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Meeting links good governance to MGDs and economic growth Addis Ababa, 26 November 2007 (ECA) – UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Abdoulie Janneh told participants attending the Fourth Meeting of the Committee on Human Development and Civil Society (CHDCS) held on 22-23 November that of all the challenges facing governance and public administration systems in Africa today, none is more daunting than how African countries can build and sustain effective and efficient institutions, both at state and non-state levels. In a statement read on Janneh's behalf by Said Adejumobi Chief, Public Administration Section of ECA's Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD), he said, “we are looking at the central role of governance in achieving the MDGs and promoting good governance practices in all sectors of society, including civil service, public sector, private sector and civil society organizations as well as the support of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).” Held under the theme, “Public Management and Good Governance in Africa” the meeting aimed at consulting with a range of governance actors on how best ECA’s Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD) can improve its governance and public administration activities and working relations with continental, sub-regional and national institutions as well as non-state actors in order to deepen democratic culture and promote national and regional development in Africa. He noted that political inclusiveness, “which allows for voice and power by the people, especially the rural communities”, is a core component of good governance, and pointed out that poverty reduction is now “closely linked with the access of people to decision-making structures, their participation in local governance and how their choices are reflect in public policies and resource distribution”. Despite the governance challenges, Adejumobi noted that many African countries are engaged in the process of institutional re-engineering aimed at evolving democratic structures, processes and institutions essential to building a capable state. “There are clear signs of political and economic progress,” he said and added, “elections are increasingly becoming the means for regime change, we are seeing better observance of human rights and the rule of law and more participation of women in governance.” He noted that the return on political investment in the area of good governance has seen an average growth rate of 5.5%. In addition, media liberalization and pluralism and the establishment of anti-corruption institutions are helping to stem the tide of corruption. He told participants that more needs to be done as capacity deficits are replete in the parliament, judiciary, educational institutions, public and private sectors and continue to pose obstacles to poverty reduction. He pointed out that enhancing the capacity of these institutions entails “building a functional bureaucracy and educational system, efficient law enforcement mechanisms, credible and accessible judicial and legal systems, and inclusive and democratic decision-making institutions and processes”. All of these, he said “will promote better delivery of services, engender investors’ confidence in the economy, promoting private sector development and facilitate overall national and regional development and, in the end, eradicate poverty.” Click on www.uneca.org/chdcs/ for more on past meetings or contact ecainfo@uneca.org for more information. The mandate of the Committee on Human Development and Civil Society (CHDCS) is to help strengthen civil society and human development activities in Africa. It enables the Commission to capture the opinion of experts from the public and private sectors and civil society on its operations. It reviews activities of regional interest regarding human development and civil society as contained in ECA’s program of work. The Committee meets biennially.
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