AMMONNEWS -By Samar Alshdaifat - One of the best experiences that I have had in my life was visiting USA to participate in the international visitors leadership program IVLP entitled "transparency in federal, state and local governments". I was privileged by the embassy of USA in Jordan to have this great chance as a journalist to explore ways in which to ensure the transparency of the government to have public confidence in integrity and fairness of government's regulations. What was beneficial is that this program included a variety of fields such as finance policy, government procurement, employment practices, in addition to the work of legislative and judicial authorities.
The other participants who joined me in this program were from different countries such as Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Sudan and Jordan. This program gave a chance for all participants who are from different positions to examine America's efforts in introducing more transparency and accountability at the local, state, and federal levels of government to increase government response and to reduce the incidences of fraud, loss, waste, and abuse. In addition to that, this program empowers participants to consider the influence of media and civil society by holding meetings with human rights and non-governmental organizations. They also looked at the effects of new media and internet with access to public information and as a team we examine FOIA law which enables all to access government records and help in increasing transparency.
America is one of the main countries that are doing the best to fight corruption and increasing transparency in their systems. Fortunately, I was chosen to present the best practices that we have seen through our visit in Tufts University in Boston. I will sum up our experiences and the best practices in two words; SMART GOV., each letter stands for a concept that we have found in different departments there; (S) Stands for specific and strict: we found that most of the departments have specific vision, mission, action plan, criteria, values and goals. In addition to that, they have strict laws, rules, and instructions.
For example; when we visited Pentagon, they stated that they are strict in government procurements. A specific criterion for purchasing goods is required. No factors can affect the decision that the Pentagon make in choosing goods.
(M) Stands for deterrent Measures: what was interesting is that there are tools used to measure the percentage of transparency and corruption. They also have a method to prevent wasting of money and fraud. For example; in the World Bank, they stated that they have certain indicators throughout the bank where they can recognize the level of health and level of education …etc. then they make a decision whether to keep funding or stop it.
(A) Stands for Access and Accountability: fortunately your government records and information can be accessed by citizens and media. They take this power from FOIA law.
Accountability: all are accountable from the president to the workers and all are under the laws and responsible to serve the public services and interests. For example; in Washington DC we visited a non-governmental organization "government accountability project" which motivates citizens to disclose any case of corruption and they also protect the citizens who cooperate with them "whistle blowers".
(R) Stands for Respect: because there is an open government, clear values, rules, transparency and democracy, the majority respect the laws and rules. They also teach their kids how to respect them. This is honestly what we noticed in the streets of America.
(T) Stands for Transparency: America is not 100% transparent, it is not a paradise. But there is a government in all its level –state, local, and federal- working hard to fight corruption by having action plans including planning, execution, deterrent measures, evaluation and following up. For example: when we visited Massachusetts, we heard the story of an election fraud which it's hero are Villamaino and Llewellyn.
It relates to a scheme to generate absentee ballot votes for Villamaino in the 2012 Republican primary, where he was seeking the nomination for state representative. This political person misused his position to achieve his personal interest; consequently, he was punished fairly to prevent any other case of corruption.
(G) Stands for Government: government has a mutual partnership with citizens, civil society and non-governmental organizations. Most of them offer social services and volunteering to hold free training to empower the community. Americans have the power of freedom of speech. For example; in judicial system, judge can be elected by citizens and they can also file a complaint against them if he or she is not fair.
(O) Stands for Openness: what we admired most was the city council which is the best example of openness. All citizens have the right to meet public officials and say whatever they want; they can discuss, suggest, complain, and bring awareness to their issues without any barriers.
(V) Stands for Values: Americans have many values. What all of us liked was the value of "volunteering". This value changed our previous impression about Americans whom we thought were quite materialistic. In addition to that, each department has a code of honor which is clear for all. So all the employees can identify and understand the list of ethics, values, their rights, and duties. OGE is one of the departments which can help other departments to compose their list of ethics based on their needs.
We as a team recognized how much America is one of the leading countries that do the best to fight corruption, although it has a complicated system of governing "Federal". We hope we can also utilize the same or similar deterrent procedures to fight corruption and be able to revive our country's economy.
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