World Bank Governance Surveys

Last updated September 25, 2023

The Governance and Anti-Corruption Country Diagnostics is a survey tool, which uses information gathered from in-depth, country-specific surveys of households, businesses, and public officials about institutional vulnerabilities. The tool is used by the World Bank and partner governments to measure and evaluate critical governance challenges within the public sector.^[1]

The diagnostic tool aims to address two of the fundamental challenges policy makers face when trying to curb corruption and improve governance: (i) to obtain the most relevant type of information to identify priorities for reform; and (ii) to create the conditions for sustaining the reform process over time. The results of the surveys allows countries to unbundle corruption (administrative, state capture, bidding, theft of public resources, purchase of licenses); identify weak and strong institutions; assess the costs of corruption to different stakeholders; and identify concrete and measurable ways to reduce those costs. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of public services by improving governance in personnel and resource management, access to services and citizen feedback mechanisms by feeding into participatory and targeted reform planning.^[2]

As of 2013, 23 countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa have implemented the surveys.

The Diagnostic Approach and Process

The Governance and Anti-Corruption Country Diagnostic Surveys are built on partnership between multiple actors and the active involvement of the government, civil society and business representatives at different stages of the implementation process. During the data gathering process local NGOs and specialists are employed to allow for capitalization on, and strengthening of, local knowledge and expertise. Two types Diagnostics have been developed: (i) General Governance and Anti-corruption Diagnostics, which require a broad approach to assessing the governance and anti-corruption situation in a country and (ii) Sectoral Governance and Anti-Corruption Diagnostics, which assess a particular sector within the broader GAC context.^[1]

While the first approach is the one which has been most frequently used, the second approach is suitable for countries facing unique challenges that require more in-depth and narrowly defined data or countries who are keen to draft a governance reform that focuses only on a few sectors, rather than on the whole public administration. This alternative approach has so far been used in Haiti, Madagascar, Mauritania, Senegal, Morocco and Yemen.^[3]

The survey process is tailored to each country to address individual governance context and priorities. However, in most of the countries undertaking this type of work, the project components include:

A preparatory phase (Phase 0) to identify and recruit the project team and develop a detailed work program.
A “partnership-promoting” phase (Phase 1) to facilitate the coordination of the different national stakeholders involved in the process.
A development phase (Phase 2) to assess potential institutional weaknesses, to design and revise diagnostic tools, and (iii) to train staff to carry out the required field work.
A fieldwork phase (Phase 3) to collect the governance data, using the tools developed in Phase 2. This Phase will include sample design, fieldwork as well as data coding, and will be carried out jointly by local and external experts.
An analytical and action planning phase (Phase 4), to analyze the data collected in Phase 3 and design a specific action plan to improve governance. The analysis, carried out jointly by the Bank team and local team, led to the completion of a policy report to address questions such as: What is the cost of mis-governance to firms, users, and public finances? What are its consequences? How does mis-governance affect poor users and small firms? What effect does mis-governance have in public service delivery? What are the causes of institutional vulnerability? What are the fundamental issues on which a reform program designed to improve governance and reduce mismanagement should to focus? The policy report is then used by the country to design a specific action plan for governance improvement
A dissemination phase (Phase 5), to disseminate the results of the analysis completed in Phase 4 to local and central governments, citizens, media and research agencies. Where feasible, the development of internet sites for further data access and dissemination will be promoted and a series of training activities will be organized on the use of the data for policy making and monitoring.^[1]

Outcomes

This approach has empowered governments to develop their own governance and anti-corruption strategies based on more objective, micro-level data and a participatory model. The data collected have also allowed practitioners to go beyond a generic concept of corruption by unbundling different types of corruption and identifying more appropriate policy measures.

While in many cases it is premature to evaluate the impact of this alternative approach, some interesting by-products have already emerged. A few countries (Paraguay and Mozambique) have mobilized resources and used on their own the same approach for a second round of assessment. In a couple of cases the country has chosen to institutionalize part of this assessment integrating it in their regular data collection implemented by the National Statistical Agency. Finally, the newly available data has allowed researchers to further our understanding of the link between institutional factors and different types of corruption, and of the impact of poor governance and corruption on citizens.^[2]

Coverage

The following countries have completed at least one round of the survey.

