building partnerships for good governance · procedures and politics of exclusion result in ......

ST/ESA/PAD/SER.E/6

Department of Economic and Social AffairsDivision for Public Economics and Public Administration

Building Partnershipsfor Good GovernanceThe Spirit and the Reality of South-SouthCooperation

United Nations • New York, 2000

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Notes

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication donot imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat ofthe United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area,or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The designations “developed” and “developing” economies are intended for statisticalconvenience and do not necessarily imply a judgement about the stage reached by aparticular country or area in the development process.

The term “country” as used in the text of this publication also refers, as appropriate,to territories or areas.

The term “dollar” normally refers to the United States dollar ($).

The views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not imply anyexpression of opinion on the part of the United Nations.

Enquiries concerning this publication may be directed to:

Mr. Guido BertucciDirectorDivision for Public Economics and Public AdministrationDepartment of Economic and Social AffairsUnited Nations, New York, NY 10017, USAFax: (212) 963-9681

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PrefacePrefacePrefacePreface

Throughout the world, efforts to strengthengovernance institutions and partnerships amongthem are being rewarded by the fruits of socialstability and economic well-being. Institutionsand partnerships are strong when ideas, data,strategies, implementation and evaluation areshared. This sharing takes place with opennessand transparency so that all stakeholders aremutually accountable. The partnership strategyrecognizes that sustainable results can be obtainedonly when all stakeholders are involved indecision-making, policy-making and operations.Procedures and politics of exclusion result inunintended consequences that eventually lead towasted money, time and energy. In order tomaximize scarce human and financial resources,all organizations, institutions and citizens need tobe included in strategizing about the future andways to achieve social and economic goals.

The success of good governance will be measuredby how far a society is able to improve the qualityof life and future prospects of every member,particularly its poorest and most disadvantaged.While remarkable strides have been made inmany countries, substantial gaps persist in othersthat are still grappling with issues of civil-militaryrelations, politician-administrator relations andgovernment-citizen relations, as well as unevendevelopment and, in some cases, profoundpoverty. Many of these widening gaps can beattributed to the continued existence of fragilesocial, political and economic institutions. Theseinstitutional fabrics need to be strengthened inorder to respond to global shifts, regional arrange-ments and citizen demands. Partnerships amonginstitutions provide access to information, institu-tional buffer zones and sharing of experiences toincrease awareness of shifting trends, potentialimbalances and changing demands.

Partnerships occur at the international, nationaland local levels, among institutions such asuniversities, non-governmental organizations(NGOs) and community-based organizations, as

well as temporary or virtual organizations, such asinternational, national and local conferences ordialogues. Continuous communications andcooperation among these organizations at variouslevels emphasizes the perceived need for sharingexperiences, building consensus and acceleratingof the speed of interaction. Rapid changes insocio-economic conditions are reflected in thedetermination to carry on inclusive, cooperativedialogue on emerging issues. Partnerships builtupon mutual trust and commitment provide a plat-form for ongoing dialogue among international,national and local communities concerning peace,development and harmony.

In the spirit of partnership, the United NationsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs(UNDESA) participated in the World Conferenceon Governance, hosted by the Government of thePhilippines and organized by the EasternRegional Organization for Public Administration(EROPA), the Philippine Civil ServiceCommission and the University of thePhilippines’ National College of PublicAdministration and Governance in Manila, from31 May-4 June 1999. The Conference involvedthe cooperation of the following organizations:the Asian Development Bank (ADB);the Canadian International Development Agency,the Institute on Governance (IOG, Canada);the International Personnel Management Associa-tion (IPMA); the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP); and the World Bank/Economic Development Institute. Each of theseorganizations was responsible for organizing onehalf-day segment of the Conference, highlightingkey substantive issues in each conceptual area.

The overall theme of the Conference pointed outthe growing interest in the major elements ofsound and effective governance, such as a soundeconomic and financial system; broad partner-ships between government, business, non-governmental organizations and civil society; andstrategic capacity-building or institutions and

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human resources. While the ADB and the EDI ofthe World Bank were responsible for the PublicFinance topic and the UNDP and the IPMA wereresponsible for the Capacity-Building topic, theUNDESA was jointly responsible, with the IOG,for the topic “Building Partnerships forGovernance”.

This publication summarizes the proceedings ofthe plenary session and five related workshopswhich were organized by UNDESA on the thirdday of the Conference. It was prepared forpublication by the Governance and PublicAdministration Branch of the Division for PublicEconomics and Public Administration of

UNDESA. The United Nations appreciates thecontributions of the speakers, panellists andrapporteurs who contributing the building blocksfor this report. These contributors areacknowledged in the chapters related to thesessions in which they participated, as well as inannexes V and VI, the Programme and List ofParticipants.

Guido BertucciDirector Division for Public Economics and PublicAdministrationDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs

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ForewordForewordForewordForewordThe Importance of Partnerships for Governance in Communities

The World Conference on Governance repre-sented a “coming out party” for public admini-stration, whereby administrators sought toestablish the relevance of government through itspartnerships with other institutions, sectors andcitizens. The Philippine Civil ServiceCommission (CSC) includes in its results-orientedstrategic planning not only improvement ofinternal processes but also strengthening macro-parameters in society. Its operations are fullylinked in partnerships with the whole government,with the goals of building human resources forgood governance—that is, for just and honestgovernance. Within the promise of delivering“better government”, the CSC inspires its workthrough the vision of serving citizens in commu-nities as beneficiaries.

