Dear Colleagues
Transparency is sadly lacking in modern economic life ... though there is the appearance of information sharing, modern economic entities make only a very limited amount of information available for external use and scrutiny.
Transparency was popularized in the international arena when Transparency International was formed ... and the good news was that the word transparency became the subject of conferences, workshops and the like, but the bad news was that the talk was not matched by very much change in the way in which organizations operated.
One of the ongoing concerns is that the lack of transparency is not limited to just the corporate enterprise, or just a particular government, or just an institution like the World Bank, or the IMF or the UN ... but is a universal problem that is also common in the NGO community. Few organizations want to let others see very much at all about what they are doing. In the main organizations only make information available that they are required to by law, or which they consider to be useful for their public relations and promotion.
The consequences of this are significant. For instance: the public has no role in helping to hold economic organizations to account for the impact that organizations are having in any specific community. This can make a very big difference in the socio-economic situation in a community, and it is an aberation that a major economic actor in a community can effectively do whatever without very much accountability to the community. For instance: organizations are able to report very limited financial information, while at the same time publishing a lot of information about very little to give the impression of lots of worthwhile activity. This works well and helps with fund raising ... but it does not do anything to help get good allocation of resources and cost effective socio-economic progress.
There are emerging ways for the issue of transparency to be addressed so that the public can know much more of what it is reasonable the public should know. Small steps are being made, and the power of Internet knowledge is more and more coming into play. Tr-Ac-Net is playing a part in this, and will do more as time progresses.
Stay tuned
Peter Burgess
Showing posts with label accountability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accountability. Show all posts
Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Cost effective anti-malaria interventions
Dear Colleagues
Over the past five years there has been a major increase in the fund flows related to anti-malaria interventions. It is expected that in 2008, there will be more than $1 billion disbursed related to malaria work.
But it is interesting to note that the easy sound bite about child death ... "A child dies in Africa because of malaria every 30 seconds" ... or "some 3,000 children under 5 years of age die in Africa every day" remain the same now as they were two and three years ago. Is this lazyness on the part of the PR people ... or is this because the impact of the funding is insignificant.
With so much funding, it is reasonable to expect that there will be some cost accounting and performance analysis. President Bush made it clear that this was going to be a characteristic of the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and everyone talks about the importance of performance metrics. But in reality, the presently available performance metrics are simplistic and merely confirm that certain activities have been carried out ... which is a start ... but there is little about how effective these activities are in addressing the burden of malaria.
What is the goal? To reduce the burden of malaria in the society.
What is the burden of malaria? There are many elements of which the following are important. How much cost does this have?
1... High mortality among young children
2... High mortality among pregnant women
3... Mortality among all other groups in the population
4... Morbidity among all groups in the population ... which has a big economic impact when working age adults are incapacitated
5... Lost working time due to malaria
6... Cost of anti-malaria interventions
...1... Medical care
...2... Personal protection (coils, sprays, etc)
...3... Personal protection (bednets)
...4... Interior residual spraying (IRS)
...5... Source control ... larvaciding
...6... Adult mosquito control ... ULV adulticiding
What are the key metrics that show progress and relate progress to the costs of the associated anti-malaria activities?
1... Reduction in mortality among young children
2... Reduction in mortality among pregnant women
3... Reduction in mortality among all other groups in the population
4... Reduction in morbidity among all groups in the population
5... Reduction in lost working time due to malaria
6... Reduction in the cost of needed anti-malaria interventions
...1... Medical care
...2... Personal protection (coils, sprays, etc)
...3... Personal protection (bednets)
...4... Interior residual spraying (IRS)
...5... Source control ... larvaciding
...6... Adult mosquito control ... ULV adulticiding
7... Reduction in the prevalence of malaria parasite in the human host
8... Reduction in the prevalence of malaria parasite in the mosquito population
9... No emergence of resistance in any of the anti-malaria interventions
10.. No environmental damage
11.. No negative side effects for the human population
What is the cost? What is the optimum cost? How to get the least cost and the most benefit for anti-malaria interventions
...1... Medical care
...2... Personal protection (coils, sprays, etc)
...3... Personal protection (bednets)
...4... Interior residual spraying (IRS)
...5... Source control ... larvaciding
...6... Adult mosquito control ... ULV adulticiding
...7... Cost of data collection, data logistics, data analysis and administration
The metrics described here are a lot more substantive than anything that seems to be available at the present time in the malaria sub-sector ... though there will be around $1 billion disbursed in 2008 to address the malaria component of African health.
The international relief and development sector does not have a good track record on financial control, cost accounting and related matters. The good news is that there is some discussion of the need for performance metrics. The bad news is that what currently goes for performance metrics is very limited in quality and comprehensiveness.
With limited performance metrics ... performance is compromised. The cost is huge. Good management information is possible. Good management information is used in the corporate sector, but good management information is almost entirely absent in the public sector, and especially in the international relief and development sector. This is obscene, and serves only those that want to rip off the system or are engaged in activities that have little or no value.
Your comments are welcome.
Peter Burgess
Over the past five years there has been a major increase in the fund flows related to anti-malaria interventions. It is expected that in 2008, there will be more than $1 billion disbursed related to malaria work.