Related Research Articles

Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for the rule of law. Governance is "the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented ". Governance in this context can apply to corporate, international, national, or local governance as well as the interactions between other sectors of society.

Governance is the process of making and enforcing decisions within an organization or society. It is the process of interactions through the laws, social norms, power or language as structured in communication of an organized society over a social system. It is done by the government of a state, by a market, or by a network. It is the process of choosing the right course among the actors involved in a collective problem that leads to the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of acceptable conduct and social order". In lay terms, it could be described as the political processes that exist in and between formal institutions.

New Public Management (NPM) is an approach to running public service organizations that is used in government and public service institutions and agencies, at both sub-national and national levels. The term was first introduced by academics in the UK and Australia to describe approaches that were developed during the 1980s as part of an effort to make the public service more "businesslike" and to improve its efficiency by using private sector management models.

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is a mutually agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by the member states of the African Union (AU) as a self-monitoring mechanism. It was founded in 2003.

Capacity building is the improvement in an individual's or organization's facility "to produce, perform or deploy". The terms capacity building and capacity development have often been used interchangeably, although a publication by OECD-DAC stated in 2006 that capacity development was the preferable term. Since the 1950s, international organizations, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and communities use the concept of capacity building as part of "social and economic development" in national and subnational plans. The United Nations Development Programme defines itself by "capacity development" in the sense of "'how UNDP works" to fulfill its mission. The UN system applies it in almost every sector, including several of the Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. For example, the Sustainable Development Goal 17 advocates for enhanced international support for capacity building in developing countries to support national plans to implement the 2030 Agenda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worldwide Governance Indicators</span>

Based on a long-standing research program of the World Bank, the Worldwide Governance Indicators capture six key dimensions of governance between 1996 and present. They measure the quality of governance in over 200 countries, based on close to 40 data sources produced by over 30 organizations worldwide and are updated annually since 2002.

Global Integrity is an independent, nonprofit organization tracking governance and corruption trends around the world using local teams of researchers and journalists to monitor openness and accountability. Global Integrity's reporting has been cited by over 50 newspapers worldwide, and is used by the World Bank, USAID, Millennium Challenge Corporation and other donor agencies to evaluate aid priorities. Global Integrity's methodology differs considerably from existing metrics of governance and corruption by using local experts and transparent source data, rather than perception surveys. Unlike traditional charities, Global Integrity is a hybrid organization that seeks to generate earned revenue to support its public-interest mission.

The institutional corruption in Angola refers to the pervasive and long-standing issue of corruption within the country's government and public institutions. The aftermath of the 30-year civil war and the influence of the Soviet command economy have resulted in significant institutional damage and the emergence of a centralized government with authoritarian tendencies. This has allowed the president and his associates to exert control over the nation's resources, enabling them to exploit the economy for personal gain through legal and extra-legal means.

Daniel Kaufmann is the president emeritus of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), which resulted from the merger of the Revenue Watch Institute – Natural Resource Charter. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he was previously a senior fellow, and until July 2019 served in the international board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and in a number of advisory boards on governance, anti-corruption and natural resources and has also been in high-level expert commissions such as at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Prior to that, he was a director at the World Bank Institute, leading work on governance and anti-corruption. He was also a senior manager and lead economist at the World Bank, writing and working on many countries around the world, and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University. He has also served in other boards and councils in the past, including at the World Economic Forum.

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (www.janaagraha.org) is a non-profit trust, working towards the mission of transforming the quality of life in India's cities and towns. Founded in 2001 by Ramesh Ramanathan and Swati Ramanathan, it started as a movement to include people's participation in public governance and has now evolved into a robust institution for citizenship and democracy. The core idea of Janaagraha's work does not revolve around fixing problems but instead seeking to fix the system that can solve the problems. To achieve this objective, Janaagraha works with citizens to catalyse active citizenship in city neighbourhoods and with governments to institute reforms to city governance.

