sector network

NEWSLETTER
No. 5 November 2010
SECTOR NETWORK
Good Governance in Sub-Sahara Africa
Index
Dear colleagues of the GGA Sector
Network,
03
Report Back from Pretoria
Retreat: A Road Map to the
2011 GGA Conference
05
Up-dates from the Houses
11
Updates from the Task
Forces
14
Instruments for Virtual
Cooperation
18
Diversity – Driver for
Development
19
Initiative to Analyze the
GTZ-Profile in the Area
of Good Governance and
Democracy in the Regions
20
News
22
Membership
I am delighted to present you the fifth
edition of the GGA Newsletter on developments in the Sector Network
since the Dakar Conference in November 2009.
“Welcome change as the rule but not
as your ruler” – was the motto of the
GGA Steering Group for the past six
months; however, before I go into details on changes in the Steering Group,
let me briefly introduce this newsletter
to you. In a nutshell this newsletter:
• Updates you on the ongoing work
in the three Houses, the respective
Rooms and the House-transcending
Task Forces
• Outlines the road map to our GGA
conference in 2011
• Introduces
the
new
GGA
COMMUNITY and other online
tools which will enhance our GGA
work
• Highlights some personnel changes
within the GGA
1
• Draws attention to recent efforts of
the GGA such as the contribution to
the latest “DemoS”, the Germanspeaking newsletter of GTZ’s State
and Democracy division
• Informs you about other initiatives
within GTZ which impact our work
First and foremost I am happy to report that energy is bustling throughout our GGA Houses. Jointly with
the responsible task force and room
coordinators, the Steering Group has
consolidated work plans, given strategic advice, and facilitated linkages between topic areas. A number of meetings have indeed already taken place
and many more are planned before
the end of this year (see GGA road
map on p. 4).
As compared to the past years there
has been a considerable increase of
working groups and thematic areas
taken on. This clearly demonstrates
the relevance of the GGA! The following diagram visualizes our current
structure and the topics being worked
on since Dakar.
No. 5 November 2010
GGA Steering Group
Chairperson, 3 house speakers, Africa
Department, Planning and Development
Department
State
development
Resource
governance
Task force
Task force
House I: National Governance
Reform
House 2: Regional
Governance Reform Processes
Rooms:
• Good financial governance
• Rule of law
• Ethics and transparency
Reader on the new African
integration architecture
Non state actors and
social accountability
Task force
Let me take the opportunity to highlight David Abeler’s feature on instruments which are at our disposal to
work in “virtual teams” (p.14). This
is, after all, what constitutes most of
our interaction in the GGA Sector Network: it happens in the virtual space.
The GGA Steering Group’s March retreat set a goal to generate and facilitate new mechanisms for virtual
communication while at the same
time keeping an eye on cost implications. We decided to make better use
of cost-free, existing facilities. After
years without a dedicated virtual interaction forum for the GGA, we are
pleased to introduce our new GGA
COMMUNITY. With the COMMUNITY we hope to promote information
flow and thematic exchange in the
Sector Network, make it more lively,
interactive, continuous – and above all
just easier!
House 3: Decentralisation
Rooms:
•Aid modalities
•Fiscal decentralisation
•Quick-wins
•Monitoring and evaluation
•Urbanisation in Africa
•DECNET
•AMCOD reference group
Thus, with this newsletter we are
launching our GGA COMMUNITY
online. This DMS space offers a wide
range of tools for communication
and exchange. The different working
groups (rooms and task forces) can interact and share documents in virtual
fora, a GGA calendar provides information on all important events. You
can post recent news, blog and highlight articles which you think might be
of interest to fellow GGA members.
The GGA COMMUNITY is open to all
GTZ staff. You can access the GGA
COMMUNITY at the following link:
https://dms.gtz.de/livelink-eng/
livelink.exe?func=ll&objId=5749221
8&objAction=browse&viewType=1
Although this site is currently only
available in German and English, wherever possible, we provide information
in English and French. All members
2
Linking bi-lateral &
Pan-African programmes
Task force
are encouraged to use their language
of preference.
I warmly invite you to explore this
new space: click through the different tools, start experimenting and
leave your first footprints. You will
find more details in the article on page
14. Should you have any questions or
feedback, the GGA secretariat (Astrid.
[email protected]) and I stand ready to
support you.
Now to changes in the GGA Steering Group: Mr Aziz Jardine stepped
down as House 1 Speaker due to personal reasons and - very recently - our
Co-Speaker Ulrich Nitschke (Benin)
resigned from the GGA after leaving
the Africa Department and moving to
the Middle East. Thank you, Ulrich, for
the great collaboration in the GGA!
As regards House 1, I would like to
thank Aziz Jardine (South Africa) for his
No. 5 November 2010
efforts and welcome Dr Florian Lang
as new House 1 Speaker. Dr Florian
Lang is the team leader of the MacroEconomic Advisory Project in Malawi
and was appointed by the Steering
Group and the respective Room Coordinators. Mr Lang coordinates House
1 as from 5 August 2010.
With the loss of Ulrich Nitschke, the
question was: What should happen
with regard to our tandem speaker arrangement as put in place in Dakar?
Well, after considering various options, the GGA Steering Group concluded that I should continue with the
Speaker role. I am happy to take over
this responsibility and we are currently
busy sorting out some of the practical
implications.
Concerning head office’s representation in the Steering Group I would
like to draw your attention to the following changes:
Ms Regina Ecker, director of division
Sahel and West Africa in head office,
1
has joined the Steering Group representing the Africa Department. She
replaced Dr Jochen Salow who has
left the Africa Department after the
GGA conference to take up a position
in Afghanistan. Welcome to the GGA,
Ms Ecker!
Dr Elke Siehl, director of the Division
State and Democracy in Eschborn, has
joined the Steering Group representing the Planning and Development
Department. She replaces Mr Jörg
Haas who has left head office – and
thus the GGA – to take up a post in
Indonesia. Welcome to the GGA, Dr
Siehl!
The next Steering Group meeting
will take place on November 3-4 in
Eschborn. This meeting will be a good
opportunity to manage the above
mentioned transitions and will also
give us the opportunity to strategize
around implications of the merger of
GTZ, DED and InWEnt for the GGA as
well as start planning our next conference.
Before letting you enter into the alleyways of our GGA village, I would like
to thank those who sent constructive
feedback in response to the e-mail circular a few months ago. I wish to invite
you all to strive towards further improving our content-based exchange
which enriches the quality of our
work in our respective programmes
as well as enjoy the opportunities of
the GGA Sector Network.
I hope you will enjoy this edition of
the GGA newsletter and I look forward
to receiving your feedback or any tips
and ideas you might have.
Yours sincerely,
Lena Weiler
Chairperson:
Sector Network Good Governance in
Sub-Saharan Africa (GGA)
Report Back from Pretoria Retreat: A Road Map to the 2011 GGA
Conference
Lena Weiler (GGA Chairperson)
In its March retreat in Pretoria, the
Steering Group discussed the evaluation results of the Dakar conference,
took stock of the developments and
progress since then and – most importantly – developed a joint understanding of where to go as well as a road
map that will take us there.
