United Nations’ deliberations on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) have resumed in New York City with observers saying that Goal 16.10 on access to information is “still secure.”
Meanwhile, discussions are under way on how to measure progress toward achieving the goals, including the access to information goal.
In the latest version of the SDG goals, dated July 8, the unchanged Goal 16.10 says:
16.10 Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements
The seventh and eighth sessions of the intergovernmental meetings (UN webpage) on the post-2015 development agenda are taking place July 20-31, 2015. The provision on access to information is considered solidly in place, but could be threatened if substantive negotiations are reopened, said one source following the talks.
Measurement issues are being handled under the auspices of the Praia Group on Government Statistics, chaired by Cabo Verde, which recently held its initial meeting.
The Inter-agency and Expert Group on the Sustainable Development Goal Indicators had its first meeting June 1-2 (minutes). Various proposals have surfaced for measuring Goal 16.10. (See previous FreedomInfo.org article.)
Addis Meeting Called Light on Transparency
National leaders failed to make a strong commitment on transparency and accountability in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda finalized July 16 at the third Financing for Development (FFD) Conference in Ethiopia, according to a July 16 statement by civil society organizations.
The CSO statement contain numerous criticisms of the Agenda, with the last item stating:
We believe that the positive and consistent references to the importance of transparency and accountability in the follow-up of the Addis Agenda are not adequately matched by concrete commitments from governments and all actors to publish timely, comprehensive, accessible and forward-looking information about all development activities and resource flows.
The Addis Ababa meeting was designed to create a global framework for financing development post-2015. (See description of the Addis Ababa outcomes by the Sustainable Development Policy and Practice, an op-ed by Bhumika Muchhala, Senior Policy Analyst on Finance and Development at Third World Network in Malaysia, and a look-forward story in Devex by Romilly Greenhill, a research fellow at the Center for Aid and Public Expenditure, Overseas Development Institute.
An alternate view came from George Ingram, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Development Assistance and Governance Initiative, at the Brookings Institution, who wrote, “The final commitment could have been stronger, but, given the nay-saying, it’s a success that data, transparency, and IATI are in the Addis Agenda.”
A blog post by the International Budget Partnership on the transparency outcomes in Ethiopia comments:
While we welcome the commitment to increase transparency and equal participation in the budgeting process in the Action Agenda, we want to see genuine efforts by country governments to engage citizens throughout the budget cycle. Executives and legislatures need to enable meaningful public participation by conducting public hearings on budget plans and implementation. Supreme audit institutions need to establish mechanisms to collaborate with citizens and civil society on oversight, including social audits as institutionalized in India and citizen audit request systems as in South Korea. Finally, governments need to show clearly how public inputs are taken into account throughout the budget cycle.
IBP presented during a panel discussion on “practical measures for implementing FFD commitments” organized by the Transparency, Accountability and Participation in Post-2015 Network and the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service. “In a side event on increasing fiscal space in Africa, we highlighted the critical need for fiscal transparency and welcomed engagement with leaders around the release of the Open Budget Survey 2015 in September.”
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