The federal govenment and an increasing number of Brazilian states used UNDP because they got good value for their money. But good governance comprised the rule of law, effective state institutions, transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs, respect for human rights and the participation of all citizens in the decisions that affect their lives. Malloch Brown, an old friend of Annan's who came on board as Administrator of the agency succeeding James Gustave Speth after working at the World Bank and as a journalist in England and Africa, has been shaking up UNDP from top to bottom not without opposition within the entrenched bureaucracy. Addressing opportunities in today's world, he noted that globalization is spreading new wealth and new technologies. There was an increasing role for private domestic and international capital.
Many countries lack policy capacity successfully to engage with the global economy.
Private capital flows have been volatile and uneven. Levels of overseas development aid have fallen sharply. As well as pressing his own reforms in an institution that has been called fat and lazy by some critics, the Administrator said UNDP was supplying important support for Annan's drive to shake up the system by emphasizing management by results, restructuring UNDP headquarters and axing one-fourth of the staff, while decentralizing resources to the field, and toughening peformance standards. Comments about this story. All rights reserved.