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Orçamento, Estado e Povo. Processo de Orçamento, Sociedade Civil e Transparência em Angola
Full text linkEste estudo identifica várias deficiências no processo de orçamento em Angola. A proposta do
governo não é discutida publicamente, não é preparado nenhum documento pré-orçamento, não
são feitas comparações entre a despesa orçamentada e os seus resultados concretos, e não
são preparados relatórios de auditoria. Além disso, a execução do orçamento é problemática
porque Angola tem dois sistemas de finanças públicas, um sistema convencional dependente do
Ministério das Finanças; e o sistema não convencional (sobretudo) operado pela Sonangol.
As instituições de estado envolvidas no processo de orçamento são fracas, mas estão a ter
lugar melhorias, aprendizagem e reformas, em particular no Ministério das Finanças, na Comissão
de Finanças do parlamento e no Tribunal de Contas que é a instituição suprema de auditoria. Mas
outras instituições ainda são fracas ou não existentes. A lei de 1996 sobre uma comissão anticorrupção
não foi posta em prática. O Instituto Nacional de Estatística é uma instituição fraca e
por consequência a estatística básica nacional, em que as atribuições de fundos do orçamento se
deven basear, não existem ou não são fiáveis. As administrações locais e provinciais têm graves
deficiências, tanto em legitimidade como em capacidade profissional para analisar e efectivar a
prestação de serviço público.
Noutros paises, durante a preparação do orçamento, as organizações da sociedade
civil podem debater políticas e relatórios, por exemplo numa conferência pré-orçamento e
comentar propostas de tributação. As OSCs podem também batalhar efectivamente contra o
esbanjamento, desvios, corrupção e fugas do orçamento. Porém em Angola a sociedade civil tem
sido históricamente fraca e o seu espaço político-social é limitado. As autoridades angolanas
não têm aceite integralmente o papel da voz da sociedade civil e suas funções de vigilância e
controlo, e o quadro legal é restritivo.
O relatório sugere modos de aumentar a observação e transparência dos processos de
orçamento em Angola, de como a sociedade civil pode ser mais envolvida no processo, por exemplo
através de criação de competências em análise de economia, e de como os doadores podem
tomar medidas para assegurar mais transparência e envolvimento do público em processos de
orçamento
Review of Bistandsnemda's (Norwegian Missions in Development) Work with Indigenous Peoples
Full text linkAs part of Norway’s efforts to strengthen its cooperation with indigenous peoples a set of
Guidelines were published by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2004. The Guidelines
emphasise a rights-based approach and the requirement that there be ‘a clear connection
between normative work on indigenous issues and practical cooperation with and on behalf of
indigenous peoples’. Norwegian NGOs are the most important channel for Norwegian support for
indigenous peoples. Among the Norwegian NGOs, Bistandsnemnda – The Norwegian Missions in
Development, hereafter referred to as BN – receives the largest amount of funds for indigenous
peoples projects. This is an umbrella organization, consisting of 18 mission organizations.
Norad decided to conduct a review of BN’s work with indigenous peoples in order to ensure that
it is carried out in accordance with the principles of the Guidelines. Four member organizations
(The Norwegian Mission Alliance, Norwegian Lutheran Mission, the Norwegian Pentecostal
Mission and Normisjon) and their work in three countries (Bolivia, Paraguay, Bangladesh) were
selected for the review. In addition, the review has revised project documents of all BN projects
for indigenous peoples, and met with the organizations in Norway. Time limitations for the
review mean that some conclusions must remain tentative.
The review concludes with the following recommendations:
•BN needs to strengthen knowledge and training on indigenous rights
•Members need to better ensure that this awareness and training is utilised at all levels by
project partners and field staff
•BN and Members need to reflect upon the implications of our finding that increased separation/
secularization improves project work
•BN and Members need to develop better diagnostic tools for analysis of the cultural politics
of the contexts where they are working
•Norad should clarify the Guidelines and the reporting routines for working with indigenous
people
The Question of Becoming: Islamic Reform-Movements in Contemporary Ethiopia
Full text linkEthiopia’s new political climate (since 1991) has enhanced the Muslims’ opportunities for religious expressions, clearly seen through the surfacing of several Islamic reform movements. These movements; the Salafi movement, the Tabligh movement and an Intellectualist revivalist movement have proven crucial for a certain process of objectification of religious affiliation, and have moreover served as channels for the search for belonging and coherent meaning among the Muslims. Discussing the movements’ socio-cultural composition and their ideological content, this paper pays attention to how features of locality interact with trans-local ideological currents, reciprocally affecting each other. Of particular interest in the
Ethiopian case is the explicit avoidance of any political agenda, a distinct intermarriage with a discourse on ethnicity, where the latter has contributed to complex processes of constructing and demarcating religious- and ethnic-based boundaries. The paper thus seeks to demonstrate the complex interrelationship between global currents and local factors; all contributing to the heterogenisation of contemporary Islam
Why firms should not always maximize profits
Full text linkThough corporate social responsibility (CSR) is on the agenda of most major corporations, corporate executives still largely support the view that corporations should maximize the returns to their owners. There are two lines of defence for this position. One is the Friedmanian view that maximizing owner returns is the corporate social responsibility of corporations. The other is a position voiced by many executives, that CSR and profits go together. This paper argues that the first position is ethically untenable, while the latter is not supported by empirical evidence. The implication is that there may be good reason for firms to deviate from a maxim of profit maximization
FLYKTNINGEKONVENSJONEN ARTIKKEL 1 C-F. Folkerettslig og komparativ studie av eksklusjons- og opphørsgrunnene
Full text linkPublic faith in the asylum system is based, among other things, on whether authorities involved in the asylum process are able to distinguish ordinary refugees from asylum-seekers who have committed crimes against humanity or other serious crimes.
