International Parliamentarians’ Petition 2005 annual
report
February
2006
A.
Introduction: Changing the rules of accountability. 2
B. Narrative activity report 2
Spring Meetings:
Launch of the IPP.. 2
Annual
Meetings: Building IPP support with southern
governments. 3
Other IPP
activities. 4
The Petition. 2
C. IPP Financial
Report 2005. 6
D. IPP phase 2
proposal 7
Additional
planned activities for 2006. 9
Appendix. IPP Coordinator job profile. 10
With remarkably little in the way of
resources, the International Parliamentarians’ Petition has had considerable
impact. Launched in the UK in the
autumn of 2004, the IPP has received unprecedented parliamentary support in the
UK for an initiative of its kind. It has led to an important change in
the language of the UK government, a prioritisation of funds for parliamentary capacity
building, and focused thinking about increasing parliamentary involvement in
bilateral programmes.
With the international launch of the
petition in spring 2005, the IPP struck a chord – it represented the first
tangible civil society initiative to address the long-held awareness of the
importance of parliamentary scrutiny of the IFIs, and
a remarkable opportunity for dialogue between progressive parliamentarians and
civil society organisations working on the IFIs. Taking parliamentarians to Washington raised
the international profile of the issue, but perhaps more importantly,
it emboldened returning MPs’ efforts to kickstart
national initiatives in countries such as Malawi
and Indonesia. This served to support the
hard work of CSOs in the south building bridges with
elected representatives around broader issues of accountability.
The IPP has highlighted how much there is
to do. Even in the UK, with
high levels of official support, continued pressure is needed to ensure that
the rhetoric is translated in to a change in practice. This would be considerably helped along if
other donor countries could mount similar campaigns. Most important will be the work in pioneering
countries in the south. The work will
take many shapes depending on country context, with the IPP being just one of
many tools available to help civil society achieve its objectives around
democratic accountability of the IFIs. The challenge for us in the year ahead will
be to build on the momentum we have generated in 2005, integrating the IPP with
related initiatives, and securing the systematic participation of MPs in the
initiative.
By the end of 2005, the petition had been
signed by over 1100 MPs in 55 countries.
It has been translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian,
Swedish, German, and Arabic. It has been
endorsed by the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB);
UK All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Debt, Aid and Trade, World Government and
Overseas Development; the Committee for a Democratic UN; the Committee of the
Parliaments of the Americas (COPA); European Parliamentarians for Africa
(AWEPA); and numerous civil society organisations and networks.
- Parliamentarians from seven
countries (Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Malawi and the UK) travelled to Washington to present the IPP, signed
by over 1000 parliamentarians in over 50 countries to Ian Goldin, World Bank vice-president for external affairs
and Tom Dawson, his counterpart at the IMF.
- The launch put direct
pressure on the Bank and Fund to acknowledge that more needs to be done on
the issue of democratic oversight of the IMF and World Bank. It has created a concrete process for
change at the international level and opportunities for future actions at
national, regional and international levels.
- In the UK in particular, the presence
of parliamentarians at the launch has significantly increased the pressure
on the UK government to lead on
implementing parliamentary oversight of bilateral and multilateral
programmes.
- Facilitator Smithu Kothari, professor at Princeton University, concluded the workshop
between IPP MPs and Bank/Fund staff and management by drawing out five
points:
- Pursue convergence of work
in multiple forums on scrutiny of the IFIs;
- Recognise the role of other
social actors to ensure a deepening of what we understand by democracy;
- Ensure that there is an open
debate on the multiple paths to development;
- Change the culture of IFI
staff, often ’unapproachable and
arrogant’, to respect and internalise the democratisation process;
and
- Mainstream the evolving
international human rights framework, ensuring that all institutions
comply.
- US Congresspersons were interested
in the petition and building US support for reform at the Bank and Fund on
parliamentary scrutiny.
- Parliamentarians met World
Bank Executive Directors from Netherlands, Germany, UK and US to show shareholders
that this issue is important.
Reaction was supportive, with little concrete initiative however.
- The public debate held at Johns Hopkins University raised the issue of
parliamentary scrutiny for international civil society organisations
present.
- Over 20 media interviews and
newspaper articles raising the profile of the issue across the US and the rest of the world.
