Transparency to the People

The publication tells the story of the use of stakeholder participation to support public sector reform in Nauru and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The report provides important lessons for donor agencies, for Nauru and the RMI, and for other Pacific island nations that mainly live off aid and other rents. The lessons concern what has gone wrong with governance and why, and what can be done to improve governance under existing conditions. The three pilot projects described show that by taking transparency directly to the people, donors can help create more favorable conditions under which local citizens themselves can more readily press for reform. Whether the modest gains achieved in the pilot projects will prevail remains to be seen, but in all three cases, the future looks more promising than the past.