion of Sup reme Audit Institu tion s (ARABOSAI)

Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO)

Arab Council for Economic Unity

Federation of Arab Journalists

Arab Social Science Resea rch Netw ork

The Leag ue of Arab Stat es

Union of Arab Banks

BOX 3:Project Advisory Group


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views with predominantly senior public managers andother experts outside of public sector organizations.These interviews d rew upon their familiarity w ith the da ilyimplement at ion of the po licies and a sked for their percep-tions. Although the limited numbers of interviewees

preclude any sta tistical ana lysis, given their privilegedknowledge (often by the virtue of their positions withinthe public sector), their responses are an importa nt indi-cato r for estab lishing existing practices.

Based on the tw o axes of analysis and t he tw o sources ofinformation, the study a lso ma kes recommenda tions forimproving public sector transparency and accountabilityin the participating and other countries in the ArabRegion. Thus, the findings of the current study can serveas a ba seline, ag ainst which future findings (if the study isrepeated) can allow the participating countries to charttheir progress.

Good policies and practices in key public sector institutionsserve as one set of indicators of transparency andaccountab ility. Improving policies in content or practices inbetter implementation are also important as they can domuch in securing domestic public confidence ingovernmental institutions. Moreover, in an age ofglobalization, foreign investors expect to be a ssured ofaccurate information on the performance of not only privatesector corporations but a lso key public sector institutions.

The study is based on the follow ing w orking definitions ofkey concepts as agreed upon by the Project AdvisoryGroup:

public sector: core central level government depart-

ments and ag encies, public enterprises (includingmixed enterprises with 50 per cent or more publicinvestment), public service wo rkers such as teachersand health workers;

transparency: the availability of and free access toinformation about governmental political andeconomic activities,procedures and d ecisions; and

Accounta bility: answ erability for choices and act ions.

The key issues of inquiry were organ ized by the follow ingfunct iona l areas (see Tab le 1):

Financial management,

Human resources manag ement, and

Information mana gement .

Although some of the key issues can be viewed as notbeing strictly within the functional manag ement d omainto which they have been assigned, they have been


Table 1:Study Issues

Functions Issues

Financial Manag ement Financial mana geme nt framewo rk Budgets Revenue Payroll Procurement Privatisation and service concessions Payments Accounting Internal audit External audit

Human Resources Mana gemen t Human resources management framework Stated official values

Codes of conduct

Legal restrictions on criminal conduct Selection process Conflicts-of-interest disclosures Whistle-blowing Investigation Disciplinary proced ures

Information Mana gemen t Information management framework Access to information Records management Investigative journalism Civil society organizations


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included beca use of their importance to the overall themeof the research. Moreover, the functional managementareas have been kept to a minimum number to simplifythe conceptua l framework and to streamline the interviewprocess.

Methodology

As indicated ab ove, the study is based on a q ualitativeanalysis of pertinent documents at the policy level andstructured interviews with experts at the practice level.The issues listed in the table ab ove were researched b ynat ional consultants, with pertinent expertise in the field,chosen by DESA, in cooperation w ith UNDP countryoffices.

The role of the nat ional consultants in da ta co llection a ndcountry level analysis was crucial to the quality of the

study.They analyzed lega l and regulatory texts and ca rriedout interviews o f officials and experts,ma inly senior publicsector manag ers, ab out relevant practices. The publicsector managers were interviewed in their personalcapacities as experts rather than as government represen-tatives. The consultants approached a number ofministries and ag encies that deal w ith statistics, publicfinance, the civil service, and public information. In ma nysample countries, the consultants reported t hat t here w asa general reluctance by many senior managers to partici-pate in the interviews,despite steps taken to assure confi-dentiality.7

The research process comprised the fo llow ing steps:

1. UN DESA and UNDP RBAS approached 11countries in the region, through their respectiveUNDP Country Offices, to invite t heir participat ionin the study. Much effort w as made to try to get asa representative country sampling of the region aspossible. The agreement of the nationalgovernments had to be secured before theresearch activities could begin on the ground.