Dynamic communities of “engaged citizens” arecharacterized by common values, shared consen-sus about the future, cooperative strategies andopen discussion. Dysfunctional behaviourinvolves social and economic isolation. Thus,inclusive and productive partnerships are animportant sign of healthy communities. Forexample, we are familiar with the sayings:

• “No man (sic) is an island.” (John Donne)

• “Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls forthee.” (Earnest Hemingway)

• “Power corrupts; absolute power corruptsabsolutely.” (Lord Acton)

These quotations call for community throughpartnerships. People are not solitary humanbeings; they are fundamentally connected insocial, economic and cultural relationships. Whenthese relationships are shared and symmetrical, noone institution, organization or citizen can domi-nate another; all elements work together. Thestrategy of partnership embraces all elements infunctional communities: the partnership amonginstitutions, the partnership among individualsand peoples, the partnership among organizations.

This report on Partnerships for Governance repre-sents a global discussion of the conditions andelements of successful partnerships. Examplesemanate from around the globe. Indeed, there arelessons to be learned from every corner of theglobe, as well as from the global partnerships thatare increasingly emerging.

President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, at the openingof this World Conference on Governance, notedthat, “Government designed for bygone erascannot cope adequately to the challenges in therun-up to the threshold of the new millennium.”President Estrada noted further that “Governancegoes beyond the narrow boundaries of the bureau-cracy or the established practices of our branchesof government….Government must be bothminimalist and interventionist….Governance isabout developing partnerships with its people,with its communities, and with its sectors, so thattogether they may forge a society founded andbuilt on consensus.”

The Secretary-General of the Eastern RegionalOrganization for Public Administration (EROPA),Patricia Santo Tomas, noted that “Governance inthe new century will need more minds, morehearts and more hands than those of government.”

Partnerships represent a cognition that people arenot alone, but are members of societies, drawntogether for mutual benefit and by mutual trust.We are all interconnected, and it is throughpartnerships that we express our faith in solvingproblems and approaching the future throughpartnerships.

It is through open, transparent and accountablepartnerships that we are able to distribute powerand influence so that no one institution, no oneorganization or no one individual can dominatethe public agenda. Through the sharing andmutual trust of partnerships we can achieve notonly progress for a few but development for all.Partnerships bring all the stakeholders to the table

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and require honest and complete negotiations.Partnerships recognize the contributions andrights of all countries, all institutions, all organi-zations and all people.

We dedicate this report to those people whospend their lives building partnerships, oftenagainst impossible odds. But they do not give up.They persevere and meet the challenges of

partnership through greater creativity. Manyexamples are found within this report. Wecelebrate these examples and encourage learningfrom these experiences.

Corazon Alma G. De LeonChairCivil Service Commission of the Philippines

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ContentsContentsContentsContents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 Introduction: From Government to Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2 Building Partnerships for Good Governance: Global, National and Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 3 The Role of World Conferences in Developing Global Partnerships . . . 9

Chapter 4 The Role of Universities in Promoting Global Partnerships . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 5 National Governance Mechanisms Fostering Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 6 Mobilizing Civil Society for National Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 7 Building Eco-Partnerships in Local Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Chapter 8 Conclusion: Partnerships for the 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

ANNEXES

Annex 1 Opening Statement by Mr. Guido Bertucci, Director, DPEPA/DESA . 28

Annex 2 Keynote Address by H.E. Mr. Hage Geingob, Prime Minister of Namibia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Annex 3 Address by Ms. Leticia Shahani, Former Senator, Philippines Senate . 33

Annex 4 Background Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Annex 5 Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Annex 6 List of Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Annex 7 List of Working Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Executive SummaryExecutive SummaryExecutive SummaryExecutive Summary

Building partnerships for good governanceinvolves recognizing and including all relevantstakeholders in a community into strategicalliances around goals and tasks. These strategicalliances involve recognition of strengths andweaknesses of the various partners, as well asdeveloping synergies for results-orientedactivities. With these active partnerships, theinvolved institutions, citizens and organizationsrecognize not only the value of passivelyreceiving benefits from proximity but also thevalue of assertively seeking out the best of eachothers’ performance possibilities. Cooperative,productive partnerships involve institutions,citizens and organizations.

In this spirit, the United Nations Department ofEconomic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) parti-cipated in the World Conference on Governance,hosted by the Government of the Philippines andorganized by the Eastern Regional Organizationfor Public Administration (EROPA), the Philip-pine Civil Service Commission and the Universityof the Philippines’ National College of PublicAdministration and Governance in Manila, from31 May-4 June 1999. During the Conference,UNDESA organized a half-day programme con-sisting of a plenary session and five workshops,focusing on the following six themes:

(1) Building partnerships forgovernance—global, national and local;

(2) The role of world conferences in developingglobal partnerships;

(3) The role of universities in promoting globalpartnerships;

(4) National governance mechanisms fosteringpartnerships;

(5) Mobilizing civil society for nationalpartnerships; and

(6) Building eco-partnerships in localgovernance.

The proceedings of each of these sessions are

presented briefly in this publication.

Partnerships bring together a variety of stake-holders in society and seek to strengthen thebroad civic, political and economic participationof individuals and groups in charting the future oftheir society. Partnerships contribute to building astrong, independent and dynamic civil societythrough increasing the capacity of the non-governmental sector while developing the insti-tutional infrastructure vital to its long-term sus-tainability. Fundamentally, governance activitiesincrease participation, strengthen accountabilitymechanisms and open channels of communicationamong people, institutions and organizations.