- World
Bank and IMF Executive Directors’ offices representing Indonesia, Ghana, Malawi, Mexico
and European countries received the parliamentarians to discuss IPP issues
in their specific countries. Executives Directors listened to the cases
presented by parliamentarians and were open to learn more about the
development of the IPP in these countries.
- Meeting
the Progressive Caucus in the US Congress was crucial to get the US
more involved in the IPP. Bill Goold, Senior
Policy Adviser to the Progressive Caucus, encouraged parliamentarians to
be bold and push for getting more support for the IPP issues in the US.
Mr. Goold offered to help obtain support from
members of the Progressive Caucus and other congress persons.
- The
G24 secretariat offered parliamentarians the opportunity to present the
IPP at their annual ministerial meeting in Washington.
- Hon
Abbie Shawa MP from Malawi
told an assembled group of European Executive Directors about the
downfalls of the inappropriate use of conditionality where parliamentary
scrutiny is insufficient.
- Lastly,
the parliamentarians had the opportunity to attend and participate in several
other meetings of their interest which took place in Washington
during those days. In addition, the Annual Meetings was a good time for
parliamentarians to debate key IPP issues between themselves and with IPP
representatives.
Research:
Kept in the Dark: A
briefing on parliamentary scrutiny of the World Bank and IMF, by Olivia McDonald, was distributed to numerous conferences, IPP
focal points and IPP signatories worldwide.
Outreach:
-
Creation of the IPP website www.ippinfo.org, which catalogues
signatories to the petition, provides details on IPP-related events and
provides the IPP resource pack.
-
IPP resource pack contains an
introduction to the IPP, the Kept in the Dark briefing, and sample
letters.
-
Outreach to parliamentary
networks
-
Meetings with UK MPs, DFID and
HMT officials. MP Ann McKechin has agreed to act as an advisor to the IPP.
-
Meetings with PNoWB secretariat.
-
Meetings with other CSO
parliamentary initiatives in Washington in September, to share experience and coordinate efforts.
IPP secretariat meetings: monthly throughout 2005
Support for national initiatives:
a. Malawi parliamentary coalition on the IFIs
(MAPCOI)
With the support of ActionAid Malawi
and the Malawi Economic Justice Network, two of the Malawian MPs who travelled
to Washington with the IPP contingent, MP Austin Mtukula
and MP Ted Kalebe, returned to Malawi to
form MAPCOI. A workshop was held in June
which attracted 25 members of the Malawian parliament
from all political parties. The
objectives of the workshop were to:
-
Enhance the capacity of the
legislature to analyse IFI policies;
-
Equip MPs with alternative
models and skills for budget analysis that facilitates the broadening and
deepening of debates.
-
Map out the way forward for
MAPCOI
b. Indonesian
bill for parliamentary scrutiny
Indonesian MP Dradjad
Wibowo,
returned to Indonesia, after attending IPP events in Washington in the
spring and autumn, to introduce pioneering legislation requiring parliamentary
scrutiny of all IFI loans and grants.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate.
c. Mexican
Senators work on IFI accountability mechanisms
Mexican NGO Equipo
Pueblo, under its Citizen Diplomacy Program, fosters the follow-up of IFI
policies and projects from a human rights perspective, and citizen
participation in IFI decision-making. Equipo Pueblo has built a closer relationship with Mexican
Senate on MDB issues, the outcome of which was a proposal to strengthen Senate
scrutiny of Mexico’s relationship with IFIs. It was also
proposed to establish an accountability mechanism to oblige the Minister of
Finance to inform senators about all activities and decisions adopted with the IFIs. Equipo Pueblo is working with senators to finalise the
proposed legislation; its formal proposal awaits the outcome of Mexican
elections in July 2006.