2. A Project Advisory Group (PAG) was created,comprised of representative intergovernmentaland non-governmental regional orga nizations. UNDESA and UNDP RBAS served as secreta riat . ThePAG g uided the research process through ensuring

the validity and reliability of the da ta ga thered andto increase the participation of regional andnational stakeholders.A meeting o f the Group tookplace in Beirut, Lebanon in 30/31 May 2002 toreceive endorsement of the research metho dologyand q uestionnaire.

3. Key concept papers exploring the main studyissues were commissioned from experts:

Public Sector Instit ut ions in the Arab Region,Responding to Globalization and Promot ing

Investment;

Transparency and Accountabil ity in PublicFinancial Administrat ion;

Integrity,Transparency and Accountabilit y inGovernment Human Resources Management; and

Access to Information,Transparency andAccountability.

These pa pers served to introduce the ma in issuesin each of the doma ins under inq uiry. They alsoprovided the conceptual basis for a desk review of

policy documents and the interview guides onpractices.

4. Detailed interview guides (questionnaires) inEnglish (see Annex) and translated into French andArabic were sent out to all participating UNDPoffices and national consultants. They werecomposed of:

The introduction t o t he interview guide (instruc-tions);

The desk review q uest ionna ire (ba ckgroundinformation on public sector organization and

employment as well as key policy information onthe t hree functional manag ement a reas);

Financial manag ement;

Human resources manag ement; and

Information mana gement .

To measure practices, the interviewees were askedto rank each one, based o n a scale of 1= Always,2= Frequently, 3= Sometimes, 4= Rarely, 5= Neverand D= Dont know. (It is worthy of note that in allinterviews in all of the sample count ries, no inter-

viewee ever selected 5= Never.)

5.The nat ional consultants a lso drafted ca se stud-ies in which they presented a national analysis ofthe data they collected. In add ition,t hey gave theirprofessional views on the more qualitative infor-mation collected outside of the research frame-work but w hich they deemed to b e important. (SeePart 2.) In these case studies, the consultant s madecountry-specific policy recommendations. Eachcase study has been circulated to the respectiveUNDP Country Office and g overnment for feedb ackand comments.


7In Tunisia, interviews were ma inly cond ucted with a cademics an d

experts outside of the g overnment. One result for responses for

the country has b een a higher rate o f Dont Know answers about

public man ag ement practices under inquiry (see Step 3 below).


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6. A web-based interactive database wasconstructed upon the questionnaire and madeaccessible to nat ional consultants for direct, on-linedat a ent ry. It w as initially placed on a private site toprotect the confidentiality of the interviewees.After

the reception o f all the information required, thedat aba se was reviewed and a nalyzed by the projectteam in New York, to m ake compa risons across thesix participating co untries. Upon completion of th isanalysis, all information w ith any po tential to iden-tify the interviewees w as removed. The da tab asewa s also modified to preclude any more entries andto prevent any ta mpering. Then it was placed on aweb site, created to house the information on theproject at:

http://www.unpan.org/technical_highlights-Transparency-Arabstates.asp

7.Eight na tional consultant s were hired to conductthe fieldwork through document analysis andexpert interviews. As many pertinent document s aspossible were analysed, and 435 expert interviewswere carried out. (Expert interviews rather thaninterviewees w ere counted since some o f the sa meexperts participated in different interviews atdifferent times. Thus the ba se of act ual number ofexpert interviewees is smaller than the totalnumber of interviews they gave.) Of these, 25 werediscarded as they w ere incomplete or unusable. Ofthe 410 that were analysed, there were:

financial management: 141,

human resources manag ement: 132,a ndinformation mana gement : 137.

Of these numbers, abo ut 73 per cent of the finan-cial expert interviews were with public sectorpersonnel, 77 per cent of the human resourcesexpert interviews and 66 per cent of the informa-tion mana gement expert interviews.

In Jordan and Yemen, there were teams of twoconsultant s each. A training session for the nationa lconsultants took place from 9-11 December 2002in Marrakech, Morocco. This training w as to ensurea common understanding of the study and to stan-

da rdize the interview process.

8.A project team of a coordinator and a researchassistant wa s ba sed in New York to supervise andmonitor the fieldwork. It w as responsible for bothadministration and research. The team memb ersprepared do cumentation for the PAG, organizedmeetings and generally mana ged the project. Theyalso undertook ba ckground research, drafted theinterview guides, coordinated the fieldworkresearch, drafted the final report, edited the casestudies and d isseminated the findings.

