The website to monitor infrastructure projects, budgets and community benefits in the state of Jalisco and other cities in the region is an important initiative

CAF promotes transparency and accountability in Latin American infrastructure projects

photo_camera CAF

With the aim of improving transparency, the investment climate and the quality of infrastructure projects developed with public resources in the state of Jalisco (Mexico), CAF -development bank of Latin America- collaborated in the launch and implementation of the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) in the state of Jalisco. This international initiative, present in 19 countries on four continents, aims to strengthen transparency and accountability in public infrastructure investments.

This is achieved by working directly with governments, civil society and the construction industry to promote the disclosure, validation and interpretation of data on infrastructure projects and public works.

CoST has a presence in the country after the Institute of Transparency, Public Information and Protection of Personal Data of the State of Jalisco (ITEI) decided to implement it in September 2019, thanks to the fact that this body managed to capture the interest of the state government and the municipal governments of Guadalajara, Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Tonalá and Zapopan to promote an environment that allows guaranteeing the quality of their infrastructure projects.

Currently, CoST Jalisco is led by a multi-sectoral group, made up of government institutions, the private sector, academia and civil society, where CAF is the institution in charge of financing the creation of the web platform that aims to increase transparency through the publication of information on public works processes proactively and in open data to improve the efficiency of the resources used, with a favourable impact on the prevention of corruption.

"The implementation of the CoST Jalisco platform contributes to mitigating the risks of corruption in public procurement, and will also provide guarantees for better public infrastructure. CAF will continue to promote a transparency agenda in the infrastructure sector to improve the investment climate and citizen confidence in our partner countries," said Camilo Cetina, senior executive of CAF's Directorate for Digital Innovation of the State.

As part of the projects that have been carried out within the framework of CoST Jalisco, the rehabilitation of the sanitary drainage and rainwater channel in Tlajomulco stand out, in addition to hydraulic infrastructure works, periodic road maintenance works, street paving, installation of electricity networks, and various urban renovations, public spaces and sports complexes, whose data are available on the platform so that any citizen can audit them.

As in Jalisco, there are cases such as Bogotá, Colombia, which recently made the virtual launch of CoST. In that city, the initiative seeks to generate greater transparency for citizens on how public resources are administered, in addition to promoting a government that is open to citizens.

The Secretary General of the Mayor's Office of Bogotá, Margarita Barraquer Sourdis, indicated that CoST is a boost to anti-corruption efforts associated with the management of construction projects in her city, and stressed that there is an urgent need to shield social infrastructure, such as hospitals, from this problem.

CoST Bogotá will initially publish information on eight major projects covering water and sanitation, transport and health care. These include the construction of Bogotá's first metro line, a delayed project that will eventually carry up to 72,000 passengers per hour.

In this way, CAF joins public and private institutions in different cities to promote and develop transparency by opening up information on the use of public money, identifying potential savings, and helping to complement reforms in public financial management and state infrastructure procurement processes.

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