Building partnerships for governance at all levelsfrom local to global is essential for sustainablehuman development. These partnerships are bothvertical and horizontal. They are vertical inlinking global, national and local institutions,processes and people. They are horizontal inlinking government, civil society and the privatesector at each level. A variety of issues—forexample, technological advances, scientific dis-coveries, ecological interdependencies,population dynamics, natural disasters andemerging norms of good governance—influenceall levels of government, all aspects of civilsociety and private sector activities. Furthermore,these trends are also reflected in the relativeimportance of partnerships between levels ofgovernment and sectors of society and the privatesector. Effective governance is characterized byjoining in communication, information and jointactions among the various sectors at all levels.Partnership relationships are characterized by fiveelements:

• Inclusiveness;

• Experience-sharing;

• Strategy;

• Empowerment;

• Consensus-building; and

2 Building Partnerships for Good Governance

• Continuous improvement.

With these guidelines, countries and communitiescan promote partnership-building for good gover-nance in which everyone and every institution andorganization participates in shared goals and

activities. This report highlights the role of globalconferences, national institutions, local commu-nities, private sector and civil society. All of theseand more combine to generate sustainabledevelopment.

Chapter 1Introduction: From Government to GovernanceIntroduction: From Government to GovernanceIntroduction: From Government to GovernanceIntroduction: From Government to Governance

Good governance requires building effectivepartnerships of institutions and networks to tackleemerging global, national and local issues. Thispartnership process involves increasingly moreparticipation and interaction among government,private sector and civil society organizations andkey stakeholders. Strong partnership relationsbetween government and society promote devel-opment and well-being, especially within a frame-work of the rule of law, which provides a levelplaying field for social and economic activities.Strong partnerships are characterized byinformation-sharing, building of trust andconsensus and joint commitment to accountabilityand results. Indeed, the Declaration of the WorldSummit for Social Development stated that“Democracy and transparency and accountabilityof governance and administration in all sectors ofsociety are indispensable foundations for therealization of social and people-centeredsustainable development.”

Globally, efforts to improve governance involvesnumerous, and sometimes contradictory, trends;such as decentralization and re-centralization,globalization and localization, convergence andfragmentation, nationalization and privatization,regionalization and inter-state alliances, individu-alism and community consensus. As governmentscope with these trends, they are increasinglybringing into the public policy arena citizens,groups, communities and private businesses.

Partnerships bring together a variety of stake-holders in society and seek to strengthen thebroad civic, political and economic participationof individuals and groups in charting the future oftheir society. Partnerships contribute to building astrong, independent and dynamic civil societythrough increasing the capacity of the non-governmental sector while developing the institu-tional infrastructure vital to its long-term sus-tainability. Fundamentally, good governanceactivities increase participation, strengthenaccountability mechanisms and open channels of

communication among people, institutions andorganizations.

It is important to note that technological progressand globalization have produced increaseddiversity and differentiation in every field ofactivity. In the past, trade unions and cooperativeswere the earliest manifestations of civil societyand guarantors of industrial democracy, and thefocus of voluntary alliances and attempts to voicesocial and economic needs. However, as a resultof growing differentiation trends, there is now agreater number of stakeholders at all levels:global, national, regional and local. Thesestakeholders are increasingly more vocal andactive in making their interests heard. While non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are perhapsthe most visible, trends of decentralization, popu-lar worldwide, have created a vast number oflocal governments whose officials and communityparticipants are more aware of environmental,social and economic inter-relatedness.

The process of good governance is highly parti-cipatory, dynamic and engaging; it links peopleand institutions in complex networks of, forexample, policy dialogue, alternative servicedelivery and accountability. Governance promotesthe building of solutions to problems throughestablishing frameworks to support dialogue andcommunication. Citizens, NGOs, the private sec-tor and governmental institutions join hands tobuild innovative solutions to the challengingproblems of the 21st century.

In all of these partnerships, it is the governmentthat generally takes the lead role in bringing thestakeholders together. Ultimately, it is the govern-ment that is held responsible for governance per-formance. At the national level, the government isthe driver of partnership-building. At the locallevel, the community council and elected/appointed officials take the lead in strategicplanning in a decentralized system. In a central-ized system, the national government sets the tonefor partnerships, but community-based institutions


may carry out deconcentrated authority. At theinternational level, many actors compete forleadership, for example, transnational corpora-tions, regional and global powers and stronginternational NGOs, as well as inter-governmentalorganizations such as the United Nations and itsmany partners. Indeed, the United Nations and itsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs canplay a catalytic role in energizing partnerships atall levels through its programmes in governanceand public administration, involving projects,conferences, seminars and dissemination of ‘bestpractice’ experiences.

Effective interactive governance builds from anopen and enabling role on the part of the State, aswell as transparency and accountability by allpartners. Meaningful partnerships require authen-tic participation, involving sharing of information,organizational learning and joint responsibilities.Transparency in sharing information, learning andresponsibility creates a “virtuous cycle” ofincreasing accountability and trust, therebybuilding effective, long-term partnerships.

