sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

86
E. STRENGTHENING THE STATE AND A RENAISSANCE
IN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
Agenda 21 calls for the adoption of national <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> strategies (NSDS). At the <strong>20</strong>02
summit in Johannesburg, the year <strong>20</strong>05 was set as the deadline for NSDS implementation. Until recently,
however, few such strategies were in place. In fact, during much of the time since 1992, the planning
exercises for <strong>development</strong> as a whole have been few and far between.
The series of crises that have erupted in the world in recent <strong>years</strong> and the disappointing results of
economic and social <strong>development</strong> efforts over the last <strong>20</strong> <strong>years</strong> have spurred a revival of practices that
had been set aside in the 1990s. The countries of the region are finding a new appreciation for mediumand
long-term policies, and <strong>development</strong> planning and inclusive, equality-based land use <strong>development</strong>
policies appear to be gaining momentum (ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>11c). These policies need to be grounded in
comprehensive national visions —in which the society, the territory, the environment and the economy all
come into play— with the interaction of different stakeholders and backed by mechanisms that ensure
their continuity from one Administration to the next.
This renewed awareness of the need for <strong>development</strong> planning comes at a time when the region is
in a good fiscal position to take these policies forward in ways that will support the three pillars of
<strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong>. The recent crisis notwithstanding, public finances have improved remarkably in
the past decade. Public debt levels are down and the debt structure has become more balanced, since its
maturity profile has improved and the relative share of domestic debt has increased. At the same time, in
nearly all the countries of the region, government expenditure on such items as public investment and
social spending has become more efficient.
The concept of the “quality” of public finances is linked to the definition of objectives for
changing production patterns with social equity. Viewed from this vantage point, a qualitative
improvement in public finances entails enhancing the tax structure and raising the level of tax receipts,
expanding the public sector’s investment capacity and, certainly, reinforcing social security systems. The
re-establishment of the budget as a transparent, democratic resource-allocation mechanism in many Latin
American countries has played a highly important role in the efficient distribution of public expenditure.
Progress has also clearly been made in overall long- and medium-term public planning and in the use of
multi-year budgets (ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>11c).
Many countries in Latin America are making a determined effort to refine their planning
instruments and, in many cases, this effort has focused on providing a better institutional framework for
planning processes. National and subnational governments are working very hard to improve the way in
which they define policy priorities, formulate strategic programmes and plans, and design monitoring
and evaluation systems. Policymakers are learning new techniques for projecting and constructing
macro-fiscal scenarios, are using multi-annual budgets and strategic institutional planning tools, and are
looking at the various systems for evaluating public policies and programmes. The work being done in
this area has led to the formulation of national <strong>development</strong> strategies that are being used as mediumterm
national <strong>development</strong> plans (in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru),
strategic government guidelines and lines of action (Uruguay) or a coordinated set of public policy
priorities that take the form of medium- and long-term commitments on the part of the government
(Chile) (ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>11c).