9. The PAG he ld a second meeting on 18/19December 2003, in Beirut, in order to review theoutputs of the study,b ased on t he final draft of thisreport. The Group was joined by the nationalconsultants to clarify their submissions and refine

the overall final report. Based on this meeting, thePAG end orsed t he final report.

10.Regional and national policy fora for present-ing findings will be sought out. The sponsors of theresearch hope tha t the results will cont ribute to theintroduction of new and improvements to existingpolicies and practices to have a direct impact onthe stat e of transparency and a ccountability in thepublic sectors in the region.

Outputs and Outcomes

The concept papers, this present report, the on-lineinteractive database and the project website have beenprepared as t he outputs of the project. More importantly,a regional network of experts has been created throughthis work: the members of the PAG and t he nationalconsultants. The consultants, in turn, have come toidentify a group of national experts in each of theparticipating countries through this research effort. Thelinkages of such networks in the region should facilitatethe incorporation of the results of this study into otherrelated, ongoing initiatives at the regional level. Forinstance, a regiona l netw ork w ill only gain in importa nceas more countries in the region sign the United NationsConvention Against Corruption and begin to implement

its provisions.

In order to ensure that the results of the study will beconducive to action, the findings will be w idely dissemi-nated. It is hoped that the participating countries them-selves will undertake national dissemination workshops,leading to concrete policy chang es, institutional improve-ments and managerial developments. For example,improvements to existing legislation and regulation,guidelines to implement them, and training staff to a lterpractices in public financial, human resources and infor-mation manag ement wo uld be d esirable outcomes.

The ultimately desired outcome is the improvement of the

lives of the ordinary people in the Arab Region. Throughmore transparency and accounta bility in the public sector,better decision-making and a more rational use of publicresources should contribute to better governance andsustainable human development in the long term. Asnoted ea rlier in this chapter, to ta ke advanta ge of theoppo rtunities of glob alization and t o reduce its risks, it isimportant that governments, the private sector and civilsociety in the region position themselves to face thesechallenges.



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In this chap ter, the stud y issues identified in Chapter 1 areplaced within their geographical,cultural,historical,social,political and economic context. Setting this context willallow for a better understand ing of the fact ors that shapethe development of the countries participating in thestudy as well as the functioning of their public sectors.

The Arab Region

According to the membership of the League of ArabStates, the Arab World a s a w hole includes 22 countries,stretching from Mauritania in the west to Oman in theeast1 .The region is generally thoug ht to b e constituted of

two parts: the Maghreb (North Africa) and the Mashreq(Middle East). The Arabs a s an ethnic g roup, as know n forapproximately three thousand years, ado pted variouscultures and religious practices.How ever, most Arabs haveconverted t o Islam since its emergence.

Througho ut history, the word Arab wa s used to define afluctuating reality. In pre-Islamic times, it referred to theinhabitants of the Arabia peninsula, mainly composed ofnomad ic tribes.Yet, over the centuries, the expanse of theArab World has b een mostly de fined in terms of the use ofone common langua ge: Arabic considered to be a t thevery heart o f Arab ident ity.

For the purposes of th is study, the Arab Region is repre-sented b y the six countries,mentioned previously: Jordan,Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.Approximat ely 100 million inhab itants, these countriesrepresent more than one-third of the population of theRegion. (However, none of the study countries can becounted among the Persian Gulf oil-producing countries,which enjoy high per capita GDP.) They, nevertheless,represent diversity in the Region through different politi-cal systems, levels of economic development a nd socialstructures.In a ddition,tw o o f the countries studied b elongto North Africa, which is different from the Midd le East inmany ways.

This chapter does not pretend,in any wa y,to give exhaus-tive and comprehensive information about the regionunder study. Nor does it extensively address the particularcircumstances linked to the h istory and the economic andsocial development of ea ch country. Its sole purpose is tohelp better understand the factors that affect publicsector transparency and accountability in those countries.

