8 January 2014
UN-REDD Explores Transparency and Accountability in REDD+
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The UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (UN-REDD) released a report on 'Sharing National Experiences in Strengthening Transparency, Accountability, and Integrity for REDD+.' The publication features examples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Nepal and the Philippines.

UN-REDD Programme6 January 2014: The UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (UN-REDD) released a report on ‘Sharing National Experiences in Strengthening Transparency, Accountability, and Integrity for REDD+.’ The publication features examples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Nepal and the Philippines.

In Kenya, the report notes the outcomes of targeted support to conduct a corruption risk assessment for REDD+ to address historical corruption issues within forest sector governance. The assessment, according to the report, identifies four areas of corruption risk: mismanagement of REDD+ revenues; biased monitoring and reporting of REDD+ results; erosion of respect for free, prior and informed consent; the rights of local communities; and corruption within non-governmental organizations.

In the Philippines, the report focuses on the application of participatory methodologies to develop anti-corruption activities within the national REDD+ strategy. According to the publication, ensuring that such methodologies reflect national and international requirements, in addition to stakeholder needs, requires short-, medium- and long-term consideration. The report stresses that short-term actions should focus on research, training and capacity building, while medium- and long-term actions tend more towards institutional and organizational development, and the identification and scale-up of good practices.

In Nepal, the report assesses governance issues leading to deforestation and forest degradation. In particular, an assessment of drivers reveals three main governance issues: a lack of a deliberative and inclusive process leading to poor implementation or illegal action; poor transparency and corruption; and weak law enforcement. The report notes that such drivers require REDD+ actions that address governance beyond the forest sector.

Finally, in the DRC, the report notes that anti-corruption activities have been a key component of REDD+ readiness activities since their initiation. Furthermore, the DRC includes governance as one of seven priority investments and one of four enabling pillars in its national REDD+ strategy. The report outlines three levels of activity planned: preventative measures, detection measures and corrective measures. [Publication: Sharing National Experiences in Strengthening Transparency, Accountability and Integrity for REDD+]

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