Modernising public administration, fostering integrity and promoting transparency

Project description

Bezeichnung: Implementation of OECD recommendations in the area of governance
Auftraggeber: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Land: Peru
Politischer Träger: Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Gesamtlaufzeit: 2017 to 2018

Context

Peru has one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America. Political and economic stability since the start of the new millennium has improved living conditions for large sections of the population. Nevertheless, social and regional inequalities remain a serious national challenge. Drug trafficking, organised crime and other illegal activities pose a danger to public safety.

Peru would like to learn from the experiences of countries already engaging with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD) and has set itself the goal of becoming a member of the Organisation by 2021. For this reason, Peru has been implementing the OECD Country Programme since 2015. The Programme includes the following recommendations for action: modernise public administration, tackle corruption, strengthen accountability and carry out judicial reviews on the constitutionality of laws.

Objective

The conditions for implementing the OECD recommendations on modernising public administration, tackling corruption and strengthening accountability have improved.

Approach

The Peruvian Government supports the gradual implementation of the OECD Country Programme with respect to governance and integrity. There is close cooperation between the project and, above all, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Secretariat of Public Management, the public services sector, the High-Level Anti-Corruption Commission (Comisión de Alto Nivel Anticorrupción/CAN-Anticorrupción), and the Ministry of Justice. The three key fields of activity are as follows:

  • modernising public administration and reforming public services;
  • strengthening the national anti-corruption system;
  • promoting transparency.

In addition, flagship projects to improve the quality of statutes and reduce bureaucracy are implemented.

Cooperation with the Mexican Federal Commission on Regulatory Improvement (Comisión Federal de Mejora Regulatoria – COFEMER) promotes an international exchange of knowledge and experience with the aim of improving regulatory measures.

Results

In July 2017, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers issued a decree introducing Regulatory Impact Assessment in Peru. The plan is to develop the concept into a complete and integral assessment system.

PCM has also issued a decree under which the quality of statutes will be analysed. In connection with this, a total of 4,000 public administration documents will be evaluated by December 2018, the objective being to take pressure off both the economy and the people. As at June 2018, 1,200 administrative documents had been evaluated, of which 20 per cent were consequently nullified.

CAN has defined methodologies, a step-by-step plan and concrete steps for drawing up the national integrity and anti-corruption plan. A draft of the national plan was prepared by members of parliament, civil society and the media and was adopted by the Council of Ministers in May 2018.

In January 2017, the National Authority for Transparency was established in the Ministry of Justice in Peru. Among other things, this office monitors compliance with transparency regulations and access to public information.

In addition, PCM adopted a national open government action plan in December 2017 (Plan de Acción de Gobierno Abierto 2017 – 2019), which has been developed with contributions from government representatives, civil society and universities.

Additional information