Country Governance Assessment (CGA)

To systematically assess the quality of governance of member countries and to strengthen the linkage between the quality of governance and levels and composition of assistance.

The Public Administration section of the CGA assesses policy-making system and civil service management. The Public Financial Management section assesses public financial management. CGAs are used primarily by the ADB, with secondary use by the assessed governments. Governance information and analysis is used for identifying the impact of governance on the poor; conducting policy dialogue with assessed governments on key governance issues; guiding public discussion,  information-sharing, or joint projects on country governance with other stakeholders (e.g., donor agencies or civil society organizations); developing strategies and programs to address key governance issues; reaching decisions on the size and composition of ADB’s country portfolios; identifying risks and opportunities from the governance environment in sectors and projects; developing indicators and benchmarks of governance at various levels; identifying the relationship between public  governance and the private sector or civil society.

CGAs are narrative reports based on the CGA Framework, a general method divided into sections that contain guidance questions for evaluation. There is no set of rules on how a governance analysis might be designed, managed, or phased. The CGA Framework provides guidance on the analytical basis for a CGA but not on process, evidence acquisition, or resources. The result has been a good deal of variation in both CGA process and product. Broadly speaking, task managers from ADB have adopted three approaches:

1. Brief reports by staff based largely on analyzing existing documents on country governance, supplemented by short visits to the country;
2. Wide-ranging desk research with field visits, a basic level of participation (in the form of interviews and consultation), and selected use of national or international consultants; and
3. Participation by government and country stakeholders in the design and execution of the analysis, often involving extensive consultation and workshops.

Under the Public administration section, the following sub-sections are covered:

• Government system: To assess the overall policy making and implementation framework.
• Civil service: To assess the degree to which civil service arrangements are implemented in line with existing laws and
• to determine whether human resources are managed with reference to accepted public management practices.
• Local Governance: To evaluate the capacity of local governments to respond adequately to the real needs of their constituencies.

Under the Public financial management section, the following sub-sections are covered:

• Revenue administration
• Public expenditure management
• Public sector accounting and internal control
• Public sector auditing
• Inter-governmental fiscal relations
• Specific anti-corruption efforts

Each sub-section contains a series of guide questions. For example, under the Civil service sub-section are questions on the following topics:

• Legality and accountability of the civil servants Impartiality, and integrity of civil servants
• Management of the public service and human resources management issues

http://www.adb.org/Governance/gov_cga.asp