In this spirit of partnership, the United NationsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs(UNDESA) participated in the World Conferenceon Governance, hosted by the Government of thePhilippines and organized by the EasternRegional Organization for Public Administration(EROPA), the Philippine Civil ServiceCommission and the University of thePhilippines’ National College of Public

Administration and Governance in Manila, from31 May-4 June 1999. The overall theme of theConference pointed out the growing interest in themajor elements of sound and effectivegovernance, such as a sound economic andfinancial system; broad partnerships betweengovernment, business, non-governmentalorganizations and civil society; and strategiccapacity-building or institutions and humanresources. UNDESA was responsible fororganizing a half-day programme on the topic“Building Partnerships for Governance”. TheDepartment held a plenary session and fiverelated workshops, which were focused on thefollowing six themes:

(1) Building partnerships for governance—global, national and local;

(2) The role of world conferences in developingglobal partnerships;

(3) The role of universities in promoting globalpartnerships;

(4) National governance mechanisms fosteringpartnerships;

(5) Mobilizing civil society for nationalpartnerships;

(6) Building eco-partnerships in localgovernance.

Chapters 2-7 of this publication summarize theproceedings of each of these sessions.

Chapter 2Building Partnerships for Good Governance: Building Partnerships for Good Governance: Building Partnerships for Good Governance: Building Partnerships for Good Governance: Global, National and LocalGlobal, National and LocalGlobal, National and LocalGlobal, National and Local

Building partnerships for good governance at alllevels from local to global is essential for sus-tainable human development. These partnershipsare both vertical and horizontal. They are verticalin linking global, national and local institutions,processes and people. They are horizontal inlinking government, civil society and the privatesector at each level. A variety of issues—forexample, technological advances, scientific dis-coveries, ecological interdependencies,population dynamics, natural disasters andemerging norms of good governance—influenceall levels of government, all aspects of civilsociety and private sector activities. Furthermore,these trends are also reflected in the relativeimportance of partnerships between them.Effective governance is characterized by joiningin communication, information and joint actionsamong the various sectors at all levels.

Governance requires massive numbers of part-nerships within a society, as well as within aglobal context. Organizations and people withinglobal, national and local communities can con-tribute to “thinking globally and acting locally”.Although there is an infinite mosaic of partneringorganizations and people, the plenary session andrelated workshops organized by the UnitedNations during the World Conference on Gover-nance focused attention on:

• Sharing consensus on major global themesand partnerships that can implement agreedupon actions;

• National government initiatives forpartnership with private sector and civilsociety organizations;

• Encouraging the many voices of governanceat all levels of government and society;

• Highlighting partnerships that contribute toecological social principles at the city level;and

• Empowering people through effectivegovernment, private sector and civil societypartnerships.

During the plenary session, the keynote speakersraised issues reflecting their expertise andexperience. The Prime Minister of Namibia,H.E. Mr. Hage Geingob, emphasized the excep-tional conditions that prevail in countries thathave recently experienced acute internal conflictand the primary need for a framework of recon-ciliation that can help build productive partner-ships in governance. Ms. Leticia Shahani, formerPhilippine Senator, focused on partnershipsamong the multiple voices in and across levels ofgovernance. Professor Ali Farazmand of FloridaAtlantic University addressed the issue of part-nerships under the conditions arising in the globalenvironment.

Within the overarching theme of expanding froma focus on government to a wider focus on gover-nance, including civil society and private sector,the plenary session emphasized dimensions ofquality in governance institutions, processes andoutcomes. The panellists noted that throughpartnerships, the issue of quality in governance ishighlighted. In governance partnerships, there isopen discussion of goals, strategies and imple-mentation processes. With a high level of opencommunication, partners discuss the purpose ofpartnerships and the value of sharing perspectivesand innovations. The total quality of governanceis enhanced when there is widespread partici-pation of institutions and citizens. The panellistsnoted that while building strong partnerships isdifficult in conditions of conflict, poverty andisolation, it is exactly these conditions thatdemand extra efforts to strengthen governance.

Government vs. governanceIn his introduction to the plenary session, Mr.Guido Bertucci, Director, Division for Public


Economics and Public Administration ofUNDESA, noted that “governance”, rather thanbeing government-led, is a process of managingpublic affairs in a participatory manner, so thatpeople have a direct and ongoing voice in themaking of decisions that affect them, as well as inthe process of implementation of the same. By itsparticipatory nature, governance fosters contin-uous relationships and partnerships among all themembers of the society. Although government isone of the mechanisms of governance, a multi-plicity of mechanisms and processes are part andparcel of a healthy and sophisticated governancesystem.

Mr. Bertucci affirmed that partnerships are thusthe very essence of governance. In effectivemanagement of institutional relationships, iso-lation and control have given way to linkages andnegotiations. The old-style “government” hasindeed been replaced by the new “governance”,thereby acknowledging that government does notact alone, but rather in deliberately forged part-nerships. These partnerships are wide-ranging,depending upon the goals. Indeed, at the launch ofthe 21st century, leadership is often defined as theability to create “vision” that provides the impetusfor creating partnerships and the glue for main-taining these partnerships. Governance partner-ships are essentially the organizational pattern forthe future, internationally, regionally, nationallyand locally. Mr. Bertucci noted that the UnitedNations family of organizations uses strategicpartnerships in all of its activities.

Mr. Bertucci asserted that governance partner-ships include a wide variety of linkages, such ascitizen-to-citizen dialogue, government-to-government associations, government-marketrelations and local communities united in pro-tecting their environments. There is no limit tothe needs emanating from circumstances or thecreativity of people. Nor is there any limit to thenumber of hands that can be mutually extendedand joined to form effective partnerships.

