Governance
The most well-formulated capacity development intervention will flounder in the face of an unsupportive institutional environment. Witness the slow pace of reconstruction in areas hit by natural disasters and other humanitarian crises, even when abundant financial, logistical and technical resources may be on offer from the international community. To bring about sustainable change, capacity development practitioners need to navigate an array of external and internal factors that determine current capacity and influence the prospects for further improvements.
Governance comprises the "mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences." (UNDP 1996). In this context, good governance is the creation of an economic, political and social environment that is participatory, transparent and accountable, effective, equitable and that promotes the rule of law. Furthermore, good governance "ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that the voices of the poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in decision-making over the allocation of development resources.".
This section focuses on highlighting existing analytical frameworks and approaches to help practitioners in incorporating the governance dimension in their work.
Featured Article
Interview: Attraper la vague écologique
Elizabeth
Dipuo Peters, Ministre de l’é nergie de la République sud-africaine
L’Afrique du Sud, sur la voie de l’accès à l’énergie pour tous
L’Afrique du Sud est en passe d’atteindre l’objectif de l’accès à l’énergie pour tous d’ici 2015, accomplissement d’autant plus remarquable qu’il y 15 ans, seuls 30 % des habitants avaient accès à l’électricité. La ministre de l’énergie, Mme Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, explique comment le pays a obtenu ce résultat.
More- Search Terms:
- casestudies
- policy
- africa
- south-south cooperation
Recent Articles
Eldis governance assessments CDROM now available: Request your free copy!
23 March 2012
Since 2008 the
Eldis project at IDS Knowledge Services has hosted an online resource library,
The Eldis
Governance Assessments dossier as part of a long-term partnership with the UNDP Global
Programme on Democratic Governance Assessments. To mark the end of this collaboration Eldis
collated a selection of documents from the library on to a CDROM. The disc contains over 200
resources from a range of different experts, institutions and organisations that work in the field
of governance assessments. It is designed to provide detailed, practical information drawing upon
evidence about what works, and identifying innovations in approaches, policy and practice. Eldis is
trying to identify potential users for the CDROMs by means of a short survey (click
here to download). If you would like to receive a copy, or to nominate possible beneficiaries,
please fill in the questionnaire and send it by email to Jason Collodi, Eldis Governance Editor (j.collodi@ids.ac.uk).
Greening Development: Enhancing Capacity for Environmental Management and Governance
02 February 2012
This new publication from OECD (February 2012) outlines a number of steps to be considered
when building capacity for greening national development planning, national budgetary processes and
key economic sector strategies. The report identifies the key actors to be engaged in the
decision-making processes, outlines possible capacity needs and suggests how these can be
addressed.
Interview: Attraper la vague écologique
13 September 2011
Elizabeth
Dipuo Peters, Ministre de l’é nergie de la République sud-africaine
L’Afrique du Sud, sur la voie de l’accès à l’énergie pour tous
L’Afrique du Sud est en passe d’atteindre l’objectif de l’accès à l’énergie pour tous d’ici 2015, accomplissement d’autant plus remarquable qu’il y 15 ans, seuls 30 % des habitants avaient accès à l’électricité. La ministre de l’énergie, Mme Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, explique comment le pays a obtenu ce résultat.
MoreOpinion: Éviter le piège de l’échec
13 September 2011
Peter Malinga, Coordinateur des services techniques du Secrétariat du renforcement des
capacités dans le secteur public du gouvernement du Rwanda (PSCBS)
L’assistance technique ne renforce pas nécessairement les capacités
Chaque année, les membres de l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE) apportent quelque 25 milliards de dollars aux pays en développement, destinés en grande partie à ce que l’on appelle de plus en plus couramment le « renforcement des capacités ». Nombreuses sont toutefois celles de ces interventions pour lesquelles on ne discerne pas de signes clairs indiquant que l’impact souhaité ait été obtenu.
MoreInterview: Gérer et prévoir
12 September 2011
Paul Banda, Directeur du Conseil environnemental de la
Zambie
Application de la législation environnementale de la Zambie
Au fil des ans, le Conseil environnemental de la Zambie (ECZ) a renforcé ses capacités en matière d’application des lois environnementales. Il donne aux pouvoirs publics des orientations sur la gestion de l’environnement et des ressources naturelles du pays.
MorePerverse governance: State incapacity by design in Bihar, India
20 August 2011
Poor governance is often attributed to historical and structural factors that are difficult to change: “it is there because it is there, or because of a legacy of pathologies like colonial rule and an unnatural degree of socio-linguistic diversity." IDS Working Paper 366 (May 2011) by Santhosh Mathew and Mick Moore explores the role of individual agency and the incentives and opportunities that powerful political insiders may face to weaken state capacity in their own interests. It focuses on governance practices during the tenure of Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, from 1990 to 2005.
MoreOther Topics
Essential Readings
-
Nils Boesen (2010), Institutions, Power and Politics: Looking for change beyond the boundaries, the formal and the functional, in Ubels, J., N. Acquaye-Baddoo and A. Fowler (eds) Capacity Development in Practice, Earthscan, pp. 145-156
-
Resource Corner on Enabling Environment - Incentive Systems, Drivers of Change, Political Context (LenCD)
-
Scaling up local and community driven development: A real world guide to its theory and practice (World Bank, 2009)
-
World Governance Indicators 1996-2009
Featured Community
Participatory Governance Exchange
PG Exchange is a global online platform for knowledge
development, sharing and learning on participatory governance (PG). An initiative of CIVICUS:
World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the aim of the platform is to empower citizens to
participate in processes of public decision-making that affect their lives. The platform brings
together a global community of participatory governance practitioners and experts through a
variety of online discussion groups. Among the resources available on the PG Exchange portal are a
wide range of participatory governance practices and tools and an online calendar of participatory
governance events around the globe. Click
here to join the community of practice
and/or learn more.
Related Blogs
More Blogs