Civil service reform is a deliberate action to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, professionalism, representativity and democratic character of a civil service, with a view to promoting better delivery of public goods and services, with increased accountability. Such actions can include data gathering and analysis, organizational restructuring, improving human resource management and training, enhancing pay and benefits while assuring sustainability under overall fiscal constraints, and strengthening measures for performance management, public participation, transparency, and combating corruption.

Although access to water supply and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa has been steadily improving over the last two decades, the region still lags behind all other developing regions. Access to improved water supply had increased from 49% in 1990 to 68% in 2015, while access to improved sanitation had only risen from 28% to 31% in that same period. Sub-Saharan Africa did not meet the Millennium Development Goals of halving the share of the population without access to safe drinking water and sanitation between 1990 and 2015. There still exists large disparities among sub-Saharan African countries, and between the urban and rural areas. The MDGs set International targets to reduce inadequate Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) coverage and now new targets exist under the Sustainable Development Goals. The MDGs called for halving the proportion of the population without access to adequate water and sanitation, whereas the SDGs call for universal access, require the progressive reduction of inequalities, and include hygiene in addition to water and sanitation. Particularly, Sustainable Development Goal SDG6 focuses on ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

While hard data on corruption is difficult to collect, corruption in Indonesia is clearly seen through public opinion, collated through surveys as well as observation of how each system runs.

Corruption in Georgia had been an issue in the post-Soviet decades. Before the 2003 Rose Revolution, according to Foreign Policy, Georgia was among the most corrupt nations in Eurasia. The level of corruption abated dramatically, however, after the revolution. In 2010, Transparency International (TI) said that Georgia was "the best corruption-buster in the world." While low-level corruption had earlier been largely eliminated, Transparency International Georgia since 2020 has also documented dozens of cases of high-level corruption that remain to be prosecuted.

The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) - is a Georgian non-governmental organization which tends to support the development of an informed and empowered society for democratic governance. IDFI promotes human rights and good governance by raising civic awareness through sound informational reports, research and recommendations; Advocates for initiating & implementing reforms of policies, laws and practices to enhance democratic governance.

The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) is a public-private body that develops strategy for the long-term competitiveness of the Philippines through policy reforms, project implementation, institution building, and performance monitoring.

In 2011, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted a Policy on Science and Technology (ECOPOST).

The World Bank Group’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) program helps countries around the world “systematically strengthen their education systems.” It produces data on education institutions, analyzes and evaluates their quality, and provides decision makers, school administrators, academia, and education specialists with information that can be used to foster structured and informed policy dialogue on how to most effectively strengthen education policies and policy implementation that can improve learning outcomes on the ground. SABER is one of the initiatives derived from the WBG’s Education Sector Strategy 2020 and it “lies at the center of the World Bank Group’s thinking on education.”

Anti-corruption comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measures is sometimes drawn. In such framework, investigative authorities and their attempts to unveil corrupt practices would be considered reactive, while education on the negative impact of corruption, or firm-internal compliance programs are classified as the former.

The Basel Institute on Governance is an independent, international non-profit organisation dedicated to preventing and combating corruption and other financial crimes and to strengthening governance around the world. The organisation was established in Basel, Switzerland in 2003 by Professor Mark Pieth.

References

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[World_Bank_Governance_and_Anti-Corruption_Diagnostics-1] 1 2 3 "Governance and Anti-Corruption Diagnostics" . Retrieved 2023-09-24.

[Recanatini-2] 1 2 Recanatini (2011), “Country-specific diagnostic assessments: an alternative approach for policy reform”,

[World_Bank_Governance_and_Anti-corruption_(GAC)_Diagnostic_Surveys:_The_process-3] World Bank Governance and Anti-corruption (GAC) Diagnostic Surveys: The process,

[4] Bangladesh

[5] Benin

[6] Bolivia

[7] Brazil

[8] Burundi

[9] Colombia

[10] Cote d’Iviore

[11] Ecuador

[12] Ghana

[13] Guatemala

[14] Guinea

[15] Haiti

[16] Honduras

[17] Kenya

[18] Madagascar

[19] Malawi

[20] Mauritania

[21] Mozambique

[22] Paraguay

[23] Peru

[24] Senegal

[25] Sierra Leone

[26] Zambia

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]