The GGA Dakar Conference evaluation showed that the conference was
very well received in its entirety
but at the same time generated some
insights on how to improve in preparation for the next conference. For
example, new GGA members were
only moderately prepared. Also,
the identification and introduction of
new staff members (particularly na-
3
tional staff) to the Sector Network in
between GGA conferences remains
needs to be improved.
How could this be done? Here are a
few suggestions:
• AVs are asked to report new staff
to the chairperson, so that they
can be incorporated into the Sector
Network.
No. 5 November 2010
• A starter pack for new members
has already been established.
New members are referred to the
respective Houses or Task Forces
and efforts made to include them
in the ongoing work of Rooms and
Task Forces.
Another important issue the Steering Group discussed was the need
for incentives for Sector Network
commitments. Of course the main
incentive will always be that the Sector Network adds benefit to the individual member programmes.
GGA Steering Group Meeting, March 2010, Pretoria, South Africa
Left to right: Astrid Meyer, Ulrich Nitschke, Lena Weiler, Aziz Jardine, Frauke Bartels, Symerre
Grey-Johnson, François Menguelé
However, the operational Jour Fixe of the department heads recommends that incentives at an individual’s level are established: Sector Network commitments are to be included in staff’s annual goals! Unfortunately, this is not yet fully
implemented. Hence, we would like to call on every single GGA member (whether AV or staff) to include Sector Network
commitments in your annual goals (also see NEWS, p.20).
GGA Road Map 2010-2011
28-29 Oct 2010
House 2 Meeting in Accra, Ghana
November 2010
Launch of GGA COMMUNITY
November 2010
GGA Newsletter – 5th edition
2 Nov 2010
Conjoint Forum of all Sector Network Steering Groups, Eschborn
3-4 Nov 2010
GGA Steering Group Meeting, Eschborn
Feb 2011 (tbc)
House 1 Meeting
March 2011 (tbc)
GGA Steering Group Meeting
April 2011 (tbc)
House 3 Meeting
April 2011
Newsletter – 6th edition
2nd half 2011
GGA Conference 2011
4
No. 5 November 2010
2
Up-dates from the Houses
1
National Governance
Reform Processes
Dr Florian Lang (Speaker: House 1)
In Dakar, the House National Governance Reform Processes reorganised
itself into three Rooms: Rule of Law,
Ethics and Transparency and Good
Financial Governance. The first one
is an entirely new creation, the second builds upon the successful work
of a Task Force and the third is by
now a long established element of the
House. While the work in the Rooms
went ahead since Dakar, the internal coordination suffered when Aziz
Jardine, who was elected House Coordinator in Dakar, resigned for personal reasons in July - we thank him
for his work. After consultation with
the Room Coordinators the Steering
Group appointed Florian Lang as the
new House Coordinator in August.
Rule of law
‘Rule of Law’ is an essential principle
of Good Governance. It is at the core
of GTZ’s “value oriented approach”.
The Room Rule of Law, coordinated
by Dr Elisabeth Leiss and Dr Mathias
Mühlhans, decided to increase the
weight of this concept in GTZ’s daily
work. They intend to establish the
topic as a key factor for sustainable
development in the German development discussion and to position GTZ
with its modes of delivery in this context. For this, a clear understanding of
the (GTZ) concept of ‘Rule of Law’ has
to be established - as part of our corporate identity and as a reference for
advisers in partner countries. In addition, the group aims to increase the
practical knowledge for day to day
work by exchanging experiences and
mutual learning.
The group’s starting point is to deal
with the phenomenon of parallel legal and power systems in our partner
countries. This often is a consequence
of a hybrid state where two different
approaches collide: the formal state
based on western values and the informal-patrimonial local or indigene
political culture and customs, e.g.
confrontational western-style court
system versus negotiated dispute settlement by traditional authorities. The
crucial question is: Are these just ‘obstacles’ that the concerned countries
will sooner or later overcome or are
we confronted with a totally different
(state) culture which will never be in
line with our western concept of ‘Rule
of Law’?
The first step towards an answer is
to prepare a comparative analysis
between the BMZ/GTZ concept of
’Rule of Law’ and the prevailing situation in our partner countries: Is our
partner country heading in a direction
that doesn’t comply with our con-
5
cept, and if so, what is our reaction
as rule-of-law-advisors? Hence, the
Room is currently developing a table
to confront the five leading principles
of the BMZ/GTZ-concept of ’Rule of
Law’” with the political legal culture
in our partner countries, countries that
are ‘working’ but which at the same
time collide with our rule-of-law concept. The outcome of this comparative
analysis will be the starting point for
further reflections on GTZ’s approach
towards pluralistic legal societies.
Ethics and Transparency
The Room Ethics and Transparency
is coordinated by Nadine Stiller. Thematically, it is located in the areas of
ethics, integrity, accountability, participation and transparency regarding governance structures. The main
focus is on the public sector but also
its interlinkages with civil society and
the private sector. The objective of
this Room is threefold. First, it aims to
show how Governance initiatives can
enhance their impact through broadening their (conceptual) foundation
by taking up aspects related to ethics,
transparency and anti-corruption in
general. Secondly, it creates a platform
on which practical advice and experiences regarding day-to-day-work surrounding ethics and transparency will
be exchanged. And finally it wants to
offer a space for academic discussions
in the mentioned areas.
No. 5 November 2010
The Room is currently preparing a
mapping exercise of relevant GTZ
Governance initiatives in Africa to
identify approaches aimed directly
or indirectly at enhancing accountability, transparency, ethics, integrity
and participation. The purpose is not
only to uncover and document the
sometimes hidden activities regarding anti-corruption efforts and make
these efforts more tangible for the
respective GTZ staff. Combining the
mapping results with international
Good Practices and conventions like
UNCAC (UN Convention against Corruption) a tool box will be developed
that contains practical and easy ways
to promote ethics, transparency and
anti-corruption. This will show other
interested parties and programmes
ways to improve governance structures using anti-corruption measures
in various areas and therefore, also to
increase the impact of their work.
Good Financial Governance
completed by Meike Janosch in early
2010. The second will be a short Fact
Sheet that is due before the end of
this year. Mutual learning and the
discussion of new developments was
also at the core of the Room meeting
held last June in Berlin, just before the
GTZ Public Policy Conference. At this
meeting the roles of reform coordination units in Finance Ministries and the
challenges they face were analysed
using examples from Kenya, Malawi,
Zambia and Ghana. Of more strategic orientation was the debate on increased activities by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) in the area of
technical assistance and their impact
on GTZ projects. The Room agreed to
give its input on a strategy paper currently prepared by the Planning and
Development Division on this subject.
A new issue that might also hold business potential for GTZ is the role of
IT-systems in financial management
reforms. The group decided to conduct a study on ongoing activities in
The Room Good Financial Governance (GFG) maintained its basic objectives of positioning the issue within
GTZ as a core element of Good Governance and to contribute to the development of the field by identifying
the latest issues and trends under the
new coordinator Florian Lang. Mutual
learning also remains an important
part of its work.
the projects in order to identify ways
to improve our work in the area.
