We also see today a growing consensus on the important role of good governance in the promotion of sustainable human development. Increasingly, development practitioners, political leaders and scholars agree that it is the political environment that largely determines whether development can be effectively promoted and sustained over time. As a consequence, country requests to UNDP for development assistance increasingly involve activities aimed at promoting good governance and, thus, the creation of an enabling environment for development. UNDP defines governance as the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country s affairs at all levels. It 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.
Good governance is, among other things, participatory, transparent and accountable.
It is also effective and equitable. And it promotes the rule of law. Good governance ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based on a broad consensus in society and that the poorest and most vulnerable members of society are heard in decision-making over the allocation of development resources. Today, one of the swiftest and most profound influences on governance is the process of globalization, or the rapid development and global proliferation of new technologies and telecommunications, and the continuing integration of the world economy through trade and investment. Developing countries face the challenge of striking a balance between seizing the opportunities offered by globalization and providing a stable and secure social and economic domestic environment, particularly for the most vulnerable.