In many democratic societies it has become unfashionable to oppose transparency claims in any context. This leads to confusion and misrepresentation as almost anything can be urged with an appeal to transparency. However, the language used is important.
Fiscal transparency is only one aspect of the ‘transparency agenda’: very little should be taken at face value. There is an uncomfortable tension between transparency (which sounds good) and surveillance (which can sound threatening), with significant implications for the behaviour of particular actors in the fiscal policy process. Although the relationship is not straightforward, transparency can be viewed as a necessary underpinning of government accountability.
The position here is that the discussion of ‘Incentives for Fiscal Transparency’ requires both an understanding of the obstacles to fiscal transparency and an awareness that there is no magic recipe: context is massively important.
Posted on 20 April 2015 by Lorena Rivero del Paso
Description
There is growing recognition of the need for direct public participation in the development and implementation of public policies. But how can those advising on public finance management (PFM) reforms ensure that women are not excluded when the demand-side component of these reforms is designed?
This brief attempts to stimulate further discussion toward answering this question. It does this more by posing further questions than by offering answers. These questions are intended to assist in diagnosing some of the gender issues relating to existing or planned PFM reform programs.
Budget Brief 31 – Participation in Public Finance Reform and Gender
Извор: IBP
Participants at the General Assembly Thematic Debate on “Promoting Tolerance and Reconciliation: Fostering Peaceful, Inclusive Societies and Countering Violent Extremism.” UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
22 April 2015 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged faith leaders gathered in the General Assembly to stand up for the collective good and amplify their voices in support of moderation and mutual understanding, warning that he fears an “empathy gap” is causing people to turn their eyes from injustice and numbing them to atrocities.
“At a time when we are seeing so much division and hatred, I wanted to bring people together under the banner of the United Nations to explore how best to respond,” the Secretary-General said on the second day of a gathering at Headquarters in New York of leaders representing diverse faiths, including Islam, Judaism, Christianity, as well as ministers, academics, and spiritual teachers.
Press Release
“Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016: Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights” Launches in Seven Cities
New Report from UN Women Unveils Far-Reaching Alternative Policy Agenda to Transform Economies and Make Gender Equality a Reality
(London, 27 April, 2015) A major report from UN Women, released today in seven locations globally, brings together human rights and economic policymaking to call for far-reaching changes to the global policy agenda that will transform economies and make women’s rights, and equality, a reality. It takes an in-depth look at what the economy would look like if it truly worked for women, for the benefit of all.
Progress makes the case that the alternative economic agenda it outlines would not only create fairer societies, it would also create new sectors of employment, for instance in the care economy.
By Lisa Anderson – April 13, 2015
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In a world of data-driven policies, there is one group in society that barely registers and is at risk of missing out on crucial resources and services, according to researchers - older women.
Much international data, including metrics on health, employment, assets and domestic violence, appears to back up the anecdotal view that women become invisible in middle age. The data sets start at the age of 15 and stop abruptly at 49.
Experts said the limited age framework stems from a focus on women of reproductive age, assumptions about the limited economic role of older women and age discrimination that overlooks sexuality and violence in older women's lives.
Advocacy groups lobbying for wider data collection say only slow and limited progress is being made in surveys to track the status of older people, both women and men.