While these activities continue, the
priority for the next six months will
be to deepen the Room’s cooperation with PauvNet from the Sector
Network Economic Development in
Africa. For the past two years a good
relationship has developed and a
number of joint areas of interest and
activity were identified. As a starting
point a joint conference on Medium
Term Expenditure Frameworks and related budgeting issues will be held in
the next six month.
House Meeting
But not only the GFG Room will
meet again. A House meeting is also
planned for the first quarter of 2011. It
will be an important milestone for the
work plans, a motivation for all House
members to carry on with their work
and an opportunity for exchange and
discussion.
Dr Florian Lang was born
in Regensburg (Germany).
He studied Political Science
and Public Administration
in Bamberg and Paris. From
2006 till 2009 he worked as
advisor to the Ministry of
Finance in Madagascar and
then moved on to Malawi.
There he currently is team
leader of an advisory project at the Ministry of Development Planning and the
Ministry of Finance.
Two papers on Good Financial Governance in fragile states will outline its
contribution to the overall improvement of governance. The first paper,
a study on taxes in fragile states, was
6
No. 5 November 2010
2
Regional Governance
Reform Processes
Symerre Grey-Johnson
(Speaker: House 2)
House took note of the
following as Challenges
1.
Key Outcomes of House
Meeting in November 2009,
Dakar, Senegal
The decision taken on the future
of the two deliverables (Room and
Task Force activities) of the House as
agreed in the House meeting of November 2009 are as follows:
1.
The Synergies Room was
discontinued.
2.
The Strategy Task Force (TF)
will be supported by the
House, although a distinction
has been made between the
current TF which focuses on
vertical synergies which will be
supported by the House but the
House will now aim to focus on
horizontal synergies between
the programmes within the
House.
2.
The House has a limited
number of active members,
therefore, work should not be
overstretched and its members
should be realistic with the
work programme of 20102011.
There is a need to coordinate
closely with the work of the
Afrika NA (Meeting and
Working Group).
Work thus far
The major activity for House 2 in 2010
is to explore the possibilities of working on a Reader with thematic themes.
House 2 members agreed to work on
a theme which has been formulated
along the lines - The new African
Integration Architecture: Prospects
and Challenges.
The first draft of the “Call for Papers”
announcement on the submission of
individual experiences on the support
of the African integration agenda has
7
been elaborated and sent to all House
members for their comments and input. Although a number of colleagues
have commented on the “Call for
Paper” circular, so far only one member has transmitted a paper for the
Reader.
At the next House 2 meeting a session will be reserved for presentations
of the papers by the respective authors. This will allow House members
to comment on and peer review the
papers prior to the publication of the
Reader at the next GGA SN conference in 2011.
The next House meeting
House 2 has held its meeting in Accra, Ghana at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre
(KAIPTC) on 28-29 October 2010.
Details of the meeting will be communicated to House members via email.
No. 5 November 2010
3
Decentralisation - State
of the House and key
milestones from House
work
François Menguelé (Speaker:
House 3)
Key Outcomes of the Dakar
Conference in November
2009 and work thus far
Since the General Assembly of the
Good Governance Network held in
November 2009 in Dakar the Decentralisation House has grown from
strength to strength.
In numeric terms today’s distribution
list counts over one hundred experts,
a trend which attests to the growing
interest in decentralisation as a long
term reform and societal change process in which an increasing majority
of (nearly 70%) African countries find
themselves involved. A daunting number of more than 85 House members
are actively involved in seven thematic
working groups known as “Rooms”.
They work as field experts in some
17 bilateral GTZ support programmes
to decentralisation across the African
continent (Benin, Cameroon, Burkina
Faso, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Burundi,
Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia,
South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique,
Chad, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan). A
remaining number of roughly 20 experts are based at GTZ Headquarters
from where they provide strategic
support to evolving knowledge creation processes in partner countries.
Compared to the previous term, the
House has increased its thematic foci
from five to seven Rooms which encompass the following: Monitoring
and Evaluation, Fiscal Decentralisation, “Quick Wins”, Aid Modalities,
Urbanisation, DecNet and the AMCOD/UCLGA Reference Group on
vertical synergies. By July 2010, all
working groups had submitted their
work plans for the current term of the
GGA network.
In order to have a realistic estimation
of deliverables and make optimal use
of the available energy and capacity across the Rooms, the work plans
were taken through a screening exercise based on certain criteria.
New force for House 3: The
incorporation of DecNet
One further element of strength has
been the incorporation of DecNet as
an integral part of the Decentralisation
House. This formerly separate, but
fairly entrenched network of eleven
GTZ supported francophone countries
has some special features that warrant
attention as they could add value to
the work of the House. Key amongst
these special features is the fact that
the network comprises GTZ experts
and their senior counterpart officials.
8
This unique configuration of DecNet
amongst other Rooms affords the
House a comparative advantage. On
the one hand, it provides the involved
counterparts with an opportunity to
use the House both as a knowledge
marketplace and a sounding board towards their national reform processes.
On the other hand the Decentralisation House is afforded an opportunity to ensure that the products and
advisory services being provided by
GTZ experts are best-fit to service the
knowledge and capacity demands of
partners.
It is in recognition of this background
that we shed the following flashlight
on the first thematic meeting of DecNet held in January this year in Douala, Cameroon.
The thematic focus of this meeting
was on performance evaluation of
local authorities. The showcased
experiences from eight francophone
countries highlighted that the topic is
a growing concern amongst local authorities. Indeed, many countries have
embarked on the transfer of powers
and resources to local governments
and the onus is increasingly on the
recipients to demonstrate that citizens
can get added value in terms of better
services. Moreover, local governments
are under pressure to demonstrate
their capacity to manage the new
mandates transferred to them by central governments.
No. 5 November 2010
This is rather challenging as local
governments in nearly all the eleven
member countries of DecNet do not
have enough means to hire skilled
personnel that could assist for instance with sound project packaging and fast-tracking of procurement
processes in compliance with existing
rules and regulations. In most countries, the chronic tension between deconcentrated services and local government entities still lacks a strategic
solution. Even though all the countries
in question have started to address the
problem, numerous tensions and basic
constraints appear to prevent a proper
stocktaking of local government performance in the framework of national
decentralisation policies.
As far as local government performance evaluation is concerned, it is
still far from being culturally embedded in the decentralisation policies of
all eleven francophone countries covered by DecNet. Even though a distinction can be made between leading countries (e.g. Mali, Benin where
a national coverage was achieved
in 2008 and 2009 respectively) and
lagging ones (e.g. Senegal, Burundi,
Cameroon, Mauretania, Niger, etc.)
most initiatives remain embryonic
and predominantly sporadic rather
than systematic. Unanimity does not
yet prevail in terms of who is the process owner, but it seems that central
governments often worry about levels of spending and compliance with
rules and regulations, whereas local
governments are overly concerned
with the level of service delivery as a
matter of accountability to their local
constituency. Unlike in certain countries where the evaluation of decentralisation on the basis of a clear time
table has made inroads (Ghana, South
Africa), most francophone countries
have not yet embarked on a general
review of their decentralisation policies. This is perhaps where the chance
lies for local government performance
evaluation to receive greater political
attention at national level. Admittedly,
the increasing exchange of practice
and benchmarking processes between
countries or amongst local governments has the potential to trigger the
required political carriage.
