National-level corruption risks and mitigation strategies in the implementation of REDD+ in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: An overview of the current situation
Abstract
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the first REDD+ target countries due its huge forest ecosystem potential. Since 2011, the country has been creating key pieces of legislation as well as implementing REDD+ readiness activities and making pilot investments to mitigate some of the key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation identified in the country. Despite this progress, the country바카라 사이트™s poor governance climate creates a significant challenge in future progress towards implementing REDD+. Endemic poverty, weak state authority, and widespread corruption characterize the DRC바카라 사이트™s current political environment. It is within this socioeconomic and political backdrop that the REDD+ mechanism is expected to be implemented in the DRC.
The main objective of this study is to assess national-level corruption risks and possible anticorruption strategies in REDD+ implementation in the DRC, using a combination of desk and field-based research. The findings from this research suggest that four types of corruption have arisen in relation to national-level REDD+ implementation: (1) kickback payments; (2) the politicization of government forestry positions; (3) financial mismanagement by international development cooperation agencies and non-governmental organizations; and (4) non-transparent hiring practices of international consultants. The key recommendation of this paper, based on these findings, is the establishment of an independent agency in the DRC to monitor REDD+ finances and projects. Such an agency could play a strong role in enhancing and enforcing the DRC바카라 사이트™s legal and institutional framework, enhancing transparency through the publication of license and REDD+ information, providing ethics education, and helping to ensure merit-based employment in REDD+ institutions.
Citation
Assembe-Mvondo, S. National-level corruption risks and mitigation strategies in the implementation of REDD+in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: An overview of the current situation. U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, CMI, Bergen, Norway (2015) 30 pp. [U4 Issue, April 2015 No 9]
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