for Africa Integrity Leadership Course (ILAC)

Transcription

1 Integrity Leadership Course (ILAC) for Africa Empowering Professionals to Lead with Integrity for Businesses, Governments, CSOs, Foundations, Aid Agencies April 29-May 4, 2013 Strathmore University (Governance Centre), Nairobi, Kenya General High levels of corruption and the lack of integrity in organisational governance worldwide cause harm and waste on an epic scale. Despite vigorous efforts by some businesses, donors and reformminded governments over the past twenty years, increasing knowledge about corruption and its effects has only rarely been mirrored by successful reforms. In Africa, despite progress in governance reforms, corruption is still seen as the single most important challenge to development in the region. The general perception of the people, according to the African Governance Report II, is that all governance institutions are corrupt in Africa. In response, anti-corruption initiatives, such as anti-corruption agencies, have been implemented in many countries. Although addressing corruption is an essential aspect of sound governance, this focus alone is too narrow to sustain institutional reform, and it can sometimes have negative, unintended consequences. ILAC is modelled on one of the flagship programmes of Integrity Action (formerly known as Tiri), the annual Leadership and Management for Integrity course taught at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary since. Integrity Action and partner faculty have trained integrity champions from countries at this course. It seeks to impart the principles, strate-gies and applied skills necessary to e uip practitioners to effectively diagnose integrity gaps and most importantly to implement strategies for addressing them. Raising integrity standards of organizations is increasingly recognized as an effective tool to foster development and strengthen legitimate democratic governance. Organisational integrity here refers in large measure to internal processes of accountability, peer support and team competence for high impact, locally driven reforms. This course represents one of the few targeted, applied and yet empirically grounded efforts currently available internationally for developing effective integrity strategies in some of the world s toughest governance environments. It takes an inter-disciplinary approach to raising integrity standards in public and private institutions. Resilient and sustainable approaches to reform are emerging in a wide variety of countries and institutions. Business, NGOs, and public agencies have a great deal to learn from innovations generated both within their sectors as well as from others sectors. There is a growing recognition among leading policy practitioners that the cutting edge of sustainable reform lies, at least in part, in the interaction between different stakeholders. The Integrity course is one of the rare efforts to take a multi-stakeholder approach to short and

2 medium-term reform. The programme in Africa was inaugurated in Gor e Senegal, in September and empowered leaders from Francophone countries. It has begun to be a regionalised initiative for minds to meet over the many facets of integrity building in the continent. Faculty: The lecturers are among the world and region s foremost experts and practitioners in the field of integrity and anti-corruption. They will engage participants to forge creative and contextually-sensitive solutions to a problem that burdens many societies, and poses a major risk to programmes in business, government and civil society. The course faculty include: Antoinette Kankindi, Claire Schouten, Dominic Burbridge, Fredrik Galtung, Hadeel Qazzaz, Joy Saunders, Patrick Rafolisy, Prisca Oluoch and Tom Odhiambo. Past courses resource persons include George Soros (philanthropist, the founder of Central European University and Open Society Institute), Paul Collier (professor at Oxford University s Economics Department), Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga (former president of Latvia), Abdul Tejan-Cole (former anti-corruption commissioner of Sierra Leone), Nuhu Ribadu (former anti-corruption commissioner of Nigeria) and Hon. Justice Clotilde Nougbode Medegan (former Chief of the High Court of Justice of Benin and member of the UN Commission of the Legal Empowerment of the Poor). Structure of the course: The morning plenary session is centred on concepts, cases and experiences in solving specific problems in particular agencies and settings. The remainder of the day is devoted to specialist policy labs that explore practical solutions to specific integrity challenges and contexts. After the Nairobi course, selected participants may receive additional support over 9 months, consisting of a mentorship by the course faculty/resource persons, including specific guidance, in-country visits, additional training as needed, and a field peer exchange. Two policy labs are on offer: Integrity in Local Governance and Service Delivery Access to Justice: bridging the streams of justice