But it is interesting to note that the easy sound bite about child death ... "A child dies in Africa because of malaria every 30 seconds" ... or "some 3,000 children under 5 years of age die in Africa every day" remain the same now as they were two and three years ago. Is this lazyness on the part of the PR people ... or is this because the impact of the funding is insignificant.
With so much funding, it is reasonable to expect that there will be some cost accounting and performance analysis. President Bush made it clear that this was going to be a characteristic of the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and everyone talks about the importance of performance metrics. But in reality, the presently available performance metrics are simplistic and merely confirm that certain activities have been carried out ... which is a start ... but there is little about how effective these activities are in addressing the burden of malaria.
What is the goal? To reduce the burden of malaria in the society.
What is the burden of malaria? There are many elements of which the following are important. How much cost does this have?
1... High mortality among young children
2... High mortality among pregnant women
3... Mortality among all other groups in the population
4... Morbidity among all groups in the population ... which has a big economic impact when working age adults are incapacitated
5... Lost working time due to malaria
6... Cost of anti-malaria interventions
...1... Medical care
...2... Personal protection (coils, sprays, etc)
...3... Personal protection (bednets)
...4... Interior residual spraying (IRS)
...5... Source control ... larvaciding
...6... Adult mosquito control ... ULV adulticiding
What are the key metrics that show progress and relate progress to the costs of the associated anti-malaria activities?
1... Reduction in mortality among young children
2... Reduction in mortality among pregnant women
3... Reduction in mortality among all other groups in the population
4... Reduction in morbidity among all groups in the population
5... Reduction in lost working time due to malaria
6... Reduction in the cost of needed anti-malaria interventions
...1... Medical care
...2... Personal protection (coils, sprays, etc)
...3... Personal protection (bednets)
...4... Interior residual spraying (IRS)
...5... Source control ... larvaciding
...6... Adult mosquito control ... ULV adulticiding
7... Reduction in the prevalence of malaria parasite in the human host
8... Reduction in the prevalence of malaria parasite in the mosquito population
9... No emergence of resistance in any of the anti-malaria interventions
10.. No environmental damage
11.. No negative side effects for the human population
What is the cost? What is the optimum cost? How to get the least cost and the most benefit for anti-malaria interventions
...1... Medical care
...2... Personal protection (coils, sprays, etc)
...3... Personal protection (bednets)
...4... Interior residual spraying (IRS)
...5... Source control ... larvaciding
...6... Adult mosquito control ... ULV adulticiding
...7... Cost of data collection, data logistics, data analysis and administration
The metrics described here are a lot more substantive than anything that seems to be available at the present time in the malaria sub-sector ... though there will be around $1 billion disbursed in 2008 to address the malaria component of African health.
The international relief and development sector does not have a good track record on financial control, cost accounting and related matters. The good news is that there is some discussion of the need for performance metrics. The bad news is that what currently goes for performance metrics is very limited in quality and comprehensiveness.
With limited performance metrics ... performance is compromised. The cost is huge. Good management information is possible. Good management information is used in the corporate sector, but good management information is almost entirely absent in the public sector, and especially in the international relief and development sector. This is obscene, and serves only those that want to rip off the system or are engaged in activities that have little or no value.
Your comments are welcome.
Peter Burgess
Monday, December 10, 2007
Accounting and accountability
Dear Colleagues
Hardly a day goes by without some new revelation about failed accounting and an inability to track resources. There is a disturbing pattern in the reports and the stories carried in the media. The problems are not being found in a timely way. Rather they are coming to light a long time after the accounting failed and the ability to track resources was lost.
One almost has to ask "Why bother?" with the investigation into lost resources when months and years have already past. It is usually way too late to recover the lost items, and arguably too late to hold the responsible parties to account. Which, of course, is probably why the investigations are delayed in the first place.
I don't hear any outcry from the accountancy profession about this epidemic of failed accounting ... nothing from the big name accounting firms ... and hardly a wimper from any quarter. I am amazed, and frankly, absolutely disgusted.
Clearly there is a need for some more rigorous oversight mechanism that reflects either a more appropriate use of modern technology or reverts to a better use of very old fashioned techniques that used to serve quite well. The status quo is unacceptable and needs to change.
Sincerely
Peter Burgess
Hardly a day goes by without some new revelation about failed accounting and an inability to track resources. There is a disturbing pattern in the reports and the stories carried in the media. The problems are not being found in a timely way. Rather they are coming to light a long time after the accounting failed and the ability to track resources was lost.
One almost has to ask "Why bother?" with the investigation into lost resources when months and years have already past. It is usually way too late to recover the lost items, and arguably too late to hold the responsible parties to account. Which, of course, is probably why the investigations are delayed in the first place.
I don't hear any outcry from the accountancy profession about this epidemic of failed accounting ... nothing from the big name accounting firms ... and hardly a wimper from any quarter. I am amazed, and frankly, absolutely disgusted.
Clearly there is a need for some more rigorous oversight mechanism that reflects either a more appropriate use of modern technology or reverts to a better use of very old fashioned techniques that used to serve quite well. The status quo is unacceptable and needs to change.
Sincerely
Peter Burgess
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