Meanwhile a meeting of the DecNet
GTZ focal points has taken place from
July 21-23 2010 in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso. They were preparing the
next DecNet Forum which is scheduled to take place from May 23rd to
26th 2011 in Bujumbura, Burundi.
The forum will discuss decentralised
cooperation between municipalities
within partner countries. In addition,
a consolidated work plan has been
prepared for the period until December 2011. Amongst others the main
points are the organisations of the
DecNet fora 2011 and 2012, the setting up of a data base with DecNet related reports, the capitalisation of the
accumulated knowledge, the impacts
recorded so far and the dissemination
of related results.
Work within Rooms
• Apart from the dynamism observed
within DecNet, other Rooms have
stepped up their activity levels in
a quest to take the House work to
new momentum.
9
• The Fiscal Decentralisation Room
envisages holding its first meeting in
November 2010 in Tanzania to share
a range of GTZ-country experiences
and Good Practices in local
government revenue generation.
The results will be incorporated
into a compilation of Fact Sheets
on GTZ experiences in supporting
intergovernmental resource transfer
systems in Subsaharan Africa. This
work builds on a case study on
intergovernmental resource transfer
systems in SSA countries, from the
previous year which includes the
approaches and contributions of
GTZ (Lessons Learned, perspectives,
etc.). Another report has been
prepared on the topic “Linking
Development planning to Budget”.
• The Urbanisation Room is planning
an article on “Urbanisation and
diversity” related to the Eschborn
Dialogue in 2010: “Diversity”.
They are also conducting a survey
on “Urbanisation in Africa” and
the respective support of GTZ
programmes.
• The
Room
Monitoring
and
Evaluation
is
finalizing
an
analysis of M&E systems of GTZ
decentralisation programmes and
their linkages with M&E systems
of decentralisation reforms. They
also prepare recommendations
on developing and implementing
M&E systems for decentralisation
programmes.
• The Room “Quick Wins” intends to
produce a survey on “quick wins”
and success stories.
• The Room Aid Modalities is
planning to hold its meeting in early
February 2011 in Mozambique,
with the aim to examine, amongst
No. 5 November 2010
others, how recent review missions
have operationalised the new
requirements on various issues such
as “alignment”, “synergies” and
programme based approaches.
A first progress report: The
House 3 meeting in Leipzig
A partial House meeting was organized
as a side event to the Decentralisation,
Regional Governance, Municipal and
Urban Development Unit meeting
of GTZ experts held from June 30th
to August 2nd 2010 in Leipzig. Issues
covered entailed a brief update on the
first Steering Group meeting held in
March in Pretoria, a brief status report
on House work and a draft version
of the consolidated House work plan
derived from the screening of submissions received from all Room coordinators. As the Rooms have clarified the
key deliverables they want to tackle in
the remaining time span until the next
GGA conference, members requested
more information on the funding modalities for such deliverables. So far the
funding available are the 5000 Euros
managed by the House Chairpersons.
This modest provision stands as an ad-
ditionality to the compelling Financial
Regulations of the Sector Network
which stipulate that core activities of
the network and its constituent bodies
(House, Rooms, Task Forces) must be
financed mainly by the programmes
involved.
More vertical synergies
between regional/continental
and bilateral programmes:
The AMCOD/UCLGA reference
group
Another side event within the Leipzig
encounter was initiated by the AMCOD/UCLGA Reference Group. The
meeting was attended by managers
(AVs) of seven member programmes,
including colleagues from the GTZ
unit in Eschborn. Key issues discussed
were strategic pointers and modalities for better synergy between the
bilateral member programmes and the
AMCOD/UCLGA programme ahead
of an imminent project progress review (PPR) of the latter scheduled to
take place in Cameroon in mid-July.
All participants were comforted by
the announcement that vertical synergies between regional/continental
and bilateral programmes have been
endorsed by both BMZ and GTZ top
management as being part of the strategic orientations for cooperation with
partners in Africa. Areas of improvement were identified around information sharing and the structuring of a
country feedback mechanism in order
to ensure a more productive and mutually beneficial participation of counterpart ministers and their officials in
future AMCOD conferences and meetings. In that vein, the Room/House
Coordinator informed the audience
that besides the PPR meeting scheduled to take place in July, Cameroon
will host an extraordinary meeting of
all AMCOD Ministers in Yaoundé from
10
28th to 30th of September 2010. While
stressing the need to share all relevant
information with managers of bilateral
programmes ahead of the upcoming
ministerial conference, the meeting
resolved amongst others that a better
collaboration should be sought with
the AMCOD/UCLGA programme on
key thematic reform issues that could
potentially capture political attention
of member countries so as to generate a more conducive environment
for GTZ support. As for the AMCOD
programme, the hot topics already
identified include: i) country-tocountry benchmarking on key reform
issues in order to stimulate a culture
of political dialogue and follow up, ii)
cross-border cooperation among local
authorities, iii) bilateral programme
support to their counterpart ministers
in agenda-setting on AMCOD issues,
iv) incorporation/agenda-setting on
decentralisation and local governance
issues in regional integration processes
(RECs).
Next House meeting: April
2011?
So far the next House meeting is
planned for April 2011. Prior communication is imminent within the House
to kick-start the planning process. The
progress within the Rooms as described
above leads to the assumption that
the House Decentralisation is moving
ahead. As such, the upcoming House
meeting promises to be a knowledge
marketplace that will galvanise GTZ
support of on-going reform processes
towards societal change in Africa.
No. 5 November 2010
3
Updates from the Task Forces
Taskforce Non State
Actors and Social
Accountability
Dr Marion Popp (Coordinator: Task
Force “Non State Actors and Social
Accountability”)
ability’ studies the interaction of state
How successful is the advocacy work
and different forms of Non State Ac-
of NSAs? How is it perceived by state
tor (NSA) organisations and society at
institutions and what impact does it
large.
have on policy formulation? What is
the magnitude of the NSA contribu-
We would like to better understand,
tion to government service delivery?
whether
associations,
In which ways do these NSA organisa-
Bearing in mind that GTZ programmes
trade unions, faith-based or com-
tions dialogue with the state and their
aim at improving government ac-
munity based organisations are rep-
members/constituencies?
countability and social cohesion with
resented at the various government
regards to advocacy and service de-
levels and can contribute to enhance
The Task Force members identified the
livery in the area of decentralisation,
social acceptance of decentralisation,
following Good Practice examples in
public finance management and Good
monitor the provision of basic social
their respective countries:
Governance in general, the Task Force
services, engage in policy dialogue and
‘Non State Actors and Social Account-
monitor poverty reduction processes.
professional
11
1.
Ghana: A network of CSOs that
engage in the APRM process
2.
Tanzania: A faith-based umbrella
organisation that plays a vital role
for service provision in the health
sector
3.
Ethiopia: A community based
organisation (Iddir) that is found
in all parts of the country and
represents an important network of
mutual help. Iddirs play an critical
role in programmes that aim at
enhancing accountability in the
area of social service provision
4.
