Retos para la información contable pública: desde lo económico, ambiental y social en la provincia de centro del departamento de Boyacá para el periodo 2012 - 2016

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals, set forth by the United Nations, outline the need for solid institutions as a mechanism for achieving development. This becomes more relevant when in 2014, the United Nations Secretary General stated that "effective governance for sustainable development requires public institutions in all countries and at all levels to be inclusive, participatory and accountable to the people".1 It is precisely this part of accountability to people and society that imposes the challenge of reviewing, analyzing and proposing forms or models of public management that increase efficiency in the use of resources and provision of public goods, framed in balanced criteria between the technical and the political.

Research in this field of public management has been a challenge assumed by the School of Public Accounting, through the professors, authors of this book, who, throughout the text provide a reflective analysis, presenting the background of this field in our country and some of the practices in public management in the Central Province of the Department of Boyacá.

In Chapter I, the generalities of public management in our country are presented, clearly and extensively exposing its background, emphasizing public accounting as a tool for decision making and control of the public exercise. They present the results of a research exercise in which public management practices in the Municipality of Tunja are analyzed.

Throughout Chapter II, the importance of accounting and financial information in decision making is exposed, for the fulfillment of the goals proposed by the municipal administrations, demonstrating the need for ethical and legal actions towards society, by those responsible for the management of public resources, as an expression of commitment with the increase of the capacity to generate their own resources and manage adequately, to meet the needs of the population.

The third chapter presents a visualization of the role of the State in an economy, in order to promote the greatest welfare for society, applying a management based on the managerial principles of effectiveness and efficiency in the management and distribution of public resources, without falling into political contrariness, but rather based on the vision of public accounting.

Finally, Chapter IV, outlines environmental problems affecting the population of the Central Province of the Department of Boyacá, which allows highlighting the importance of multi and interdisciplinary dialogue for the construction of public policies oriented to territorial management, which prioritize environmental care, seeking sustainable development and the improvement of living conditions.

José Gregorio Hernández Tarazona, O.P.