Fostering Dialogue to Strengthen Good Governance by Seiichi Kondo -- Preventing Corruption in the Americas by Cesar Gaviria -- Institutions of Integrity in the United States by Stuart Gilman -- Transparency and Accountability in Colombia by Humberto De La Calle -- Making It Happen: Developing Policy Guidelines for Accountability and Transparency by Janos Bertok, Joanne Caddy and Michael Ruffner -- Canada's Principles-Based Approach: "The Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code" by Public Policy Forum -- The Public Ethics Committee in Brazil: Experiences, Developments, and Challenges by Joao Geraldo Piquet Carneiro -- Managing Conflicts of Interest at the Federal Level in the United States by Jane S. Ley -- Can New Technologies Be a Solution? Conflicts of Interest Cases in Argentina by Nicolas R. S. Raigorodsky -- Building an Consensus for Fiscal Reform in Chile by Mario Marcel and Marcelo Tokman -- Performance and Transparency in Australia: Are "Leading Edge" Systems Really Working? by Tyrone M. Carlin -- Access to Information - A Long Way to Go by Caludio Weber Abramo -- Public Scrutiny and Access to Information in Finland by Katjo Holkeri -- T-he Right of Access to Information and Public Scrutiny: Transparency as a Democratic Control Instrument by Alfredo Chrino Sanchez -- The Mexican Municipal Transparency Evaluation System - "Setramun" by Bernardo Avalos -- Framework for Action: Measures for Follow-Up by Marilyn Yakowitz -- The Organisation of American States and the Fight against Corruption by Jorge Garcia Gonzalez -- Annexes: OECD Policies and Best Practices -- Principles for Managing Ethics in the Public Service -- Building Public Trust: Ethics Measures in OECD Countries -- OECD Best Practices for Budget Transparency -- Engaging Citizens in Policy-Making: Information, Consultation, and Public Participation

High standards of public governance are the essential foundation for achieving sustainable economic growth and social cohesion. This publication presents the papers discussed at the Latin American Forum on Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in the Public Sector that took place on 5-6 December 2001. The Forum brought together more than 450 ministers, senators, senior government officials, business leaders, representatives of international organisations, non-government organisations and the media from OECD countries, Latin America and the Caribbean.  The Forum approved policy recommendations that reflect the shared experience of Member countries of the OECD and the Organization of American States. The agreed policy recommendations list key principles and crucial factors in the three following key areas of good governance: - Ensuring impartiality in the decision-making process by a credible conflict-of-interest policy.- Increasing transparency in the preparation and execution of the budget.- Promoting freedom of information, consultation and participation of citizens in the formulation and implementation of public policies. In addition, country papers provide practical solutions adapted to their particular administrative environments for policy-makers and a demanding civil society.