South Africa: A network of 14
national NGOs that focuses on
governance aspects at the level
of local government and also
implements projects in cooperation
with local government authorities
5.
Zambia: A network of civil society
organisations that successfully
No. 5 November 2010
engages in the national poverty
reduction process and a faithbased organisation that powerfully
lobbies for pro-poor policies
The Task Force recently met from
October 20th to 22nd 2010 in Lusaka,
Zambia. The presentation of Good
Practice examples led to the discussion
of the question in how far GTZ modes
of delivery are suitable to support new
forms of social accountability and cohesion. The workshop in October also
provided an opportunity for the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA) to present the networks’
ideas on how to facilitate the intersection between the ‘demand side’ (civil
society) and the ‘supply side’ (state)
of governance.
Getting down to business
with a multi-level
approach in German
development cooperation
– Task Force “Synergies”
continues its work
Tarquin Mészáros (Coordinator: Task Force “Linking National,
Regional and Pan-African Programmes”)
the various levels. Based on the rich
struction site “Synergies”, the Task
data that was collected from a great
Force will closely cooperate with the
number of GGA member programmes
Head Office-based Working Group
(presented during the GGA Confer-
“Afrika NA” as well as with Planning
ence in Dakar), the Task Force will
& Development. In future, the Task
now shift its focus to turning the anal-
Force will also post its latest work re-
ysis into practical recommendations
sults and products on the GGA COM-
for the programmes.
MUNITY as well as the GTZ Intranet,
by using a website on “Linking pan-
Specifically, in the second phase of its
African – regional – national” that
work the Task Force “Synergies” aims
was recently set up by the Africa De-
to:
partment. Up-to-date information is
• Provide selected governance
programmes with
information and operational
recommendations so as
to stimulate and facilitate
vertical cooperation between
programmes
• Facilitate the formation of multilevel “thematic clusters” (e.g.
Good Financial Governance)
• Provide relevant information in
the forerun to Project Progress
Review missions (PFKs) in
cooperation with GTZ’s Planning
& Development Unit and
• Provide BMZ with information
and advice in the context
of profile building (regional
governance portfolio)
accessible here.
We are looking forward to working
together with our colleagues towards
a genuine multi-level approach in
German development cooperation!
Tapping into GGA’s
pool of experiences
– Task Force “State
Development” develops
rules of thumb for
newcomers
Helen Radeke (Coordinator: Task
Force “State Development”) and
Annelene Bremer
“In principle…” - this is the phrase
most frequently used to familiarise
Endowed with a new mandate by the
foreigners with processes in Camer-
GGA Steering Group – and with new
oon (and elsewhere); underlining the
membership – the Task Force “Linking
In the process of its work, the Task
fact that reality differs in many ways
National, Regional and Pan-African
Force will also compile general Les-
from rhetoric and regulations.
Programmes” has resumed its work.
sons Learned and Best Practices for
In the first phase, the Task Force had
programme managers to use as prac-
focused on identifying tapped and
tical tips for vertical cooperation. To
untapped synergies between BMZ
ensure complementarity and connec-
funded Governance programmes at
tivity with other processes at the con-
12
Both the draft paper “GTZ Governance Advisor” and the working paper
“Challenges for State Development in
Sub-Saharan Africa for Development
No. 5 November 2010
Cooperation”, offer thoughtful reflec-
Already, a feedback template has been
The Task Force understands itself as
tions on these challenges. Yet, at the
developed which will be circulated
a platform for exchange and learning
GGA Conference in Dakar we sensed
shortly among GGA colleagues to take
on practical experience and wants to
the need to broaden the scope of
stock of success stories. In a next step,
organize a regular exchange with the
this discussion by including the con-
the findings will then be used to de-
professional community in the extrac-
troversial issues of civil society and
velop a training module for new col-
tive sector on our interventions and
traditional authorities on all levels of
leagues. The Task Force invites you to
the established impact. It aims at the
governance and by going beyond this
take an active part in the process as it
development of a common under-
theoretical work and operationalising
will enable us to move on from talk-
standing on the methodology of ca-
current findings and using them for
ing about “principles” and let us focus
pacity building in the natural resource
training and dissemination purposes.
more on “realities”!
sector that will lead to a GTZ brand
In particular, there is a demand to de-
Task Force
Governance
velop soft tools that allow us to better
understand the behaviour of formal
and informal leadership and the influence of traditional/cultural values on
decision-making processes. The Task
Force aims to achieve its objectives
by identifying and sharing Lessons
Learned and Best Practices. Its objectives can be summarized as follows:
• Increase our understanding of
the challenges arising from our
work in order to enhance our
role as governance advisors in
Sub-Sahara Africa.
• Come up with alternative
perspectives/new tools on how
to bring about reforms in the
specific cultural context.
Resource
Götz von Stumpfeldt (Coordinator:
Task Force “Resource Governance”)
Natural resource wealth in many cases
correlates with poverty, bad governance and violent conflict instead of
being the catalyst for sustainable development and the achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). The BMZ clearly identifies
Good Governance as a key issue for its
quest for sustainable development in
resource rich countries. The GTZ portfolio is growing and needs to be integrated into a conceptual framework.
Experiences need to be systematically
analyzed.
13
“resource governance”.
The Task Force elaborated an overview
on the projects implemented and presented it at the GGA-Conference in
Dakar. It has organised its first workshop apart from the GGA-Conferences and House Meetings on 2nd and
3rd June in Kinshasa. Results will be
integrated into a new common paper.
No. 5 November 2010
4
Instruments for Virtual Cooperation
David Abeler, Knowledge Management
What do members
expect?
November 2009 – 141 members of
the GGA Sector Network from 24
countries meet in plenary session in
Dakar.
Besides a great deal of experience, they
bring lots of expectations that go far
beyond simple networking. The object
is to get together with colleagues and
discuss common issues, share concepts
and Best Practices, learn from each
other, and develop joint positions and
new perspectives.
The challenge: not every day
can be a plenary session
Forces, not in the plenary meeting.
This is the actual working level of the
Good Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa Sector Network, where discussion
is concentrated and where joint issues
are tackled with a focus on results.
But how does this collaboration happen? How do the working groups and
Task Forces organise their collaboration, given that members are spread
all over the continent (with a limited
time budget and different languages)?
Clearly, this is primarily a question of
finding the right issue that will motivate all the participants to share information and work together.
Naturally, the leader of the working
group plays a decisive role here, not
only with regard to focusing on the
common issue, but also in terms of coordinating and organising the collaboration and ongoing motivation of the
participants. But the right platforms
and communication tools are also vital
if the exchange is to work, and this is
what we want to look into briefly in
the following sections.
Sector Networks live off this vigorous
exchange, meeting personally, sharing experiences and pooling ideas
for the future. However, large Sector
Network meetings also involve a lot of
time and money. Moreover the bigger
the networks get, the more difficult it
becomes to reconcile different expectations – and three days is a very short
time to find scope for all the questions
and needs.
It’s all a matter of the right
mix.
Then again, the real collaboration happens in the Houses, Rooms and Task
GTZ has a whole range of tools for
communication that can be used in this
14
connection, some of which we would
like to introduce below. The important
thing is for you to be clear on what
can best be used for what purpose.