This report, commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social
Inclusion in 2004, examines certain provisions of the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees that gives receiving states the possibility of excluding or exempting a person from refugee status (the so-called “exclusion” and “cessation” clauses).
The report’s main conclusion is that there is a need for a more systematic and principled approach to exclusion cases in Norwegian jurisprudence. This implies that the international exclusion clauses ought to be applied more frequently than at present, that is, more cases ought to be considered bearing the possibility of exclusion in mind. At the same time, the report also emphasises that international law on exclusion suffers from the weakness that no international refugee court, or similar organ, has so far been established
Experience and Institutional Capacity for Poverty and Income Distribution Analysis in Angola
Full text linkThe Chr. Michelsen Institute was contracted to carry out this study on previous experience in and institutional capacity for poverty and income distribution analysis in Angola. The study aims at presenting an overview of the present and emerging situation with regard to poverty and wealth in Angola, and at producing an input to the Norwegian Embassy on how best to support poverty analysis and monitoring in Angola.
In this study, considerable emphasis is placed on poverty statistics and the state of statistical production in Angola. This is in line with orthodox ways of measuring and describing poverty. Research on poverty has come to be based on quantitative methods. However, this does not mean that the study focuses only on institutions doing predominantly quantitative research. On the contrary, the team perceives - and subscribes to - an emerging feeling among academics, civil society and donors that qualitative research ought to be given more support and emphasis. We believe that it is more important to focus on how quantitative and qualitative techniques can be integrated in what is often called “methodological pluralism” or “pluralistic research”
Local Revenue Mobilization in Urban Settings in Africa
Full text linkThe growth of Africa’s towns and cities has outpaced local authority capacity in terms of management, infrastructure, and financing. Many African towns and cities are now facing a governance crisis. Accordingly, the capability and capacity of urban local government to provide basic services to a growing population have entered the core of the development debate. In particular, fiscal decentralization – the devolution of revenue mobilization and spending powers to lower levels of government – has become a main theme of urban governance in recent years.
This paper explores the opportunities and constraints facing local revenue mobilization in urban settings in Africa. The study examines various revenue instruments available, including property taxes, business licences, and user fees, and their effect on economic efficiency and income distribution. Moreover, political and administrative constraints facing various revenue instruments and factors impacting on citizens’ compliance behaviour are discussed. The analysis is exemplified by cases from across Africa and other regions. Local governments need to be given access to adequate resources to do the job with which they are entrusted. However, a general conclusion emerging from this study is that local revenues mobilized in most urban authorities in Africa are necessary but not sufficient to develop and supply adequate services for the fast-growing urban population
Beaten by Bribery: Why not Blow the Whistle?
Full text linkA recent business survey in Norway reveals that firms rarely react to corruption, even when they have lost important contracts as a result. This disinclination to take action is explored in the light of market structures, business efficiency, judicial institutions and political corruption. The paper develops a theory about how these four variables deter firms from reacting against corruption, and, in particular, how the potential for collusion reinforces the incentives to remain silent. Considered separately, each of the factors are unable to explain the low frequency of anti-corruption reactions between firms. Considered in combination, however, the various impediments suggest a more complete explanation: When conditions in market structure suggest that the best response would be to take action, political conditions may favour inaction.
When a potential whistle-blower expects support from local politicians or legal institutions, the given offender may be impervious to sanctions; its role in the market will not be altered by the given case. The sum of precondition for action suggests that firms rarely react against corruption
Kenya Constitutional Documents: A Comparative Analysis
Full text linkThis study compares the three constitutional documents listed below that were the subject of debate in Kenya’s constitutional reform process in 2005:
1. The Constitution of Kenya (the present constitution with amendments that has been in existence since 1969);
2. The Draft Constitution of Kenya, 2004 – the so-called Bomas Draft that was prepared by the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC) and endorsed by the National Constitution Conference held at the Bomas of Kenya, hence the term ‘Bomas Draft’;
3. The Proposed New Constitution of Kenya – the draft that the Attorney-General and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitution Review prepared through adjustment of the Bomas Draft after the meetings at Naivasha (the Naivasha Accord) and Kilifi (the Kilifi Accord). The Proposed New Constitution of
Kenya is informally referred to as the ‘Wako Bill’ with reference to its principal author, the Kenyan Attorney-General, Amos Wako.
In conclusion, we also project a number of scenarios as to the future of constitution-making in Kenya in view of the rejection by the people of the Wako
Bill in the referendum held on 21 November 2005, and the subsequent dissolution of the Cabinet and the prorogation of Parliament, as well as the formation of a
new Cabinet
Bribes, taxes and regulations: Business constraints for micro enterprises in Tanzania
Full text linkThis paper analyses the business environment for micro enterprises in Tanzania based on survey data. The primary objective of the study is to identify major constraints facing the firms’ business operations. Taxation, corruption, and regulations in the form of licences and permits, are found to be the most important constraints on business operations. Reported constraints vary according to firm characteristics such as age, location, education and gender of the owner. Contrary to previous studies and current policies, financial constraints and property rights are not perceived as important constraints