good governance practices for the protection of human rights

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of the country’s income and, second, the country’s tax structure was regressive, because it did not require wealthy citizens to pay a fair share. Visual tools were created to make budget data accessible and comprehensible to the public. An outreach effort shared the information with a wide variety of partners, including legislators, academics, indigenous, religious and trade union groups, business leaders, and the media. The central issue of several discussions and meetings was how to make public spending more equitable. Also, the taxation system received press coverage and was the topic of a national conference sponsored by Congress. In addition, a process was put in place to monitor quarterly expenditures on priority social programmes. The Government worked with UNICEF to strengthen the Integrated System of Social Indicators of Ecuador to track social investment both nationally and by region. This information was translated into maps, charts and graphs so that social actors could monitor progress and equity in public spending. These disaggregated data made the information clearer and more accessible to the public. The information was also disseminated through periodicals. Following the above activities, the Government adopted an emergency social plan in 2000 to reduce poverty and increase access to education and health. It had four components: provision of conditional cash transfers and food subsidies; programmes targeting vulnerable groups, including children; provision of universal services such as education and health; and job creation and microfinancing. Impact on human rights and challenges The availability and accessibility of services improved as expenditures in education, health, welfare, employment and housing increased. Between 2001 and 2004, overall social spending in Ecuador rose substantially. Conditional cash transfers increased from US$ 146.28 million in 2002 to US$ 200 million in 2004; spending on immunization more than doubled from US$ 5.6 million in 2002 to US$ 12 million in 2004; spending on the childcare programme rose from US$ 17 million in 2001 to US$ 29.47 million in 2004; spending on a food and nutrition programme increased from US$ 10 million in 2001 to US$ 16 million in 2003. As a result, vulnerable social groups were able to access and afford basic welfare services more easily. Also, the methods of accountability and participation in policymaking, including dialogue and transparency, have remained in place. Transparency in the budget process and the sharing of information with social actors contribute to social mobilization and policy reform. Information-sharing facilitates the informed dialogue between Government and citizens. Ecuador still faces challenges in achieving a common understanding of budgets as a shared responsibility between the Government and citizens. Also, more progress may be achieved in conceiving public expenditure as a way of reducing 37
poverty and inequality and guaranteeing human rights. There is room for continued improvement in the amount and quality of social expenditure, which a more transparent budgeting system is helping to achieve. D. Improving access to health services through intercultural mediation – Romania Issue About 2.5 million Roma live in Romania, where they make up 11 per cent of the population. The Roma have significantly worse health indicators, including higher rates of infant mortality and communicable diseases and shorter life expectancy, than the rest of the Romanian population. Unhealthy living conditions are one of the major causes of poorer health among the Roma, particularly those living in the many ghettoized settlements. However, the discrepancies between the health indicators of the Roma and the majority community also result from structural inequalities, including unequal access to education and employment, discrimination and poverty. The social and economic conditions in which the Roma live undermine their right to the enjoyment of health and their right to equitable and non-discriminatory access to public health and medical services. Response The Roma health mediator (RHM) programme, launched in 1997, recognized that social and cultural conditions played a key role in determining the availability, accessibility and quality of health services. A founding concept of the programme is that cultural and linguistic barriers often prevent communities from accessing public health services. The RHM programme attempts, through intercultural mediation, to facilitate the communication between the minority population and the public authorities on health issues. It also seeks to empower the Roma population to access the health system by providing information and raising awareness both about the public health system and about health issues. Design In Romania, health mediation was initiated by the Roma Center for Social Intervention and Studies (Romani CRISS). Following a 1997 report by Doctors Without Borders that Roma in Romania were refusing vaccination, Romani CRISS discovered that doctors often refused to enter Roma communities, while Roma feared the effects of vaccination and failed to understand its importance. In response, Romani CRISS trained Roma health mediators to serve as a bridge between the Roma community and the public health system. The RHM programme aimed to improve community health by: mediating between Roma patients and doctors during medical consultations; communicating with Roma 38
Page 1 and 2: OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH C
Page 3 and 4: Note The designations employed and
Page 5 and 6: IV. COMBATING CORRUPTION 59 A. Gove
Page 7 and 8: elies on a conducive and enabling e
Page 9 and 10: • • The International Covenant
Page 11 and 12: In Ecuador, transparency in the bud
Page 14 and 15: STRENGTHENING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIO
Page 16 and 17: I. STRENGTHENING DEMOCRATIC INSTITU
Page 18 and 19: Regarding development policy, the A
Page 20 and 21: Design WATC was established in 1992
Page 22 and 23: C. The role of the media in buildin
Page 24 and 25: In other cases, the media responded
Page 26 and 27: Implementation A national programme
Page 28 and 29: elevant information to the Chamber
Page 30 and 31: One example of the significant prog
Page 32 and 33: The question of land rights was not
Page 34: Brazil Material submitted to OHCHR/
Page 37 and 38: IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY
Page 39 and 40: • Creating multi-agency partnersh
Page 41 and 42: The programme has run without inter
Page 43 and 44: First, NCFA and PMT helped to devel
Page 45: Response An Ecuadorian multi-agency
Page 49 and 50: enrolling on GP patient lists. Acco
Page 51 and 52: Implementation RMI combines the rig
Page 53 and 54: France Jonah D. Levy, “Vice into
Page 55 and 56: THE RULE OF LAW
Page 57 and 58: prison authorities are ineffective
Page 59 and 60: Impact on human rights and challeng
Page 61 and 62: interviewed in 14 languages. Korean
Page 63 and 64: quently led to physical and psychol
Page 65 and 66: inadequacy of existing constitution
Page 67 and 68: has requested advice in relation to
Page 69 and 70: “CHILE, transition at the crossro
Page 71 and 72: COMBATING CORRUPTION
Page 73 and 74: • Setting up anti-corruption comm
Page 75 and 76: dering in the construction industry
Page 77 and 78: unique in its scope and in the amou
Page 79 and 80: adequate food, clothing and housing
Page 81 and 82: Importantly, the practice of social
Page 83 and 84: cause of the shortage of such servi
Page 85 and 86: ticipants discussed an abstract fra
Page 87 and 88: F. Addressing the supply side of co
Page 89 and 90: ibery have been. Thirty ECAs from 2
Page 91 and 92: Transparency International, Corrupt
Page 94: STRENGTHENING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIO

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