The Region TodayThe Region is characterized by relat ively high rates o f

growth for the population and the labor force but sloweconomic growth a nd w eak links to the globa l economy2.Conseq uently, the unemployment rate is among the high-est in the w orld. In ad dition, the rate of illiteracy is high,particularly for women. In fact, the political and economicparticipation of Arab w omen is among the lowest in theworld3. As discussed elsewhere in this chapter, the situa-tion of Arab women is one of the major concerns in theregion. It has been noted that d ue to cultural attitudes,even while women may be legally entitled to certainright s, there often exists a clear discrepancy b etween thelaw and act ual practices. Furthermore, very few womenare in decision-making positions.

According to UNDPs 2002 Arab Human DevelopmentReport, the Arab world does better on income indicatorsthan o n development indicators, thus making t he regionricher than it is developed.

In certain respects, globa lization may ha ve exacerbat edthe gap between wealth and development in the regionas a w hole, by focusing more attent ion on consumptionand promoting a market-oriented culture. This is in linewith the realization by ma ny that g lobalization has led tothe w idening of t he material gap b etween t he North andthe South, by not distributing its benefits eq uitab ly.

The Cultural and Historical ContextHistorically, most of t he Arab States were part of theOttoma n Empire,succeeded by French and British colonialpowers. Most o f these countries started recovering theirindepend ence aft er the Second World War. These eventshave had such an influence on the Arab societies that theconcept of the State and the role of its institutions weremarked by the Ottoman and colonial experiences.Consequently, the Arab political and ad ministrativesystems were characterized by a lack of transparency,accountab ility and political choices. As a result, politicalparticipation remained very weak.

Table 2: Modern History of Study Countr ies gives a shortoverview of the colonial history of the countries understudy. Jordan, Sudan and Yemen have been under Britishcolonial rule while Leba non, Morocco and Tunisiaexperienced French colonial rule. As a result, the studycountries now represent legal systems based on Islamiclaw (with the exception of Lebanon) that predatedcolonialism, British commo n law or French civil law, andOttoman law (in the case of Leba non and Yemen). In

CHAPTER 2:OVERVIEW OF THE ARAB REGION14

CHAPTER 2:OVERVIEW OF THE ARAB REGION

1www.arableagueonline.org

2, IMF March 2003, Finance & Development,The Middle East and

North Africa o n th e Threshold to chang e pag e 10.3

UNDP, 2002 Arab Human Development Report.


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addition,Morocco is also based on Spanish civil law,givenits location and history. And several countries alsorecognize local customary law s. (See Tab le 3.)

After ga ining independence, the structure of the Stat e in

most of the study countries adopted republican or parlia-mentary forms of government. In Jordan a nd Morocco,hereditary monarchies persisted.

Upon this initial political and administrative legacy, asequence of various political ideologies appeared, withcorresponding views on the role of the Stat e. As in otherparts of the world,the Arab Region has also been recentlyinfluenced by the latest wave of neo-liberal views onlimiting the role of the Stat e. Coinciding w ith the rise ofgloba lization, these views ha ve in some cases led to awea kening of the socio-economic role of the State, thus

widening the gap between social classes and creatingsocial tensions.

The accumulation of these tensions, tog ether withongo ing conflicts and rapid social changes brought on by

globa lization, has exacerbat ed the social tensions in theRegion. These tensions have manifested themselves inmany forms, ranging from alienated youths to isolatedpockets of religious fundamentalism.

Notwithstanding the considerable constraints oneconomic reforms, many significant developments tow ardpolitical and economic reform and modernization aretaking place,m any supported by programmes financed bythe United Nations System a nd initiatives taken within theframework of the Euro-Mediterranean process.


Jordan The da y Prince Abd ullah Iben a l-Hussein arrived in Amman in 1921 is regard ed a s the be ginning of the est ab lishment of a Jo rdan ian sta te,

under the name of the Emirate of Trans-Jordan. The first Jordanian Go vernment w as formed in the sa me year.In 1928,the first Jorda nian

constitution,the Essential Law of Trans-Jordan, wa s ena cted. It remained in force until 1946, when Trans-Jordan ga ined independ ence upo n

signing th e Treaty o f London. Prince Abdullah w as p roclaimed King in 1946. In 1947,a new constitution wa s de clared by t he issuance o f Law

No. (3). In 1951,King Abdullah wa s assassinated in Jerusalem,an d his oldest son, Prince Tall,succeeded the throne. A year a fter his accession,

King Tall stepped do wn in favor of his son Prince Hussein,w ho w as proclaimed the King. A new constitution w as ena cted a nd promulgat ed.