3 Integrity in Local Governance and Service Delivery Since the 1990s, Africa has been experiencing major steps in reforms for democracy and development. However, such efforts still prove to be top-down managed. Local voices, needs and aspirations are often lacking in national planning and management of public resources, which not only contributes to community disputes and open conflict but also fuels disconnect between national and local plans and realities. In general, decentralization and improving the services at the local level in Africa present a great challenge for many political, economic and social reasons. Even when there is clear political will and international support for empowering local governments, fiscal decentralization remains a major issue. The lack of trust, accusations of corruption and mismanagement and, in many cases, the difficulty to understand local contexts contribute to these challenges. Consequently, the question is how can social accountability contribute to improving local governance? Would it be by addressing local communities concerns, solving community disputes, limiting possibilities of open conflict and strengthening reconstruction at the local level? This policy lab will address questions such as: What are the integrity challenges facing local governance from different perspectives: national government, local government, civil societies and local communities. How should these challenges be addressed? In this lab participants will critically analyze different contexts where social accountability activities are government led, internationally initiated, initiated by civil society and/or jointly agreed upon, and then identify possibilities of replicating successful models. How can traditional social accountability measures be used for addressing community disputes and supporting reconstruction efforts, especially in conflict-torn societies? How can specific social groups such as youth, women, disabled, poor and marginalized people benefit from social accountability and raise their concerns?

4 Key Learning Objectives Better understanding of the challenges and potential of social accountability especially in least developed and fragile states. Policy recommendations to improve impact and sustainability of social accountability especially in service delivery. Suggestions and way forward in participatory governance. Convenors: Dr Hadeel Qazzaz, Director of the Pro Poor Integrity programme at Integrity action, has worked on integrity and anti-corruption reforms in Palestine, the Arab world and Africa for more than a dozen years. Mr Dominic James Burbidge, Researcher at Strathmore Governance Centre and at the University of Oxford's Department of Politics Who Should Take this Policy Lab? Practitioners in development and aid agencies, government and civil society, who are working in development projects and aiming to focus more on social accountability, people s voice and inclusion of multi-stakeholders. What Course Participants Say? The best short course I ve been to in 20 years. Before the course, I knew what to say about corruption; after the course, I know what to do about corruption. - Alf Persson - SIPU International These 2 weeks have transformed the way I view governance and integrity and equipped me with ideas and necessary practical skills to implement positive reforms in my organization. - Prof. Wijayanto - Vice Rector of Paramadina University, Indonesia and Founder of Paramadina Public Policy Institute For me the most important learning was the shift of paradigm from fighting corruption which often feels like mission impossible to investing time, resources and energy in people with integrity and in developing strategies to fight specific problems. - Galina Pourcheva- Bisset, Regional Manager, Central and Eastern Europe: Hope and Homes for Children, Sofia The integrity course gave me a broader understanding of integrity issues and how they are interlinked, and it has helped me to design different ways to address issues of fraud, corruption and negligence in development aid and emergency relief interventions. The most rewarding thing with the course was the mix of academia and practitioners, the course succeeded with something most training courses aspire to do but fail: to go from practice to theory and back to practice. - Lennart Hernander, Director of International Finance, Church of Sweden

5 Access to Justice: Bridging the streams of justice The coexistence of the two streams of justice (formal and traditional), mostly inherited from the colonial period, and the disconnect between them is commonly recognized as a source of integrity challenges. With few exceptions, in most African countries the traditional (community) justice, used by the majority of citizens, has been simply ignored and often even suppressed in the name of rule of law promotion and human rights protection. Despite its remarkable resilience, that marginalization has had undesirable effects in the ability of the system to evolve, adapt and espouse certain values that become more and more universal such as equality and liberty of individuals regardless of race, gender, age and economic status. The now dominant form of justice, symbolized by the western model of judiciary, has been receiving most of the governments and donors attention and resources even though it is used by a minor percentage of the population. Even after more than a century of its introduction to the system of governance in the continent, its adoption as a main way to resolve a dispute and to access rights appears to still be a challenge of many generations to come. In general, Judiciaries in Africa are perceived to be among the least trusted and the most corrupt institutions. The 2010 OECD survey on the risks and threats to the legal profession, found that nearly 75% of legal professionals surveyed in Africa recognized corruption to be an issue affecting the legal profession in their own jurisdiction. These discrepancies result inevitably in the exclusion of disadvantaged groups who do not have access to both streams when seeking remedies to their legal problems; the issues of socio-economic rights being part of the legal problems for which citizens seek redress. The situation illustrates the urgent needs of political and egal leadership that can transform the two streams into a harmonized system that equitably benefits the citizen and its community.

