Government integrity and citizen trust: The key to a strong and sustainable recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean

By Andreas Schaal and José Antonio Ardavín

The COVID-19 pandemic has been with us for nearly two years now, radically reshaping how we live and work. In these challenging times, citizens need reliable, transparent information, particularly regarding urgent public health initiatives such as vaccination, mask usage, and social distancing, as well as about the economic measures being undertaken in the face of the crisis.

However, whether citizens actually trust the information their governments are providing and the health and economic policies their governments are implementing is another question – and a true “stress test” of 21st century democracy. It is a particularly pertinent one for the Latin America and Caribbean region, where 75% of people already reported having little or no trust at all in governments before the pandemic, in 2017.

In this context, the OECD Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Programme will hold its second Ministerial Summit on Governance: Government Integrity and Citizen Trust. Registration for this 8-10 December virtual event is open here and all government officials, international organisations and other stakeholders are warmly invited to attend.

The Ministerial will build on the 2018 Action Plan on Integrity for Good Governance in Latin America and on a recent survey, which provided hints on the advances (areas of strength) of the region and the gaps (growth areas), as shown below.?

Having prepared the discussions in three preparatory webinars, the Ministerial Summit will focus on concrete policies that have the double dividend of promoting greater integrity and enhancing citizen trust, in service of a sustainable recovery. Building a government culture of transparency, integrity and equitable policy making must be the cornerstone of an inclusive recovery; it is also key to strengthening democracies and the rule of law.

It is only by restoring public trust in institutions that LAC countries will be able to build consensus for the ambitious economic and social protection reforms that will be needed post-COVID. The upcoming Latin American Economic Outlook 2021: Working Together for a Better Recovery will explore this vital issue.

The OECD has also developed a new tool, the OECD Trust Survey, which can help governments to meet the trust challenge, by providing detailed, comparable data on the drivers of public trust. We invite LAC Ministers and partner international organisations participating in the Ministerial to consider having a dedicated survey for LAC as an outcome of this summit. Its findings would be of great value to the discussions of the upcoming IX Summit of the Americas,?hosted by the United States, at which “Strong and inclusive democracies” is to be one of the key topics.

These are challenging times for the LAC region. As its countries embark on the design of economic recovery strategies, we encourage them to embed integrity and stakeholder engagement considerations in such strategies, so that they effectively deliver on enhanced citizens’ trust. Only then will the recovery lead to a renewed, fairer and more durable social contract in the region.

The OECD Latin American and the Caribbean Programme facilitates policy dialogue and the dissemination of good practices in areas such as investment, education, inclusiveness, competition, good governance, fiscal policy, and more. We look forward to strong regional engagement around trust, integrity and anti-corruption at our Ministerial Summit and hope very much that you will join us.

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Learn more

“Digital technologies and data as tools for transparency” (Policy brief, webinar replay)

“The role of infrastructure and its governance in a sustainable recovery” (Policy brief, webinar replay)

“Rebuilding trust: the role of the private sector, civil society and international cooperation” (Policy brief, webinar replay)

Open Government in Latin America and the Caribbean

OECD Recommendation on the Governance of Infrastructure

OECD Principles on the Governance of Public Private Partnerships

Trust and Public Policy: How Better Governance Can Help Rebuild Public Trust

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