Further, Mr. Bertucci noted that these partnershipstrategies are pursued with a focus on the ultimatedesirable outcome: increased social and economic

well-being of the people. Strategic alliances havealways evolved in social and political life, but the20th century’s global explosion of informationand the “global market economy” have encour-aged greater numbers of inter-governmental andinter-sectoral economic alliances. These globaltrends have also increased the visibility ofalliances and strategies, thereby encouragingproductive and ethical partnerships. The greatlyaccelerated pace of change and the complexmultiplicity of organizations beg for frameworksfor acting rationally within the globalenvironment for understanding futureopportunities with hope and optimism.

Post-conflict governance in NamibiaPrime Minister Geingob highlighted the need forcommitment to fairness, equity, efficiency andtransparency to nurture strong partnerships forgovernance. Noting that partnerships are essen-tially voluntary mutual actions towards commonobjectives, involving all relevant stakeholders, thePrime Minister mentioned that United Nationsmediation during Namibia’s election processfacilitated the development of trust and coopera-tion, thereby leading to the possibility of creatingauthentic partnerships in the post-election period.Transparency and accountability further streng-thened levels of trust and cooperation.

In post-conflict environments, there remain manyseeds of diversity and dissent, such as residualconflicts, that might take the form of ethnic racialintolerance; perpetual conflicts, such as thosebetween “haves” and “have-nots”; and peripheralconflicts created by global issues, such as globaltrade, free flow of capital, manipulation of mar-kets and controlling technology transfers. Forexample, in Namibia, after establishingsubstantial social tolerance through reconciliationprocesses, the Government has sought to fostereconomic empowerment of those who werepreviously left out of the mainstream of economiclife. In order to promote participation of thedisadvantaged and to bring about inclusivity inthe nation’s economic life, the Presidentestablished an Economic Advisory Council withits membership drawn from all sections of the

Building Partnerships for Good Governance: Global, National and Local 7

community. Its task is to be an instrument forsocial and economic emancipation of allNamibians through public sector and privatesector partnership.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Geingob noted thatNamibia has recognized that rather than oneultimate formula for governance, there needs tobe continuous search for new ideas, innovativemethods and practical initiatives for adjustment tochanging global, national and local trends. Thisrenewal process involves challenging currentassumptions through provocative questions, suchas: Are all the stakeholders around the table? Arethey focused on process or results or both? Hassmall government become more important thangood governance? Are institutions such as thejudiciary, the legislature, the civil society and themedia sufficiently active in safeguarding the ruleof law? These questions remain “on the table” inall societies seeking continuous improvement ingovernance.

“People power” in the PhilippinesHighlighting the need for both dramatic andcontinuous actions for the sake of good gover-nance, Senator Shahani presented the historicsituation of “people power” in the Philippines, inwhich civil society provided the initiative for ashift to people-centered leadership. In contrast,current conditions in the Philippines requirepartnerships, linkages and networks among therepresentatives of the State, civil society and theprivate sector, in order to keep governancedynamic. The Senator noted that a governmentmust maintain its far-reaching administrativestructure without placing itself in a bureaucraticstraightjacket, so that it can reach out to people,NGOs and civil society as a whole.

According to Senator Shahani, the State needs tolearn how to balance its position as the mostpowerful sector in the configuration of gover-nance in terms of legal authority and budgetaryresources in order to build, not to control, tonurture, not to manipulate a working relationshipwith its partners. Likewise, civil society organi-zations need to learn how to use their grassroots

contacts and flexibility to work with government.The private sector also needs to be a responsiblepartner, not aloof from its social responsibilitiesand interested only in profit. Among these strate-gic partners, there must be a covenant of sharedvision and shared values for sustainable humandevelopment to ensure the successful implemen-tation of programmes and projects. This sharedvision is both the impetus to partnership and theresult of partnership activities. When stakeholdersmeet together and discuss issues and strategies,they sort out viewpoints and are able to agree onworking definitions of goals and activities.Through these meetings, shared vision is elabor-ated and operationalized.

Quoting former Philippine President Fidel ValdezRamos, Senator Shahani compared the develop-ment process to the baking of bibingka, a nativerice cake that is cooked by placing live charcoalsimultaneously on top of and below the cake,thereby ensuring proper cooking throughout.Similarly, development benefits from ideas andenergy from top-down and bottom-up. Thetrickle-up movement from the grassroots levelmatches the top-down approach of government.This dynamic two-way momentum creates acritical mass of enthusiasm, commitment andmonitoring of progress.

Through example, Senator Shahani endorsed theconcept of United Nations system relationships todiverse institutions of governance within a coun-try. In the case of population policies in thePhilippines, the legislative branch set up afoundation called the Philippine Legislators’Committee on Population and Development(PLCPD) to work with the representatives of therelevant United Nations organizations in thePhilippines. The PLCPD and the United Nationsworked together to define policies that had not yetbeen officially endorsed by the executive branchof the government, thereby illustrating the bene-fits of a multi-faceted approach for policydevelopment.

Conditions for institutional partnershipsProfessor Ali Farazmand highlighted six factors


that can influence the emergence and maintenanceof governance partnerships:

• Emergence of shared definition of goodgovernance and the processes to achieve theshared definition, conceptually andoperationally;

• Process factors influencing the emergence ofeffective partnerships, including recognitionof the responsibilities, rights and limitationsof partners, the need to focus on objectivesand the relationship to results and the impor-tance of different forms of coordination;

• The need for appropriate guidelines andprocedures for handling relationships andpotential conflicts, including skills in nego-tiation and conflict-resolution;

• Obstacles to partnerships, including over-inflated expectations and wide variations inthe capacity and resources of partners inrelationships;

• The importance of trust in relationships thatare essentially voluntary, rather than based onformal hierarchy or market mechanisms, suchas contracts;

• Strategies, including adaptive, proactive andaccommodating, to name three possibilities,that can be combined over time in long-termrelationships.