Its first Article stipulates th at t he Hashemite Kingdom o f Jordan is an indepe ndent and sovereign Arab state, with a parliamenta ry and a

hereditary mona rchy. After the dea th o f late King Hussein in 1999,his son, Prince Abdullah,succeeded the throne.

Lebanon Since independ ence from France in 1943 until 1976, the history of Leban on h as b een d ominated by prominent fa mily netw orks,b elonging

to sec tarian co mmunities. Despite Lebano ns policy of non-involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Octo be r 1973 War dee ply affecte d the

count ry,fo llow ed b y 16 years of civil war. Since 1991 unde r the Taif Accord, the b lueprint for nationa l reconciliation, a more eq uitab le

political system was established.It institutionalizes more involvement of the Muslim population in the political process while demarcating

sectarian proportions in the Government. In May 2000,Israel w ithdrew from its security zone in southern Leba non. Syria maintains its troops,

legitimized b y the Arab Leag ue a nd the Taif Accord.

Morocco The return of the late King Mohammed Vfrom his exile ma rked the end of the French occupation. In 1956,independ ence w as proclaimed.

The interna tiona lized city of Tang ier wa s turned over to t he na tiona l authorities tha t same ye ar. During late 1970,Morocco de clared Western

Sahara part of Morocco. Until toda y,final resolution on the status o f the territory remains unresolved. A UN-administered cease-fire ha s

remained in effect since 1991, but a ttempts t o ho ld a referendum have fa iled. After the d eath of late King Hassan II,his eldest son,

Mohammed VI, has t aken over,introducing new economic and administrative reforms.

Sudan Military d ictatorships w ith an Islamic-oriented government have d ominated Sudan since its independ ence from t he UK in 1956. During the

period 1972-82,the coun try experienced civil war, pitting the Arab Muslim ma jority in Kha rtoum a ga inst the non-Muslim African rebels in

the south. Since 1983, this war has led t o more tha n 2 million dea ths beca use of the fight ing and famine and to over 4 million people

displaced. Since 1989, some north ern Muslim parties have a llied with t he southern rebels and entered t he w ar as a n an ti-government

alliance. However, both sides of the conflict were on the verge of signing a pea ce agreement in 2003.

Tunisia After Tunisia ga ined its independ ence from France in 1956,President Bourguiba estab lished a strict o ne-party state. During his term,w hich

lasted 31 years,h e strongly repressed funda mentalism and esta blished rights for women , ahea d of ma ny other Arab countries.Since 1987,

Ben Ali has b een t he Presiden t of Tunisia. He has b een re-elected for a t hird term in 1999.

Yemen North Yemen b ecame independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1918,w hile South Yemen w as und er the British Protectorate since the 19th

century until 1967.Three years later, the Southern Go vernment ad opted a Marxist orientation, leading to a ma ssive exodus tow ard the North.

This development contributed to t wo decad es of hostilities be twee n the two States.The unified Republic of Yemen w as formally proclaimed

in 1990. In 1994,a southern secessionist move ment w as q uickly subdued . Ali Abd ullah Salih has bee n the p resident o f Yemen since 1990.

Table 2: Modern History of Study Countries

Sources:Albert Hourani, 1991,A History of the Arab Peoples, Charles-Andr Julien,1970,History of North Africa, various a rticles from the

Encyclopaedia Britannicahttp://www.britannica.com,The World Fac t Boo k,http://www.countryreports.org, 2003 Edit ion


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Socio-Economic Background

The richness o f the Arab World lies in the fa ct t ha t d ifferentcultural, social,economic and political dyna mics coexist. Atthe same time,g iven its history, the region broadly sharesa common heritage and core values and faces similareconomic and social challenges.

As a who le, the Region ha s achieved important progresson the social front since the 1970s. Based ma inly on stat ewelfare policies and aided by Islamic traditions of charity

and family support netw orks, Arab cou