Programmes for Social Control of Public
Spending Halt Corruption

Photo: Magnus, Flickr

ECLAC presented successful experiences of social control to prevent corruption during the  Fourth Meeting to Share Innovative Experiences of Social Control for Transparency held in Bogotá, Colombia.

The meeting, organized by ECLAC and Transparency for Colombia, sought to open dialogue and share experiences in social control led by social organizations and the private sector in Colombia and Brazil.

"Corruption contributes to poverty and inequality because it affects above all those who most need public support," said Juan Carlos Ramírez, Director of the ECLAC Office in Colombia during the inauguration of the event.

The Comptroller General of Colombia, Sandra Morelli Rico, valued citizen participation as an "instrument for monitoring the adequate use of public funds and bridging the gap between citizens and public administration."

Elisabeth Ungar, Executive Director of Transparency for Colombia, cited studies that show the close relationship between corruption, inequality and poverty. Meeting the Millennium Development Goals, she said, requires multiplying mechanisms that promote transparency and civic supervision.

Two Colombian projects, both supported by Transparency for Colombia, were presented during the meeting.

One of them, the Social Control Fund "Citizens Watching over Public Funds", is a strategy that seeks to contribute to the creation of a culture of accountability and auditing in public management by providing political, technical and finacial support to social and community organizations carrying out initiatives of social control at a territorial level.

The project has conducted 15 exercises in four regions around the country with the support of 47 community organizations. Over US$5 million in public funds allocated to health, education, sanitation and environment have been saved from corruption.

The other project, "Agreement to Prevent Corruption Practices in Tubes and Accessories Manufacturing Companies", is an exercise in self-regulation in operation since 2005 that foments trust among competitors through clearly defined rules and mechanisms to follow-up on agreements aimed at preventing corruption.

An innovative aspect of this strategy is its position before national public agencies such as the Ministry of Environment and the Presidential Programme to Combat Corruption of the Vicepresidency of Colombia, with which the project has defined joint work agendas.

The project Maringá Social Observatory, which won first place in the Experiences in Social Innovation contest in 2009, was also exhibited at the meeting. The contest, organized by ECLAC with the support of the Kellogg Foundation, identifies and disseminates social development projects in health, education, youths, income-generation, rural development, social responsibility and volunteering.

Businesspersons, academics, students, judges, religious leaders, accountants, retirees and artists thus founded the Maringá Social Observatory in the State of Paraná. The Observatory became a tool of social control that saved over US$7 million in public funds from 2004 to 2008.

Curbing the squandering of public spending in Maringá and lowering expenses in public administration set in motion a virtuous circle: between 2005 and 2009, tax collection was doubled and public spending in health, education and safety increased, as did other investments.

The idea was so effective that Social Observatories have been created in more than 50 Brazilian cities in eight States.