Anticorruption initiative mulls one year of achievements, challenges

SANTO DOMINGO.- The Executive Branch today hosted the official opening of the final evaluation workshop of the Participatory Anti-Corruption Initiative (IPAC) to mark at this stage the initiative’s first anniversary since implemented.

The focal points designated by the Executive reported that 20 of the 30 recommendations were fulfilled while others are still being implemented. In this sense 76 of the activities were completed, 13 are still in process and 7 were not performed.

For their part, civil society released the results of independent monitoring done by the Observatory of IPAC.

The IPAC has meant an innovative approach, which established a mechanism where all institutions agreed on a joint project of transparency. But the initiative faces the challenge of sustainability since it will take political will of the authorities to continue.

Among the specific achievements by IPAC and announced at the workshop today are highlighted: the Citizen’s Portal, which provides public access to budget information from the Dominican state, the progress towards implementing the single treasury account, the proposal to Congress on the Dominican Institute for Access to Public Information, the creation of a portal where citizens are informed about the expected electricity supply and the actual supply of each circuit, the incorporation of more than 53 thousand officials to administrative careers.

Among government officials attending the workshop were: the Minister of the Presidency Dr. Cesar Pina Toribio, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development Engineer Temistocles Montas, the Comptroller General of the Republic, Mr. Simon Lizardo, the Executive Director of CONARE, Dr. Marcos Villamán, and Deputy Minister of the Treasury and PAFI Technical Director, Ms. Maria Felisa Gutierrez, among others.

Daniel Kaufmann, global expert on corruption and Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution, was the keynote speaker.

The IPAC began in June 2010, responding to a request of the Presidency of the Republic, with the participation of experts through the work of 10 tables to identify and prioritize activities. They focused on the following areas: Procurement, Civil Service, Financial Management, Access to Information, Infrastructure, Health, Education, Energy, Water and Control Agencies.

Both the IPAC and the implementation of the 30 recommendations have the support of the following cooperation agencies: Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation (AECI), U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), World Bank (WB), European Union Delegation in DR (EU), British Embassy, ??Canadian Embassy, ??French Embassy, ??the Organization of American States (OAS), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), United Nations Program for Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Organizing Committee of the IPAC comprises the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, the Ministry of the Presidency, the National Commission on Ethics and Anti Corruption, World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Spanish Agency for International Development, the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice, the Dominican Evangelical Unity Council, the National Council of Private Enterprise and the Chamber of Commerce of Santiago.

The aim of the IPAC is to identify and implement a series of activities to strengthen levels of transparency and institutional integrity, reducing the risk of corruption in public institutions of the Dominican State.

The current state of implementation of the recommendations can be found visiting online www.ipacrd.org.