• If you want e.g. to reach quick
agreements in small groups or joint
decisions, then audio and video
conferences by phone or Skype are
the right tool.
• If you want to present, explain or
even develop something together
live in a group, then Live Meeting
is very useful.
• The new GGA COMMUNITY
platform which has been created
in the DMS offers a permanent
platform for collaboration, ongoing
pooling and access to information
for the entire Sector Network and
individual working groups. News,
forum, files – all the information
flows together here, bundling the
facilities for long-term sharing
between all the Sector Network
members.
• For regular information to all, there
are the Newsletter and Circulars –
a good overview of what’s going on
and a reminder to everyone to join
in actively. In fact, you’re looking at
the Newsletter right now!
• The range of services is completed
by a special page for the GGA
Sector Network on the GTZwebsite. This brief presentation
serves as a business card for the
Sector Network’s work for and
in the region. Here, outsiders too
can obtain information about the
Sector Network, and if necessary
get in touch with the designated
contacts.
All these tools have their own advantages, and ideally complement each
No. 5 November 2010
other. The important thing is to find
the right mix.
Audio and video conferencing
by phone or Skype, and Live
Meeting
Audio and video conferences are ideal
if there are a small number of participants who want to decide, organise or
briefly discuss things.
Established and still practical – telephone conferences. If your telephone
system doesn’t have this function as a
standard option, there’s no problem –
you can simply use a teleconference
service provider. This is also necessary
if a number of participants at different
locations are being connected. Here,
GTZ works with Genesys Multimedia
Conferencing. It’s very simple – you
are given a “virtual conference room”,
and the organiser of the teleconference sends each participant a number
for them to call. Dialling this number automatically connects with the
conference room and the conference
participants. The organiser is also the
moderator, and can manage the conference using the audio conference
system. These conferences do come at
a small cost, but this is only charged
if you actually use the service. Further
information, brief instructions and the
form to order the necessary account
are available in the DMS(in German).
You can also contact your colleagues
at the IT Service Centre (by email).
Rather more convenient, and above
all free, is internet teleconferencing
using Skype. GTZ supports this too.
For this, you naturally need a reasonably good internet connection, microphone and speakers, and possibly also
a webcam. The advantages of Skype
– it’s simple and free. Skype supports
one-on-one video conversations and
also conferences with a number of
participants (although only audio).
The chat function makes it possible
to ask colleagues quick questions, if
they’re online anyway. This is particularly useful for exchanges between the
internal and external structures. If you
have questions about this, or want to
install Skype on your computer, the
IT Service Centre will help. More information is available in the DMS (in
German).
However, Skype quickly reaches its
limits if you want to link a number
of people, or even work together on
documents or make a presentation.
There is also a good tool for interactive
workshops and conferences via internet – Live Meeting. Live Meeting supports video and audio conferencing,
but it can do more – joint and simultaneous working on documents directly
on screen at different locations, visualisation of ideas, online presentations
or demonstrations of software use,
and organised consultations involving
all participants. It works very simply:
one of you sends an email inviting the
15
other participants. For this, you need
an access account, which you can request (by email) from the IT Unit. The
invitation can be conveniently sent via
Outlook, but can also be started via
the internet. The invited participants
are granted access to the session automatically in an email, and can join the
session at the agreed time. (For the first
time, a one-time software download is
required, approx. 16 MB.) A conference like this can include not only GTZ
staff, but also outsiders. Then it can
start. All you need is a clear agenda
and good moderation (and the necessary preparation). For example, the
SNRD Asia Sector Network uses this
method to organise its Steering Group
meetings. If you are interested, you
can find more information in the DMS
(in English). Microsoft also offers free
video and live courses on the internet
(in English), where you can learn how
to use the program and its functions.
If you want to use Live Meeting, you
naturally need a minimum internet
bandwidth. However, we have a tip
for participants with inferior internet
links – if you do without sound and
image during a Live Meeting session
and set up a teleconference (e.g. with
Genesys) in parallel, you can work on
screen and communicate by phone.
The new GGA COMMUNITY
platform in the DMS
Audio and web conferences are ideal
for short meetings in small groups.
However, long-term collaboration and
sustainable exchanges need a more
permanent platform for organising
information and communication management. For this purpose the GGA
Sector Network has now set up a
new community platform in the DMS
No. 5 November 2010
- aptly named GGA COMMUNITY that pulls everything together:
• all the central information about
the Sector Network and the various
Houses,
• the latest news, job offers and
pointers to coming events and
further training courses at a
glance,
• a forum where all members can
share opinions on various issues,
• and – for working groups and
Task Forces – the possibility of
organising collaboration and current
discussions through their own blogs
(internet video, English) and files.
This new GGA COMMUNITY in the
DMS is effectively the Sector Network’s communicative centre and
memory.
The great thing about the community platform in the DMS is that you
have automatic access with your GTZ
ID, and don’t need to remember additional passwords. Just log in, and
you’re there. Working with documents and resources is simple and familiar (see here for instructions in various languages, and also tips for using
the DMS over inferior connections). In
this way, the Sector Network’s work
is integrated directly into GTZ’s information architecture. You can access all
documents and websites directly and
without obstacles, and avoid multiple
copies of documents (which often
causes problems when nobody knows
any more where the latest version is,
and which one it is …).
The community is still brand new,
and a few aspects are still under construction. The core content is being
gradually expanded, and the Houses,
Rooms and Task Forces will also or-
ganise themselves in accordance with
their specific needs. IT is currently
working to ensure that the user interface will soon be available in French
as well. The most important thing is
for you to play around and acquire a
feel for what’s possible and how you
can use this platform. Take a look at
the platform, get an impression of it,
and use the forum for your contributions to Sector Network discussions. It
will only really come alive if you contribute actively to the forum, sharing
information with colleagues and networking. A lot of things will then develop quite naturally, making the GGA
COMMUNITY a pragmatic and valuable working platform that brings new
energy to collaboration in the Sector
Network. Here are some tips on how
to get the most out of it.
Seven rules of thumb for
lasting virtual communities
All these communication tools – especially used in combination – offer a
whole range of possibilities for sharing information and working together.
To get the most out of them, here are
some rules of thumb and suggestions
for applying them so that they really
are useful and helpful.
Make constant use of a small
number of handpicked services
Find out what suits the participants in
your working group best. This depends
not only on the needs of the specific
working processes, but also on technical conditions, and the prior knowledge and language of the participants.
Decide together what you want to use
for what purpose, and then ideally use
these tools fairly regularly, so that
you develop a routine and everyone
involved feels at home with them. In
16
this respect, communication is also a
matter of habit and familiarity. Virtual
cooperation only becomes really effective when everybody knows where
to find information, where to look for
an answer, and where results are being jointly processed. At the start, of
course, this requires a certain measure
of patience and persistence.
