Project: Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption in the Natural Resource Industries

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This report, the first in the larger research agenda that was defined, analyzes the pending beneficial ownership (BO) agenda and a recommended path to implementation in Mongolia’s mining sector. It outlines clear recommendations on actions that government, parliamentarians, civil society, and business stakeholders in Mongolia can take to enhance the collection, storage, verification, and public disclosure of BO information. It is based on a structured and rigorous review of Mongolia’s BO legislation and mechanisms, as well as in-depth interviews with Mongolian government officials, civil society representatives, and international stakeholders.

The report comprises the following sections:

• Assessment of the current BO situation in Mongolia and the register of government assets
• Description of the international architecture of BO
• Stakeholder mapping and engagement
• Gap analysis of the current situation in Mongolia vis-à-vis international best practice
• Recommendations and next steps

Authors

• Michael Barron, Michael Barron Consulting
• Tim Law, Engaged Consulting
• Jake Hartnett, Consultant
• Batsugar Tsedendamba, Independent Researcher
• Amar Adiya, Managing Editor of MongoliaWeekly.org and Director at BowerGroupAsia
• Ariuntsetseg Jigmeddorj, Research Assistant

This Project was funded by the BHP Foundation.

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ABOUT RESULTS FOR DEVELOPMENT
Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. R4D collaborates with change agents around the world — governments, civil society and innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. R4D combines global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation, and access to peer problem-solving networks.

ABOUT THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and policy solutions. Its mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations for policymakers and the public. The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other scholars. This publication is based on research primarily funded by the BHP Foundation. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the BHP Foundation or other donors. Brookings recognizes that the value it provides is in its absolute commitment to quality, independence, and impact. Activities supported by its donors reflect this commitment.

The post Beneficial Ownership in Mongolia: A Way Forward appeared first on Results for Development.

Project: Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption in the Natural Resource Industries

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With an ecosystem approach to beneficial ownership, the Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption (LTRC) project, a joint initiative of the Brookings Institution and Results for Development, is supporting actors in Mongolia identifying implementation gaps and viable solutions to concrete challenges .
Building upon the findings and recommendations for a public register in a first report, Beneficial Ownership in Mongolia: A Way Forward, this follow up study focuses on how to tackle complex implementation challenges, based on lessons from other countries and a discussion of Mongolia’s context. These implementation issues are:

• Reporting regulations for State-Owned Enterprises
• Disclosure requirements for companies listed on a stock exchange with varied shareholders
• Definition and identification of foreign Politically Exposed Persons
• Elements related to verification measures for a public register
• Clarifications on the definition of indirect control
• Benefits and challenges associated with a public register

The report concludes with concrete recommendations for government and parliamentarian officials in Mongolia championing its beneficial ownership process.

Authors

• Michael Barron
• Tim Law
• Batsugar Tsedendamba
• Ariuntsetseg Jigmeddor

The post Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Mongolia: Tackling Complex Implementation Issues appeared first on Results for Development.

On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, the Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption (LTRC) initiative, a joint effort of Results for Development (R4D)’s Accountability and Citizen Engagement practice and the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program, hosted a webinar with global and country experts involved in its work in the natural resource governance space. The two-panel event showcased general reflections on the program, insights, and results from work in Mongolia, Nigeria, Colombia, and Peru, and discussed local priorities and remaining challenges for governance reform in extractive sectors.

Speakers/Panelists

• Gina Lagomarsino, President and CEO of R4D
• Mario G. Picon, LTRC Director
• Norman Eisen, LTRC Chair
• Daniel Kaufmann, R4D Senior Fellow
• Yessica Prieto Ramos, National Director of Projects and Research of Crudo Transparente
• Miguel Inchaustegui, Former Minister of Energy and Mines of Peru
• Akintunde Babatunde, Director of Programs at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development – Nigeria
• Tegshbayar Darambazar, Advisor, Transparency International Mongolia

In case you missed it, we have provided a summary of the key takeaways from each session.

Reflections on LTRC implementation and core lessons for the future

• LTRC’s country work has identified gaps in existing anti-corruption efforts, empowered local organizations, and informed their strategies. This has led to sound contributions to discussions on how to build better anti-corruption strategies, with a focus on strengthening transparency efforts with an ecosystem approach.
• The TAP-Plus framework has been a valuable tool for LTRC country work, helping build new approaches and fill knowledge gaps for local stakeholders.
• Stakeholders, at both local and global levels, can use the LTRC approach to design and implement their own strategies and interventions.