6 This policy lab explores the experiences of countries that have sought to bridge the traditional, customary, modern and transitional justice systems, innovative means by which the weaknesses of each system are being redressed and how their integrity can be strengthened. The policy lab will explore questions related to access to justice that are often ignored in more mainstream approaches and will advocate for a results oriented, more strategic form of intervention. Participants will study the role of each key actor in this process and the building of a collaborative approach to reform that involves the judiciary and its senior members, the executive branch and legislature, the bar, political actors, business, the media, traditional forms of justice, civil society and international actors. This policy lab will address issues such as: Plights of traditional and formal justice: territorial rivalries and misunderstandings Justice Sector reform assistance: achievements and limitations Strengthening Judicial Integrity: empowering the poor and marginalized Integrity of the judicial system: between independence and accountability Educating for appropriate reform leadership in the justice system Reviewing the credibility of global judicial systems Overall Learning Objectives Understanding intangible barriers, notably those related to integrity, which deprive citizens of proper access to justice. Ability to identify aspiration, needs and demands of excluded groups, to analyze actors interaction, to evaluate classic reform measures in the sector and to know how to strategically engage key stakeholders in the design and implementation of applicable and effective solutions. Provide actors the capacity to contribute to credible and honest formal and informal justice institutions which are more friendly to poor and marginalized groups. Convenors: Dr. Patrick Rafolisy, Director of Democratic Governance and Integrity Africa programmes at Integrity Action, initiated the Legal Integrity Education Network and the Electoral Justice initiative that are active in some countries in Africa Dr Antoinette Kankindi, Director of the Strathmore Governance Centre, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya. Who Should Take this Policy Lab? This policy lab is open to all professionals working for a more accessible and trustworthy justice systems.

7 About Integrity Action and the Strathmore Governance Centre Integrity Action is an independent non-governmental organization that works with governments, business and civil society to find practical solutions to making integrity work. Integrity Action s Address: Head Office: First Floor, 364 City Road London EC1V 2PY United Kingdom Phone: ilac@integrityaction.org The Strathmore Governance Centre (SGC) is an academic unit of Strathmore University in Nairobi, dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research into all aspects of Institutional Governance, one of the key challenges of contemporary society. SGC seeks to promote good governance in the public, private and civic sectors of the Eastern African region. SGC Office s Address: Strathmore University Madaraka Estate Ole Sangale Road PO Box City Square, Nairobi Kenya Phone: +254 (0) Fax: +254 (0) wkariuki@strathmore.edu General Information for Applicants Eligibility This course is designed for mid- to senior-level professionals, leaders in government, justice sector, civil society, aid agencies and the private sector from African countries. It is aimed at mid-career practitioners working actively in the field of democracy, development, and the rule of law. We welcome experienced applicants who are engaged in social or institutional change in their contexts and who strongly aspire to acquire or enhance anti-corruption and pro-integrity skills and competencies for improved professional performance. While the programme is not an academic course, successful candidates will have academic qualifications and very good command of written and spoken English. Applications from candidates who have less than 5 years of professional experiences will not be accepted. The application form is downloadable at: and governance. If you have any difficulties or queries, please write to one of the addresses above. Applicants should indicate which policy lab they are applying for. Application Deadline: March 25, 2013 Tuition Fee and Financial Aid Packages: USD 2,000 is the base fee. The tuition fee is USD 1,500 for a local NGO or a developing country government staff. The organizers are committed to gender equality; women are equally encouraged to apply. A number of partial financial aid packages are available on a competitive basis.