Professor Farazmand also noted that there are

many opportunities for partnerships amongvarious combinations of citizens, government,NGOs and the private sector. Many partnershipsare not contained within one level, but involvepartners across two or more levels. Governmentcontributions can be complementary: for example,national funding, regional coordination and localsupport with implementation. At the grassrootslevel, NGOs are vital to the current slogans, suchas “think globally and act locally”, therebyreflecting linkage between the macro and microarenas for governance.

RecommendationsBuilding partnerships for good governancerequires:

• Widening the scope of participation toinclude all relevant stakeholders;

• Finding commonalities and comparingperspectives;

• Linking stakeholders proactively to maximizeoutcomes and economies of scale;

• Building capacity of all stakeholders and intheir inter-relationships;

• Developing mutually-supportive policies,processes and operations; and

• Establishing moving targets of success andmeasures of approaching success and buildingon successes.

Chapter 3The Role of World Conferences in Developing The Role of World Conferences in Developing The Role of World Conferences in Developing The Role of World Conferences in Developing Global PartnershipsGlobal PartnershipsGlobal PartnershipsGlobal Partnerships

Many of the problems and issues facing human-kind at the dawn of the 21st century havedramatic global dimensions. Without taking theglobal dimension seriously, we muddle aboutsolution-hunting at our peril. From globalwarming to poverty alleviation to economicgrowth, we are confronted with daunting realities.What happens in one part of the world affectsother parts. To use a dramatic local example, theeruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the 1990's led toclimate alterations in most parts of the world, asthe clouds of soot drifted across whole oceans andaffected crops, health and pollution. Currentissues of protracted conflict, child soldiers andland mines likewise do not respect nationalborders. Definitely, partnerships are necessary;for example among government, between publicand private sectors and between officials andcommunity individuals and groups. Global issuesbeget global governance.

The workshop on “The Role of WorldConferences in Developing Global Partnerships”was chaired by Professor Ali Farazmand, FloridaInternational University, United States. Thepanellists included: Mr. Guido Bertucci, Director,Division for Public Economics and PublicAdministration, United Nations Department ofEconomic and Social Affairs; Ms. RosalindHarris, former President of the Conference ofNon-Governmental Organizations (CONGO) inConsultative Status with the United NationsEconomic and Social Council; Mr. Oscar deRojas, Interregional Adviser, United NationsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs; andMr. Arata Fujii, Counsellor, Embassy of Japan inManila. Professor Farazmand served asRapporteur.

Developing the global governance agendaMr. Guido Bertucci began by stating that in thelast decade, the major world conferences organ-ized by the United Nations have focused world

attention on some of the most pressing issues ofour time—the environment, women, humanrights, infrastructure and human settlements,social development and public administration fordevelopment. The declarations and programmesof actions generated by these world conferenceshave laid an historic foundation for future gen-erations. The agendas set forth and agreed to ateach of these meetings by the heads of govern-ments not only articulate the highest aspirationsof the world community, but also give clearguidance on how governments can design andimplement action programmes for reaching thesegoals, in particular, through mutually reinforcingregional, national and local partnerships.

Mr. Bertucci noted that the six major UnitedNations conferences of the 1990's1 taken together,set out an ambitious agenda for action to solve themajor global economic and social problemswithin defined time periods. As conferences ofgovernments, most of the recommendationsadopted are directed to governments. Usually, themost taxing issue is whether governments willendorse United Nations conferencerecommendations and whether the governmentswill develop national and local policiescomplementary to the international recom-mendations. However, a more fundamental issueis whether or not the national and localgovernments have the human, financial andinstitutional capacity to implement these recom-

1 The United Nations Conference on Environment andDevelopment (UNCED), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,1992;the World Conference on Human Rights (WCHR),Vienna, Austria,1993; the International Conference onPopulation and Development (ICPD), Cairo, Egypt,1994; the World Summit for Social Development(WSSD), Copenhagen, Denmark, 1995; the FourthWorld Conference on Women (FWCW), Beijing,People’s Republic of China, 1995; and the Habitat IIConference, Istanbul, Turkey, 1996.


mendations. Moreover, people and organizationsin communities need to be aware, knowledgeableand active in support of these recommendations,if we will see the day when “thinking globally” istruly translated into “acting locally”.

Mr. Bertucci reported that the importance ofpublic administration in the realization of theoutcomes of these conferences was recognized bythe General Assembly in its resolution 50/225,which “recognizes the importance of the majorUnited Nations conferences and urges thedevelopment of the necessary capabilities toenable public administration to implement thecommitments agreed upon in an affective andcoordinated matter” (paragraph 10).

He said that the conferences themselves recog-nized the importance of effective public admini-stration in the implementation of their recommen-dations for action. As the preamble to Agenda 21states: “(Agenda 21's) successful implementationis first and foremost the responsibility of Govern-ments. National strategies, plans, policies andprocesses are crucial in achieving this.” It furtherstates that good management that fosters theassociation of effective, efficient, honest, equit-able and accountable public administration withindividual rights and opportunities is an essentialelement for sustainable, broadly based develop-ment and sound economic performance at alldevelopment levels (paragraph 32). Overallrecommendations linking all global conferencesare:

• New partnerships with civil society toincrease popular participation in decision-making;

• Specific actions to restructure public serviceto citizen-service-orientation, includingreforming management, developingparticipatory mechanisms, improvingcoordination and enhancing access toinformation;

• Inter-linkages—both vertical andhorizontal—that open governance systems tocoordination and cooperation; and

• An unprecedented system of integrated andcoordinated follow-up due to urgency ofglobal issues addressed in the resolutionsemanating from the world conferences.

