Under the leadership of the OECD and the multi-stakeholder Water Governance Initiative (WGI),
the 12 OECD ‘Principles’ were promulgated in 2015 to promote good governance in the water sector through improving effectiveness, efficiency and trust and engagement; Principle 9 focuses on Integrity and Transparency. These Principles are supported by the 35 OECD member countries, 7 non-member countries and 140+ stakeholder groups, including Transparency International. Since then, the WGI has catalyzed governance success stories as well as developed and tested indicators (in 12 countries and 4 continents) to support the implementation of the Principles, consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Going forward, the WGI aims to widen its focus and reach, to include capacity development, and a substantial number of African countries. The aims of this session are to: (a) demonstrate how the OECD ‘Principles ‘ provide a framework for promoting accountability, sustainable development and social justice in the water sector; and (b) engage new stakeholders in the Principles’ implementation.
The water sector is vulnerable to corruption because of: (a) its fragmented governance; (b) its high investment requirements; and (c) high levels of involvement of the corruption-prone construction sector in implementing hydraulic infrastructure investments. Thus, it is appropriate to review the approach of the WGI to address these and related challenges, including the implementation of Water Governance Principle 9 and its relevance in meeting the SDG 16.5 targets “substantial reduction in bribery and corruption”.
The session’s target group includes stakeholders interested/involved in: promoting good governance in the water sector i.e. advocacy CSOs and other water sector actors, agencies engaged in anticorruption reforms and programs; supreme audit institutions and private sector institutions; sectoral initiatives i.e. the media and development partners/donors; and improving governance in other SDGs, where water plays a critical part e.g. Affordable and Clean Energy and Life on Land.
Session Rapporteur:
Umrbek Allakulov
