International Governance

The Government of Montserrat has commissioned the Institute on Governance and Global Perspective Inc. in joint venture to conduct a government-wide organizational and process review. This project examines whether current structures, systems, processes, and staffing provide a sound basis to support the strategic vision of the nation. This project seeks to identify actionable improvements to the government’s system-wide structures and operations with a view to re-engineering and digitizing service delivery to achieve better outcomes for citizens. The project expects to conclude in early 2023.

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the State Department’s training institution. IOG, in subcontract with Guidehouse Inc., is asked to develop a comprehensive Diplomacy Training Maturity model and conduct a benchmarking study of foreign diplomatic training counterparts and other US Federal training institutions. The results of the benchmarking will then be analyzed, any gaps and innovations identified, and then aligned with the State Department’s overall strategy.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Consumer Protection Framework provides a high-level consumer protection regime for ASEAN Member States in the region.  At present, ASEAN Member States differ in terms of quality of practice standards, respective regulatory environments, and institutional capacities. This context makes it challenging to implement an effective consumer protection framework across the region. The ASEAN Secretariat has thus identified a need to build capacity through training of personnel responsible for consumer protection. IOG has been retained to develop two training modules on topics related to consumer law enforcement relating to Data privacy and Advertising and Marketing.

This project seeks to assess selected service delivery administrative processes in the water and municipal services sectors and in the current management of citizen complaints in three governorates in Iraq. This assessment is the first step towards developing suggestions on how delivery of services and related administrative processes in these three areas could be improved, including through the better engagement of citizens in their design and delivery.

This Fiscal Decentralization and Resiliency Building project supported the advancement of fiscal federalism and decentralization in Iraq.  It did so through an elaboration of a federal system better able to meet the needs of its population in a more effective and equitable manner. As well, the project assisted the Government of Iraq (GOI) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and other provinces in stabilizing their fiscal and program-responsibilities through the design, implementation, and management of fiscal transfer programs that supported more rapid decentralization.

This project fits within the framework of the decentralization program that supports local development in the governorates by activating the local resources maximization units. This mission implemented a field survey of 3500 to analyze the concerns and needs of three vulnerable groups (women, youth, and people with special needs) in 14 selected districts in 14 different Iraqi governorates (excluding KRI and Kirkuk). Using the results of the survey, meetings were convened with the representatives of each of the vulnerable groups and their local authorities in all 14 districts to identify those issues that could be improved. Specific local development plans were identified and actively followed in their development. Finally, the participation of women, youth, and people with special needs in the development process was increased.

This project aimed to try and establish a culture of social accountability by working with local civil society organizations to form a civil society platform  engaged in local development plans. This work specifically focused on improving government activities for citizens in the Iraqi governorates of Wassit and Babil. This project had three specific objectives: Improvement in basic government activities; Provide for a civil society auditing of the performance of government activities; and the establishment of an effective, broad-based and inclusive civil society platform of about 25 representatives of NGOs, academia, unions, youth, tribal leaders and other leaders and influencers in the province.

This assignment with a UN agency headquartered in Geneva sought to review and assess the current governance structure and to propose a new structure that aligned and supported a new strategy. This new strategy moves WSSCC to a new funding organization (Sanitation and Hygiene Fund – very different in structure and operations from before) to improve performance, effectiveness and delivery in the water and sanitation sector globally.

This assignment provided intensive training to the executive level of the Timor Leste cadre in the public service of Timor Leste. The was on site with a mix of presentations and hands on exercises and workshop over the course of 1 week of training.

IOG provided advisory services in the area of citizen-centered services to various governments in South America. IADB has made citizen-centered services improvements one of its priorities in governance reform in Latin America. IOG helped develop and participated in workshops and provided advisory services in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Chile, in addition to participating in a regional workshops in Argentina, which brought in participants from eight Latin American countries.

The IOG conducted a study of institutional capacity of project implementation in The Bahamas. This included a detailed diagnostic, wide-ranging but feasible recommendations for change, and an implementation plan. A report of same was included in the April 2015 State of the Nation Report, as well as follow-on workshops and consultations with stakeholders, to inform the country’s ambitious National Development Plan.

From 2013 to 2015, the President of the IOG was a keynote speaker the Centre’s events in Singapore and in China, on the topic of governance and leadership in developing countries. The IOG worked with the Centre to put in place a program to build leadership capacity in developing countries that would help them meet the challenges of the 21^st Century, and lead the modernization of their public services and the transformation of their societies.

This project designed a senior executive service (SES) for the Governments of Iraq (GOI) and Kurdistan Region (KRG) respectively, that each government could then launch, implement and manage. This was achieved through consultations and discussions with senior officials and Ministers in each government and a review of international SES systems. The project was a first step towards the ultimate implementation of an SES system for the KRG and GOI. An SES system creates a pool of meritorious executives who are representative and who have the interests of all citizens as their focus. As such, an SES system leads to improved governance and a greater respect for human rights.

Law 21 sets out the framework for further decentralization of programs to regions and governorates and is a critical component to advancing fiscal decentralization. A lack of progress on this was on destabilizing to Iraqi society and this project sought to advance this work as a prelude to the deeper work on fiscal federalism and decentralization. IOG helped draft various elements and provide general advice and to advance the work.

The IOG, with funding coming from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), provided training and advice on structuring senior civil servant training.

The IOG has a full time Chief Financial Officer with a certified accounting designation. The IOG has financial and risk oversight from the Financial Reporting and Risk Oversight committee of its Board of Directors. This committee reports formally 4 times per year to the Board. As well, the IOG financial controls are guided and bound by an anti-corruption policy and a financial control and procurement policy.

Implementing projects require ongoing monitoring, evaluating, and adjusting against indicators and workplans. International projects have an additional level of complexity, and those in a fragile/post-conflict environment such as IOGs current work in the middle east are more complex still. The monitoring approach undertaken by IOG seeks to ensures an appropriate level resources so that any project remains on track and activities are adjusted to achieve maximum results. Internally, the IOG will usually use the Performance Measurement Framework (PMF) and the Performance Reporting Framework (PRF) as the overall structure for results-based monitoring and reporting over the life of a project. Quality Assurance is done by a Project staff member with significant experience in managing projects.

The IOG affirms its commitment to sustainable business practices including, but not limited to, mitigation of CO2 emissions, support for Indigenous communities and fragile states, and the provision of pro bono services. The IOG strives to assist its employees in living and working sustainable lives, including providing support for emissions-free commuting, and taking measures to ensure a low-carbon workplace. As an independent, not-for-profit organization with charitable status, we make some of our services and all of our research products free for public consumption. We self-fund research that is intended to challenge status quos in search of better solutions, we invest heavily in areas of our work that are critical to our mandate such as Indigenous governance, and we often undertake work in civil society pro bono. Recent examples include support to the Ottawa-based Refugee 613 as they prepared to support the transition of approximately 25,000 Syrian refugees to Ottawa, and support to Soldiers Helping Soldiers, an organization that provides support to soldiers through a network of local support services. The IOG is proud to partner with Global Affairs Canada on a number of contracts, an agency that has similar sustainability requirements for organizations with which it builds business relationships.