South-South cooperationSouth-South cooperation among governments,their non-governmental organizations and peopleis an essential element of global governancepartnerships. Mr. Arata Fujii pointed out thatSouth-South cooperation assists countries to shareemerging and persistent issues, as well as region-specific or culture-specific initiatives. Developingand promoting South-South partnership-basedcooperation is an effective and cost-efficientmechanism to promote national and localinitiatives in good governance.

According to Counsellor Fujii, the advantages ofSouth-South partnership-based cooperationamong developing nations, include: similaritiesamong these nations, technology transfer, cost-effectiveness of technological cooperation,development of human resources and focusing onthe enabling environment for suitable solutions.Specific strategies involved in Japan’s support ofSouth-South cooperation include:

• Training in Southern hemisphere countries,including technological training, financial andhuman resource training;

• Facilitating sharing of expertise amongdeveloping countries’ cooperationprogrammes;

• Tri-partite cooperation involving (a)developing countries; (b) internationalinstitutions, such as the United Nations; and(c) Japan; and

• Seeking support of new donors from theSouthern countries.

Building on Japan’s initiative, the panellists andaudience suggested that partnerships betweenNorth and South countries, as well as partnershipsamong developing nations, could link projects topromote good governance. Counsellor Fujiiconfirmed the willingness of the Japanese govern-

The Role of World Conferences in Developing Global Partnerships 11

ment to work with developing nations to formpartnerships for good governance.

The role of non-governmental organizationsMs. Rosalind Harris noted that NGOs encouragewidespread recognition of issues and initiativesglobally, as well as among the global conferenceparticipants. Ms. Harris indicated that activeparticipation of NGOs as early as 1968 in theUnited Nations Conference on Human ResourcesDevelopment set the stage for long-term involve-ment of NGOs in the global conference process.

International conferences in the 1960s and 1970shelped to raise consciousness on various issuesconcerning population, gender and poverty amongall peoples and governments around the world.The more recent conferences of the 1980s and1990s have fostered awareness of all peoples,institutions and governments of the need to formpartnerships for analysis and solution of globalproblems. Two streams of NGOs participated inthe evolution to active citizen participation inglobal issues: (1) the official stream involveddelegations from governments, while (2) theunofficial stream welcomed participants withoutlimit to numbers or official position.

The panellists and participants noted that severalkey characteristics highlight the NGOs role inworld conferences: (1) the open forum structurethat promotes participation by all without restric-tion, with examples being the Women’s Confer-ences in Mexico in 1975, Nairobi in 1985 andBeijing in 1995; (2) the importance of globalissues such as habitat, science and technology,water, desertification and deforestation; (3) theopen discussion of topics without recourse tonegotiating rigid resolutions promoted communi-cation and sharing information; (4) inclusivitythat embraced all peoples, irrespective of gender,color, race, or national/ethnic background; and(5) diversity in viewpoint concerning the role ofNGOs in global, national and local governanceprocesses. Further, it was noted that NGOs haveemerged from an earlier dependency on theUnited Nations umbrella to become globalmovements.

The role of intergovernmental organizationsMr. Oscar Rojas discussed the role of intergov-ernmental organizations (IGOs) in developingglobal partnerships for governance. While par-ticipants pointed out that the final work andresponsibility is with governments, IGOscontribute to consensus-building amonggovernmental bodies at the global level. Forexample, the United Nations General Assemblybrings governments together, builds consensus onglobal issues and adopts resolutions that invite theformation of partnerships for global governance.Second, as formal bodies of international gover-nance, IGOs add a moral persuasion to inter-national issues. Third, within the framework ofglobal conferences, IGOs generate reasonablemandates and commitments that bring moralauthority to global actions.

It was further pointed out that the United Nationsbodies are the most comprehensive institutionsthrough which many global governance issues canbe raised and discussed. The United Nationsfamily of IGOs brings together technical expertiseand experience to bear on global issues. Often,partnerships are forged during actual meetings ofUnited Nations organizations. During thesemeetings, participants negotiate relationshipsbetween governments and non-governmentalorganizations. For example, the United NationsGeneral Assembly with its six sectoralcommittees provides a fairly level platform inwhich the perspectives and views of allgovernments can be heard. The Economic andSocial Council (ECOSOC), as well as agenciessuch as the International Labour Organization(ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO),the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (UNESCO) and the UnitedNations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), provide aplatform for partnership and global consensus-building to promote good governance. The UnitedNations regional commissions contribute to policydevelopment and monitoring, therebyconcretizing global governance strategies at theregional level.


RecommendationsPanellists and participants highlighted several keystrategies to strengthen development andimplementation of a global policy agenda:

• Strengthen United Nations capacity to supportthe emergence of global partnerships;

• Organize United Nations meetings to promotepartnerships among governments, academicscholars, private sector, non-governmentalorganizations and other civil societyorganizations;

• Promote South-South cooperativepartnerships among developing nationsthemselves; and

• Involve grassroots organizations, such as ruralcooperatives, peasant organizations and urbancommunity organizations, in meetingsconcerning decisions that affect their lives.