Stay realistic
Community platforms immediately
make you think of Wikipedia – an encyclopedia which started from scratch,
is getting steadily better and better,
and has long since crowded out standards like Encyclopedia Britannica as
a reference source. Can we expect
collaborative results like this? Well –
probably not. Studies show that only
around 5% of users of interactive online forums like this participate more
or less actively. In a Sector Network
with 150 people, that would be just
seven people, and in a working group
with 20 active members, it would be
just one – you, perhaps? Don’t worry,
though. Most of your colleagues are
just as keen on collaboration as you
are. Knowing each other personally
also increases the motivation for virtual cooperation. Even so, it’s important
to stay realistic from the start. This is
another instance of Pareto’s law at
work – 20% of the participants do
80% of the work. However, they also
get 80% of the recognition, so it pays
to stick with it!
Increase the number of participants
The big advantage of a virtual platform is that there’s no limit to the
number of participants. Anyone who
has something to say and is motivated
to do so can join in, as there’s no cost
involved. For example, you can invite
No. 5 November 2010
colleagues from Head Office (always
make sure product managers are involved, if they aren’t automatically
there anyway!!!). They’re often happy to have closer contact with work
in the external structure. Or your colleagues at CIM, who are rarely able
to attend meetings in person, but are
still very interested in regular sectorspecific exchanges. Finally, the DMS
community platform also gives you an
opportunity to give selected outsiders
access to this area. [To do this, simply send an email to User Administration Centre and notify them who is to
be granted access (name, email, GTZ
contact).] The more people involved,
the more interesting the discussion.
And particularly with social software
packages, you need a critical mass for
it to work.
It won’t work by itself – moderation
One thing is certain – it won’t work
by itself. Someone needs to keep track
of things and keep the network alive.
This is the core task of the selected
network and House spokespersons,
who also act as moderators. They organise the work processes, coordinate
cooperation, convene teleconferences,
keep participants informed and keep
cooperation alive. They also keep an
eye on their respective working areas
in the community, and organise the
services so they provide optimal support to cooperation.
Keep a high profile
Often, participation is strongest directly after Sector Network meetings. However, as everybody gradually settles back into their everyday
work, motivation often drops off.
Even if participation slows down, you
should never let the community go
completely dormant. A few continuous signs of life can help get through
a slow period. Possible examples are a
short regular information email to all
participants. Stay in regular touch, and
show briefly what’s new and what the
status of the work is. In more intensive
work processes, this can be worth doing every 2-3 weeks. Always involve
the members of the Steering Group in
these short updates, so that they can
see where you stand and have your
work in focus. In addition, these regular signs of life encourage more passive members to get involved again in
the joint work.
Face-to-face contact is still
necessary
Not everything can be done virtually.
Communication media are important
and useful, but can’t completely replace real contact. Getting to know
people, establishing trust, informal exchanges which often produce the best
ideas – all this is difficult or impossible through the network. This is why
17
working groups need to give some
thought to the optimal frequency and
composition of occasional meetings,
for example when important milestones have to be reached. After this,
people have not only made substantial
progress, but also have much greater
motivation to engage in virtual cooperation again.
Don’t take things too seriously
Never lose sight of the goal – sharing
experience, learning from each other,
growing together – that’s what it’s all
about, ultimately. And it should never
turn into a tedious exercise. Fun and
commitment are two of the most important drivers for work in the Sector
Networks. All the tools are just aids
intended to provide scope for this energy. In other words, it’s never about
the tools, but always about the people who use them. And after you’ve
found your forum and posted your
contribution, it’s often time to turn off
the computer and go and relax with
a beer.
No. 5 November 2010
5
Diversity – Driver for
Development
Spotlight of the Year
2010
Frauke Bartels and Christof Kersting, State and Democracy Division
“Diversity is essential to development.
Diversity is about having alternatives;
it’s about openness and opportunities for growth. It means generating
potentials to bring about change. Instead of leaving diversity to chance,
we need to leverage these potentials
by managing them carefully.”
and expertise are brought to bear in
diverse partnerships and alliances.
4.
Different regions, cultures and
problems call for tailored responses.
There is no standard solution to
the diverse challenges facing us.
We therefore apply our extensive
expertise and experience for the
benefit of our partners.
5.
Development
means
change.
Innovation needs diversity in order
to flourish. It strengthens economic
and social development and helps
to reduce poverty. We promote
innovation and provide impetus for
sustainable growth.
That is the motto for GTZ’s year 2010
spotlight.
Key statements
1.
Diversity is fundamental to societal
development. It helps people to
explore their strengths and develop
their personal, cultural and political
potential. We support our partners
in harnessing their strengths and
in creating an environment that is
conducive to development.
2.
Diversity has to be managed.
Good Governance is crucial for
development. It is the custodian
of democracy and the rule of law,
and guarantees pluralism and
diversity of opinion. That’s why we
support our partners in creating and
maintaining strong structures.
3.
Development requires partners.
We can only find answers to the
challenges of today and tomorrow if
we work together. Our knowledge
6.
We have to tackle global issues
together. Challenges such as climate
change, the financial crisis and
migration do not stop at national
borders. In cooperation with our
partners we develop solutions that
draw on the strengths of all parties,
and implement them together.
Several events and discussions have
taken place and as every year, these
were the themes that inform the Eschborn dialogue. The theme of GTZ’s
2010 Eschborn Dialogue was ‘Diversity: The culture factor’. Representatives
from the fields of politics, academia
and society were invited to come to
Eschborn on 22nd and 23rd of June
to discuss the role of culture in development with development experts.
Hands-on experience and theoretical
approaches opened up possibilities
for exploring and meeting the current
18
and future challenges in development
and international cooperation.
What cultural factors play a role in the
development of democratic structures
and economic systems? How can local
cultures be better incorporated into
the development process to create
genuine benefits for all stake-holders?
How can cultural forms of expression
be used to communicate development
issues directly and effectively?
These and similar questions are as
relevant to the development policy
debate as they are to the day-to-day
work of development projects. For international cooperation to be successful, it is crucial to maintain an awareness of the cultural diversity and the
values, norms and traditions of the
region in question.
In the international debate there is
widespread agreement that development can only be effective if its cultural dimensions are taken into account, and that the integration of
cultural factors determines the success
of all development efforts. In line with
the principle that ‘all development is
local’, development strategies must
build on local contexts and cultures.
The challenge is to take cultural factors adequately into account and to
apply culturally sensitive approaches
when working on the ground.
In this context the division State and
Democracy organized a symposium
No. 5 November 2010
with a specific focus on “Good Governance: Drawing on cultural diversity”.
Good Governance safeguards pluralism, democracy and the rule of law.
But each society has its own cultural
rules that influence the shaping of political systems. It often happens then,
that contradictory norms or opposing
interests come up against each other,
giving rise to tension that can result
in conflict or alternatively lead to positive change.
One of the tasks of development cooperation and international cooperation
is to negotiate a common understanding for Good Governance through
dialogue with all stakeholders.
6
How do societies define ‘pluralism’
and ‘democracy’ and what form does
Good Governance take in different
cultural contexts? The speakers at the
symposium discussed the interrelationships between culture and politics.
In individual rounds of talks they clarified whether familiar models of Good
Governance can also be applied to
other cultural settings and to what extent more traditional or more modern
forms of organisation lead to success
– for example when implementing financial policy in Africa and Asia. The
conclusions drawn were then taken as
the basis for discussing options for action by development cooperation and
international cooperation. Using the
creative artistic possibilities offered by
jazz, a renowned musician illustrated
how interaction between individual
players can work to good effect in innovative negotiation processes.
