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Making it reliable, making it meaningful, and governing the governance

Making it reliable, making it meaningful, and governing the governance

National Coordinators did not leave the easy bits of their programme to the final day of an intense week. They started with a discussion on a vital and difficult element of the EITI process: data reliability. Of course, financial structures, procedures and processes vary across countries, including within Francophone Africa. However, despite these systemic variances participants were united in their thinking: it is only once stakeholders agree with the facts, that they can have a meaningful discussion. Representatives from the DR Congo Inspector General’s office, civil society, companies and the National Secretariat explained how they jointly avoided pitfalls, confronted challenges and repaired weaknesses.

The next course on the menu regarded possibly an even tougher issue: how to govern the implementation process. In particular questions such as who MSG members really represent; tailoring the composition of the MSG to suit a changing EITI environment and agreed objectives; and how to find a balance between renewal vs experience in the group. Sensitive issues were not avoided, with intense exchanges on the question of per diem policy, which also featured on the agenda of the EITI Board.

Finally, National Coordinators focused on perhaps the most important element of their work: how to ensure that what you do actually has impact. With this session, the week ended with a full circle, by identifying usefulness as the key characteristic of the EITI process and finding means of monitoring and evaluating it.

Want to know more about the EITI Week in the Congos? Follow this link for more information on the overview of the week and read up about Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 here.