As World Bank projects fail to reduce corruption in the mining sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), International Finance Corporation (IFC) investments in extractive industries are provoking complaints and protests around the world, according to this article. In 2012 the Bank will launch its new extractives for development (E4D) initiative, a “knowledge sharing platform” aimed at transforming extractives into a force for development, but critics argue that the Bank needs to first take action against corruption and unethical behaviour in the mining projects it funds. In late 2010, the Bank suspended all new programmes in the DRC after allegations of corruption but resumed lending in June 2011 when it judged the government to be in compliance with the economic governance matrix (EGM), a new transparency framework agreed by the government and the Bank. However, only a month later it came to light that state-owned mining companies had again been secretly selling stakes in mining operations, in one case at a sixteenth of their market price. The author notes that the ombudsman set up by the IFC has been inundated with complaints of irregularities, lack of local consultation, mistreatment of miners, environmental degradation and illusory promises of job creation. Critics argue that the Bank and the IFC should take greater ownership of projects they fund and demand more accountability.
Governance and participation in health
In this interview the Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Coordinator for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development discusses issues related to the upcoming conference to be held in Rio de Jainero, Brazil on 20-22 June 2012 (Rio+). She identifies major sustainability challenges facing the world including economic sustainability, indicating that the global financial and economic system should not be characterised by boom and bust cycles, global, regional and local inequities, poor accountability and decreased civil society engagement, and the continuation of poverty, particularly among women and girls. She reported feeling positive about the potential for Rio+ to provide a platform for countries to evaluate environmental problems and craft solutions tailor-made for different countries. She argued that civil society’s role is invaluable in working at every level of society and educating companies and communities on the importance of sustainable development. Civil society needs to play a role in helping to develop new initiatives which will deliver on sustainability and most of all, civil society needs to be vigilant in ensuring that countries commit to sustainability and continue along the pathway they have defined to achieve it.
Commonwealth Good Governance 2011/12 is a comprehensive guide to public sector reform in the Commonwealth. Articles in this edition examine: the link between democracy and development; political-administrative relations; leadership in the public sector; strengthening local government; aid and governance; and building capacity in national assemblies. The report also contains governance profiles of the 54 Commonwealth member countries.
The author of this paper develops select components of an alternative model of shared health governance (SHG), which aims to provide a ‘road map,’ ‘focal points’ and ‘the glue’ among various global health actors to better effectuate cooperation on universal ethical principles for an alternative global health equilibrium. Key features of SHG include public moral norms as shared authoritative standards; ethical commitments, shared goals and role allocation; shared sovereignty and constitutional commitments; legitimacy and accountability; country-level attention to international health relations. A framework of social agreement based on ‘overlapping consensus’ is contrasted against one based on self-interested political bargaining. A global health constitution delineating duties and obligations of global health actors and a global institute of health and medicine for holding actors responsible are proposed. Indicators for empirical assessment of select SHG principles are described. The author concludes that global health actors, including states, must work together to correct and avert global health injustices through a framework of SHG based on shared ethical commitments.
This article evaluates progress in governance of Namibia since independence in 1990. Unemployment is high – estimated at 50% - and pass rates at schools are dropping, while the promised fruits of independence have not yet reached the broad spectrum of the population, and the government’s success in attracting investment has not paid much in terms of long-term dividends. However, there have been plenty of immediate and valuable gains, such as regular elections, much wider access to schooling, and government benefits that are available for ex-combatants and war orphans, and other vulnerable groups. While the courts are at times outspoken, they remain visibly understaffed. Despite the fact that democratic commitment remains fragile in the country, the so-called ‘born-frees’ (those people born after independence) are becoming increasingly vocal and more active in the debate over the country’s future, free speech is now more deeply entrenched and there are a number of vibrant public discussion platforms, including social media.
This paper examines the changing perceptions of Frelimo's nationalist project amongst members of the middle class in Maputo, Mozambique's capital. The author argues that nationalism in Mozambique has created a system of meaning and new forms of identity that are especially relevant for more privileged urbanites. However, growing urban poverty and inequality has had an effect throughout the social spectrum in Mozambique. and everyday life conflicts with the government's message of unity and progress for all.
Large-scale social mobilisation, including street protests and parallel activities, is the only thing can save the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) from ending in nothing but frustration, according to activists and analysts. A repeat of the failure of recent conferences to negotiate an international climate change pact seems inevitable, said Cândido Grzybowski, the director general of the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis (IBASE) and one of the founders of the World Social Forum, the largest global civil society gathering. Grzybowski based his pessimistic outlook on a number of factors, such as the economic/financial crisis in the wealthy nations, combined with the fact that this a year of elections in many of them, including France and the United States, moving international commitments to the bottom of their leaders’ agendas. He also blamed what he calls the limited convening power of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, particularly when it comes to environmental issues. Civil society actions must not be limited to Rio de Janeiro, say activists. The Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development (FBOMS) is planning to promote demonstrations in many other cities around the world, with the aid of the internet and social networks. The Thematic Social Forum in Porto Alegre will help to coordinate these initiatives, with the participation of representatives of civil society movements like the Indignados (Indignant) movement in Spain and the Occupy movement in the United States.
The tumultuous uprisings of citizens in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have seized the attention of media analysts who have characterised these
as 'Arab revolutions', a perspective given weight by popular demonstrations in Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and elsewhere. However, what have been given less attention are the concurrent uprisings in other parts of the African continent. The uprisings across Africa and in the Middle East, the book argues, are the result of common experiences of decades of declining living standards, mass unemployment, land dispossessions and impoverishment of the majority, while a few have engorged themselves with riches. Through incisive contributions from analysts and activists across the continent, the essays in ‘African Awakening’ provide an overview of the struggle for democratisation which goes beyond calls merely for transparent electoral processes and constitutes a reawakening of the spirit of freedom and justice for the majority.
In this paper, researchers reviewed contemporary health sector frameworks which have focused on defining and developing indicators to assess governance in the health sector. Based on these, they propose a simplified approach to look at governance within a common health system framework which encourages stewards to take a systematic perspective when assessing governance. Although systems thinking is not unique to health, examples of its application within health systems has been limited. This approach is built largely on prior literature, but is original in that it is problem-driven and promotes an outward application taking into consideration the major health system building blocks at various levels in order to ensure a more complete assessment of a governance issue rather than a simple input-output approach. Based on an assessment of contemporary literature the authors propose a practical approach which we believe will facilitate a more comprehensive assessment of governance in health systems leading to the development of governance interventions to strengthen system performance and improve health as a basic human right.
The author of this article develops select components of an alternative model of shared health governance (SHG), which aims to provide a ‘road map,’ ‘focal points’ and ‘the glue’ among various global health actors to better effectuate cooperation on universal ethical principles for an alternative global health equilibrium. Key features of SHG include public moral norms as shared authoritative standards; ethical commitments, shared goals and role allocation; shared sovereignty and constitutional commitments; legitimacy and accountability; country-level attention to international health relations. A framework of social agreement based on ‘overlapping consensus’ is contrasted against one based on self-interested political bargaining. A global health constitution delineating duties and obligations of global health actors and a global institute of health and medicine for holding actors responsible are proposed. Indicators for empirical assessment of select SHG principles are described. The author concludes that global health actors, including states, must work together to correct and avert global health injustices through a framework of SHG based on shared ethical commitments.