In continuation of the workshop, the
Sector Network should discuss how
to take up these issues in our working
groups since our day-to-day work is
closely related to these questions.
For the documentation of the Eschborn Dialogue please check out this
intranet site
or the DMS workspace.
By the way, the Spotlight of the Year
2011 will be „Green Economy/Green
Growth“. What can the GGA Sector
Network contribute to this topic?
Initiative to Analyze the GTZ-Profile in the Area of Good
Governance and Democracy in the Regions
Frauke Bartels and Julia Rehmet,
State and Democracy Division
the future governance-related challenges in these regions.
newsletter “DemoS” in the end of
May 2010.
The four Sector Networks in the field
of governance and the P&D division
“Good Governance and Democracy”
have jointly started a process of analyzing the GTZ service profile in the
area of Good Governance and democracy.
In a second step, the Sector Networks
were requested to comment on these
papers according to their own perception of the situation and were asked
to give their recommendations as regards the future direction of German
involvement in the area of Good Governance and democracy.
In Africa the GGA Sector Network´s
steering committee commented extensively on the study. For the result
please consult the DemoS Newsletter
itself.
In a first step, some renowned scholars analyzed the status of democracy
and Good Governance in the different
regions GTZ is engaged in, as well as
The outcome of this process was published in a third and final step as a
special edition of the GTZ governance
19
As the regional analysis papers were
composed in German language, unfortunately only German-speaking
SN-Members were involved in the
above process.
No. 5 November 2010
7 News
Get rewarded for your GGA
commitment - Include it in your
personal annual objectives
French version of BMZ’s strategy of
promoting Good Governance
BMZ has just published the French version of its strategy of promoting Good Governance in German development policy (Promotion de la Bonne Gouvernance
dans la Politique Allemande de Développement).
Truly productive commitment in the Sector Networks
cannot merely be something extra you do on the side.
Those who are deeply involved, and who have taken
on responsibilities, should make sure they include their
commitments in their personal objectives. This practice
is actively encouraged by the To foster this practice, the
Knowledge Management unit wanted to mainstream it
more clearly, for example by adding proposals to the
Catalogue of examples of annual objectives (DMS, in
German). To do this, they collected samples of well-formulated texts from all Sector Networks and assembled
them into a list. In the next step this list will be submitted to the personnel department in order to prompt
management to make another clear recommendation
for the inclusion of Sector Network commitment in annual goals.
The strategy addresses efforts to foster Good Governance that fall within the priority area “democracy,
civil society and public administration” and/or as a
key subject in other sectors. The latter is particularly
important in partner countries without a governance
priority area or wherever it is difficult to directly address more political issues such as Good Governance.
Furthermore, integrating Good Governance promotion
into sector-specific projects can make them more effective.
Against the background of the diversity of the fields
of action addressed by this BMZ strategy of promoting Good Governance other thematic “position papers”
or “specials” continue to be relevant and complement
the strategy paper. One example is BMZ’s special on
“Promoting Resilient States and Constructive StateSociety Relations – Legitimacy, Transparency and Accountability” that has only recently been published in
German in addition to the English version of 2009. This
paper was presented at the SN meeting in Dakar.
Here you can read the proposed list (DMS, in German).
Interested in the latest developments
in African integration?
About once a week, the regional GTZ project “Support to Pan-African Institutions” (SPAI) publishes the
so-called Pan-African WebNews. In this press review,
the latest news reports of the English-speaking African
online media are compiled in a clearly arranged manner,
ordered by the actors of the African integration process.
You will find recent online news reports on the African
Union, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development,
the Pan-African Parliament or the various Regional Economic Communities to name but a few.
If you want to keep abreast with the latest developments in the African integration process, you are welcome to subscribe to the Pan-African WebNews compiled by SPAI. For a subscription, kindly send an email to
[email protected].
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You can download the French version of the document
here or for some additional information check out the
GGA COMMUNITY in DMS.
Sector conference “State and civil
society: Shaping diversity – encouraging
constructive relationships”
From June 30th to July 02nd 2010 the Decentralisation,
Regional Governance, Municipal and Urban Development Unit held a sector conference on the topic “State
and civil society: Shaping diversity – encouraging constructive relationships”. The documentation for this
workshop such as the programme and the different
presentations is now available via a special link on the
URBANET website (in German).
No. 5 November 2010
The GGA Sector Network as a Breeding
Ground for Trilateral Cooperation on
Good Governance: The Tri-Co Fund
The Trilateral Cooperation Fund is a mechanism for
Germany and South Africa to jointly assist and support African countries or regional initiatives by using the experiences and knowledge as well as human,
institutional and financial resources of Germany and
South Africa. The Tri-Co Fund was established through
agreement between Germany and South Africa to
strengthen South Africa’s contribution towards governance, development and peace and security in Africa.
Projects shall fall within the scope of the existing
German-South African bilateral programmes (Good
Governance, Skills Development, Energy and Climate,
HIV/AIDS) or contribute to the protection of global
public goods, particularly peace and security. Projects
may be initiated by a South African institution, a
third country or regional organisation and shall contain meaningful contributions of each of the parties.
A Call for Proposals will be launched by the Steering
Committee at the beginning of next year, based on
which projects will be selected. Selection criteria are
inter alia the topical scope of the project and commitment as well as meaningful contributions of each
of the at least three parties involved (Germany, South
Africa, third country / regional organisation). GTZ
programmes throughout Africa are welcomed to
inform partners on this programme and assist in
designing project ideas.
For further information please contact
[email protected] (+27 12 423 6361).
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No. 5 November 2010
8 Membership
We would like to welcome the following 23 new members to the Sector Network:
Benin
Ivar Trippolini, Programme for decentralisation and
local development (PDDC)
Mali
Alexandre Martinez, Programme Promotion of local government (PACT)
Botswana
Karin Dahlhoff and Gerhard Sippel, Strengthening
of decision and management structures of SADCinstitutions
Mozambique
Carlos Mauricio Cabral Figueiredo and Josef Ising, Decentralisation programme
Cameroon
Annette Coly, Support to the introduction of the
Paris Declaration
Rwanda
David Lahl, Good Governance programme
D.R. Congo
South Africa
Ruth Langer, Police support in Africa
Sascha Baum, Support to AFROSAI
Dr Angela Paul, Public service reform programme
Ethiopia
Kai Hofmann, Urban governance and decentralisation programme
South Sudan
Marion Hörmann, Support to administrative reform and decentralisation
Markus Körner, Support to the African Union peace
and security architecture
Sophia Körner, Capacity Development for the AUC
Department of Political Affairs
Germany
Julia Kronberg, Advisor on Sudan, BMZ
Stefanie Teggemann, Supporting the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)
Tanzania
Miriam Heidtmann, Advisor at the secretariat of the East African Community (EAC)
Kenya
Dorothea Grieger and Opimbi Osore, Good Governance support project
Zimbabwe
Camilla Preller and Dr Thomas Schild, Flexible fund to support reforms
Tobias Heiko Lemmel, Civil Society Fund
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