Lessons from the country work

• LTRC’s engagement with Mongolia’s civil society and government started with a focus on supporting the beneficial ownership transparency system. LTRC research and engagement reports have been used as the key justification in the development of relevant sections of the country’s anticorruption strategy. There is room for international NGOs working on extractive governance to collaborate with multiple stakeholders in Mongolia as part of the country’s national strategy on anti-corruption.
• In Peru, an ecosystem is developing to respond to concrete needs and demands from local stakeholders. The Community of Learning and Practice that LTRC launched in Moquegua offers members from civil society, extractive companies, and local government a chance to exchange thoughts, identify opportunities, and jointly work on finding common ground for action. Cases like this show precisely what is possible when enough time and care are given to engaging people and local organizations in the solution of concrete problems. However, efforts like this need to be met by much more action and coordination with global partners: donors, multilaterals, and global initiatives like EITI.
• In Nigeria, there needs to be a knowledgeable media ecosystem that will help journalists set the agenda for the government and help people to understand how they can hold government accountable. In the same vein, there is a need to fund investigative journalism projects and provide institutional support for newsrooms to ensure that newsrooms have the financial and expert capacity to carry out investigative reporting in opening the extractive sector.
• In Colombia, the oil and gas sectors have a large influence on the functioning of the public sector, and yet, there is limited dialogue about the relationship, the resulting corruption, and the use of extractive revenues for social development. Dialogue processes end up being captured and centralized – with the resulting exclusion of key stakeholders in remote areas. LTRC focused on the development of a corruption diagnostic at the national and subnational levels for the hydrocarbon sector to spur dialogue and follow-up action. Much more is needed to build spaces where companies, government, and civil society can have informed dialogue; put in place better laws; and reduce the persistent acceptance of corruption.

Future for extractives governance stakeholders

• Working in silos is not an option if we are serious about tackling state capture and overcoming special interests.
• We need more and better platforms to collaborate and show results. Similarly, we need better, nuanced evidence as well as active engagement of the people that know the context better, particularly local stakeholders.
• A more targeted and sustained type of action is needed to promote alliances of stakeholders that complement each other.
• There are several organizations and individuals with great ideas in the countries where LTRC works. Donors and global partners should keep an eye on the potential of their efforts.
• When assessing results at the country level, we must be mindful of the limitations of the indicators we typically use. These indicators may not be adequate for capturing the full impact of corruption, especially when we consider the problem of capture by both state and non-state actors.
• In the same way, we emphasize bringing a more diverse set of views to design better, context-adapted solutions to tackle urgent challenges like climate change and to accomplish a necessary energy transition that does not lead to significant inequities. We need to find ways to integrate the discussion of governance in the natural resources space with the management of the climate change challenge.
• Complementing this, we need to be more audacious. In an environment where trust is scarce and confidence in the possibility of change is limited, it is even more important to show that what we are doing is working, empowering people, stopping corruption, or enhancing accountability.

The LTRC initiative has been actively working with global and country stakeholders to combat widespread corruption and misuse of public resources. The initiative seeks to advance local and evidence-informed interventions that complement existing transparency, accountability, and participation efforts through knowledge products, engagement, and multistakeholder strategies in natural resource governance.

Learnings from the initiative will continue to inform and inspire changemakers through the ongoing work of its stakeholders and two new initiatives at R4D and the Brookings Institution.

Moving forward, R4D’s upcoming Governance Action Hub initiative will use several of the lessons emerging from the LTRC work at both global and country levels, but with a larger focus on the potential and practical considerations of collective action in enhancing governance and reducing corruption. This will involve:

• Exploring what is possible in terms of governance reform and anti-corruption.
• Building agency and engaging local stakeholders in practical ways in the solution of context-based challenges and the pursuit of common goals.
• Building broader coalitions for change that bring the views of diverse key stakeholders new and persistent challenges, from energy transition to environmental protection to human rights.
• Testing ways to enhance coordination with a focus on horizontal collaboration between local action and global stakeholders.

The Brookings Institution will use LTRC learnings in their new Anti-Corruption, Democracy, and Security (ACDS) project that works to galvanize collective action against corruption through multistakeholder collaboration, research, and analysis. ACDS’s objective is to equip good governance champions with the information, tools, and connections they need as they work to develop and fulfill their anti-corruption commitments in ways that strengthen democracy and improve global security.

The post Webinar: Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption appeared first on Results for Development.