culture & traditions

Building Trust in Government: Afghanistan's National Solidarity Program, 2002-2013

Author
Rushda Majeed
Focus Area(s)
Core Challenge
Country of Reform
Internal Notes
added to site 5/23/2014
Abstract
In 2002, the interim administration of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan sought quick ways to expand economic opportunities for the country’s poorest rural communities and promote a sense of shared national citizenship. Afghanistan had just emerged from 30 years of devastating conflict. Standards of living were low. Younger Afghans had never lived and worked together as members of a shared political community, and some had spent most of their lives abroad as refugees. In response, a team of Afghan decision makers and international partners created a community-driven development initiative called the National Solidarity Program (NSP). The NSP provided block grants directly to poor communities and empowered villagers to use the funds for community-managed reconstruction and development. With the help of an elected village council and a civil society partner, a community chose, planned, implemented, and maintained its roads, bridges, schools, and health clinics. External evaluations found that NSP projects generally succeeded in improving villagers’ access to basic utilities and helped give a short-term economic boost to communities, although some of the other planned benefits did not materialize and project success rates varied across districts. During a period of low government capacity, the NSP was among the few programs that made a visible impact at the local level. However, the program's reliance on donor funds and outside partners raised doubts about its sustainability.
 
Rushda Majeed drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Kabul, Afghanistan; Jakarta; New York; and Washington from August through November 2013. Case published May 2014.
 

Ingraining Honesty, Changing Norms: Government Ethics in Brazil, 1995-2004

Author
Deepa Iyer
Country of Reform
Abstract
During the 1990s, conflict of interest scandals in Brazil weakened public trust in civil servants and rendered many competitive processes like procurement, privatization and employment inefficient and ineffective. In 1999, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso created a Public Ethics Commission to confront these problems. Led by João Geraldo Piquet Carneiro, a Brazilian lawyer, the commission developed and implemented the Code of Conduct for Senior Government Officials. Piquet first focused on the upper echelons of the civil service— public sector managers and highly visible presidential appointees. For the first time in Brazilian politics, specific rules set public standards on conflicts of interest. Within 10 days of taking office, senior civil servants had to agree in writing to adhere to the code and submit forms detailing personal and family assets. Piquet and his team developed procedures for detecting and addressing violations. The commission avoided a backlash by walking a tightrope between being a watchdog and working with senior civil servants to help separate personal and public interests. By the end of Piquet’s tenure in 2004, the commission had set a precedent. According to interviewees, norms in the upper echelons of Brazil’s federal government had changed, and senior government officials no longer had an assumed impunity. However, critics noted that the commission’s success hinged on presidential support, as the commission lost much of its momentum under the administration of Cardoso’s successor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
 
Deepa Iyer drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Brasilia and São Paulo, Brazil, in September 2010. Case published March 2011. Case revised and republished in March 2013.