|
|
|
|
|
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Income
|
|
|
|
|
|
ChristianAid
|
|
28,080.00
|
|
|
|
Oxfam
|
|
6,000.00
|
|
|
|
ActionAid
|
|
6,000.00
|
|
|
|
Total Income
|
|
40,080.00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transfer to DGAP (see below)
|
|
10,000.00
|
|
|
|
Spring Meetings travel
|
|
5,796.19
|
|
|
|
Annual Meetings travel
|
|
2,479.38
|
|
|
|
Misc DC SM expenses (BWP)
|
|
41.28
|
|
|
|
Printing of petition
|
|
70.00
|
|
|
|
Media officer - spring mtgs
|
|
1,710.58
|
|
|
|
Office equipment / Stationery
|
|
212.50
|
|
|
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Consultancy
|
|
9,000.00
|
|
|
|
Consultancy - extension
|
|
4,500.00
|
|
|
|
Consultancy - 2nd ext
|
|
1,500.00
|
|
|
|
Total expenses
|
|
35,309.93
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Funds remaining
|
|
4,770.07
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
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GBP
|
USD
|
|
|
DGAP transfer
|
|
10,000.00
|
|
|
|
USD
|
|
|
18,716.56
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses - spring mtgs
|
|
|
|
|
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Per diems
|
|
|
3,400.00
|
|
|
Hotel
|
|
|
7,680.00
|
|
|
Room fee JHU
|
|
|
200.00
|
|
|
Misc
|
|
|
185.94
|
|
|
Phone charges
|
|
|
|
|
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Total spring mtgs expenses
|
|
|
11,465.94
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Funds remaining after spring mtgs
|
|
7,250.62
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|
|
|
|
|
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Expenses - annual meetings
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|
|
|
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Per diems
|
|
|
850.00
|
|
|
Hotel
|
|
|
4,528.51
|
|
|
Travel - Sen. Burgos
|
|
|
760.00
|
tbd
|
|
Misc
|
|
|
13.78
|
|
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Total annual mtgs expenses
|
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|
6,152.29
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|
|
|
|
|
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Funds remaining after annual mtgs
|
625.61
|
1,098.33
|
0.5696
|
a. Vision:
The IPP is working towards effective
parliamentary involvement in:
-
the formulation and oversight
of national development plans;
-
the
negotiation/implementation/evaluation of IFI activities; and
-
the selection and scrutiny of the actions of country representatives at
the IFIs.
b. Ways of working:
The great strength of the IPP is the work that is
being spearheaded by committed parliamentarians and CSOs
to improve democratic oversight at the national level.
The international civil society IPP steering group
will act as an umbrella which:
- supports these national-level initiatives;
- connects initiatives across countries to encourage mutual learning; and
- presses for attention to the issue of parliamentary scrutiny at the national
level in the north and at the international policy level.
As a practical approach considering limited
resources, the IPP seeks to support ‘model countries’ which can then act as
catalysts for change in their region / sphere of influence.
c. Key activities: (timeframe: 1 year starting asap
from Jan 2006)
In most cases activities at the national
level will be led by IPP participating organisations with the support of the
IPP steering committee. Activities at
the international level will be led by the IPP steering committee.
- National
South
- National launches of the petition in each of the key regions,
gather and collate signatures
- Support the formation of working groups with provision of existing
research and resource packs – provide funding where possible?
- Scrutinise IFI relations with parliaments and conduct research into such
- Coordinate FOIA requests from recipient countries on conditions
- Scrutinise parliamentary capacity building activities?
North
- National launches of the petition, gather and collate signatures
- Lobby for support of parliamentary capacity building of IFI oversight
- Lobby for best practice implementation of ED accountability to
parliaments, and guidelines for parliamentary scrutiny in bilateral aid
programmes
- Regional
- Promote the IPP with relevant regional networks
- Support, where feasible and desirable, regional workshops which promote
best practice exchange
- Scrutinise IFI parliamentary capacity building activities?
- International
- Maintain the IPP website with info on signatures, related research,
national/regional/international activities
- Provide regular updates to engaged
parliamentarians on IPP activities
- Maintain a contact database of parliamentarians who have supported the
IPP, especially those who have taken more active roles
- Promote the IPP with relevant international networks of both CSOs and parliamentarians (IPU, AWEPA, GOPAC etc.)
- Scrutinise the activities of the PNoWB with a
view to creating a PNoWB working group on IFI
accountability?
- Support, where feasible and desirable, an international workshop to
promote best practice exchange
- From such a workshop might emerge the decision to form a working group
or network of parliamentarians to take this work forward themselves?
- Administration and fundraising necessary for the successful operation of
the initiative
d. Structure:
For the first year of the IPP there was a UK
IPP steering group and a part-time IPP Project
Coordinator.
Jeff Powell, Bretton
Woods Project
Martin Powell, World Development Movement
Patrick Watt / Fern Leathers, ActionAid UK
Olivia McDonald, ChristianAid
Claire Wren, One World Trust
Cristina Leal, APPG Debt, aid and trade –
IPP Project Coordinator
Since the WB/IMF spring meetings 2005, we
have evolved an ad hoc IPP International steering group:
Europe: UK representatives; Antonio Tricarico,
CRBM Italy; Sebastien Fourmy, Agir Ici France; Penny Davies, Diakonia Sweden
Africa: Victoria Adongo,
ISODEC Ghana; Moreblessings Chidaushe,
AFRODAD, Zimbabwe
Asia: Ivan Hadar, Indonesia
Latin America: Marcus Faro de Castro, Redes Brasil;
Domitille Delaplace, Equipo Pueblo Mexico
North America: Steve Hellinger,
Development GAP, USA; Pam Foster, Halifax Initiative, Canada
Proposal to reform structure
- Re-shape the steering group so that there is one
representative for each region (for a total of ten, see below). This means reducing the participation of
northern actors in the steering group’s activities and encouraging greater
participation from southern organisations.
Add 2 or 3 more members to the international steering group to fill
in the geographical gaps, ie. French-Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean.
Proposed steering group: South Asia, East Asia, French Africa, West Africa, South and Eastern Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, UK, Europe, North America (10)
- Hire a full-time project coordinator to be hosted by one
of the southern organisations on the international steering group (to
replace and augment the role played by Cristina Leal since early
2005). (ref. IPP project
coordinator job description)
- Examine the possibility of establishing a working group of
parliamentarians, which could advise the IPP CSO steering group? Some join
the steering group?
PNoWB IFI accountability work group:
At the PNoWB AGM
in Finland in October, Hetty Kovach of Eurodad attended on behalf of the IPP. The idea was raised of establishing a PNoWB working group on IFI accountability. This was warmly welcomed by the assembled
MPs. Moving the idea into reality will
require finding two co-chairs and a number of committed MPs. Ann McKechin MP, UK, was
to put the suggestion to the executive of APPG DAT for interest in
participation.
UK: DFID accountability to parliamentarians in its bilateral programmes
WDM will work
with NGOs and MPs in individual countries in the south to make joint
applications under the UK Freedom of Information Act for details of draft
proposals by DFID for new bilateral aid programmes and joint assistance
strategies being prepared by DFID with other donors. By doing so they hope to a) Get the
information these documents contain into the hands of some interested
parliamentarians and civil society organisations kick-starting parliamentary
debate on contentious issues; and b) Start building the expectation and
processes for such documents to automatically be made available to parliaments
in good time for them to be debated.
Countries which may be included: DRC, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra
Leone (all DFID only); Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Bangladesh and Indonesia (joint
assistance strategies with other donors).
Appendix. IPP Coordinator job profile
The IPP Coordinator is a full-time
one-year post (with the possibility of extension) to be based at one of the
southern-based organisations on the IPP international steering group. Line management of the coordinator will be
provided by their host organisation.
Sufficient funding for the position and related expenses is anticipated
from UK NGOs on the IPP steering group.
(approx 20 – 30,000 USD)
Activities are to include:
- Supporting
national-level IPP-related activities with all resources available. Coordinating information exchange
between national level initiatives.
- Outreach
to NGOs/MPs/Parliamentary Groups in target countries not yet involved.
- Promoting
the IPP with relevant regional and international networks of
parliamentarians and CSOs.
- Co-organise
with relevant national IPP groups either regional workshops or an
international workshop for IPP parliamentarians and CSOs
(dependent on further funding)
- Update
IPPinfo.org website including lists of MPs names, translated petitions,
organisational endorsements, new research, IPP activities, etc.
- Establish
and keep up-to-date a database of countries/NGOs/MPs involved with
appropriate local contact details if possible
- Update
participating organisations and parliamentarians on IPP progress (regular
e-updates)
- Write
articles for publication in websites (IFIwatchnet),
newsletters (BW Update), newspapers, etc.
- Respond
to (or forward) requests for more information from MPs, CSOs and media
- Fundraising
and reporting
Role-related knowledge, skills and experience:
The ideal candidate will have:
- Excellent
interpersonal skills;
- Fluency
in written and spoken English;
- Familiarity
with working with CSO networks;
- Some
experience of working with parliamentarians;
- A
basic knowledge of international financial institutions;
- Basic
familiarity with website-creation tools (Macromedia Contribute), and
working with spreadsheets/databases.