Chapter 4The Role of Universities in Promoting The Role of Universities in Promoting The Role of Universities in Promoting The Role of Universities in Promoting Global PartnershipsGlobal PartnershipsGlobal PartnershipsGlobal Partnerships

Through their roles as a resource of intellectualcapital and as institutions for educating futureleaders, universities contribute to the vitality ofglobal partnerships. Academia often plays acatalytic role in focusing national aspirations.Indeed, universities are national treasures, if notglobal treasures, for the incubation of ideas,innovations, initiatives and experiments.Universities can help to insert institutions intoglobal partnerships, as well as to invent the core“content” around which partnerships are formed.Key issues involve: traditional and innovativemechanisms to promote multi-disciplinary work,twinning arrangements, international educationalexchange, association with regional and globalacademic bodies and participation in strategicdevelopment initiatives.

The workshop on “The Role of Universities inPromoting Global Partnerships” was chaired byDr. Hideo Sato, Acting Director, The LeadershipAcademy, United Nations University. Thepanellists were: Dr. Emil Q. Javier, President,University of the Philippines, Dr. Makitaro Hotta,Acting Director, Rits Center for Asia and PacificStudies, Ritsumeikan University, and Dr. DinoGuerritore, Coordinator of the InternationalRelations Commission, University La Sapienza,Rome. Dr. Sato served as Rapporteur.

University-public service partnership in thePhilippinesDr. Emil Javier emphasized the importance ofuniversities demonstrating effective governanceand meaningful contributions to society. In thelatter context, Dr. Javier presented the “volunteerservice” programme of his university, throughwhich students are sent to various organizationsinside and outside the Philippines to providevoluntary service. The programme covers manyareas, but especially serves the institutionsinvolved in forestry and natural resources.

Preparing global leadersProfessor Hideo Sato, who spoke on behalf ofProfessor Hans van Ginkel, United NationsUniversity Rector, emphasized three interrelatedtasks of universities:

• To prepare future generations;

• To provide the right kind of education forglobal governance, which is increasinglynecessary in this age of rapid globalizationand transnational interdependence; and

• To act as viable institutional players in globalpartnerships.

Professor Sato noted that universities have a senseof mission and responsibility to prepare futureleaders. To provide the right kind of education,universities must develop bodies of knowledgeabout societies and phenomena beyond theirimmediate geographical horizons and demonstrategood institutional citizenship in a globalenvironment. The substance of teaching needs togo beyond narrow disciplinary education andemphasize interdisciplinary approaches becauseno policy problems could be resolved in amono-disciplinary perspective. Universities alsoneed to encourage class discussions (not one-waylectures), in order to reward creativity, innovationand initiative. Further, universities need todevelop internationalized or globalized curriculabased on multicultural (not ethnocentric)approaches. Universities that can governthemselves effectively, develop good localgovernance and provide substantively usefuleducation are good models for effectivepartnership behaviour.

Professor Sato also noted UNESCO’s UNITWIN(university twinning) Programme and the WorldBank Graduate Scholarship Programmes asexamples of effective partnerships between


universities and international organizations. Heemphasized the fact that the UNU has built-inlinks with both the United Nations system and theinternational academic community because it is aUnited Nations agency and a university at thesame time. Participants agreed that the UNUcould play a very important role in promotingpartnerships between universities and the UnitedNations system.

Developing governance leadersProfessor Makitaro Hotta emphasized theimportance of universities having a clear sense ofmission and the need to provide substantivelymeaningful education by employing newapproaches and methodologies, including distanceeducation, among others. University educationmust offer introductory courses to give broadperspectives as well as basic knowledge andadvanced courses to create among studentsself-reliance, confidence and commitment to thefuture. In addition to such self-reliance,universities must also teach a sense ofresponsibility and service to society. This canonly be done when universities govern themselvesin such a way as to set an example for students.Professor Hotta concluded his presentation byunderscoring the following points:

• Universities need to link up in networks orconsortia of universities and other educationalinstitutions;

• Universities need to be open to government,industry and the public for two-waycommunications; and

• Universities need to be open to newcategories of students, notably by providingcontinuing education for working people,special courses for the handicapped andcourses taught in foreign languages forinternational students.

Partnerships between universities andinternational organizationsProfessor Dino Guerritore noted the traditionalrole of universities in producing and disseminat-

ing knowledge and in providing an intellectualmilieu for centuries. The 20th century createdchallenges requiring adjustments in universityroles, notably in Europe. In the first half of thecentury one saw new partnerships developingbetween universities in an effort to combat andovercome the new nationalism which had causedthe two World Wars. In the second half of thecentury one saw a new geo-political reality anddistribution of power in the international com-munity. Concurrently, scientific and technologicalknowledge have become an increasingly impor-tant factor. However, in view of the complexity ofethical and social problems in the context ofcultural diversity, Professor Guerritore noted thathuman sciences remain just as important as ever.

Further, Professor Guerritore noted that univer-sities need to rise above national interests andideological conflicts in order to contribute towider understanding and to solve various prob-lems arising out of economic development, tech-nological progress and environmental degrada-tion. In this context, Professor Guerritore pointedout the importance of universities working hand-in-hand with the United Nations. In line with thisphilosophy, the University La Sapienza concludeda cooperation agreement with the Department ofEconomic and Social Affairs.

RecommendationsIn view of the rapidly globalizing social, econo-mic, political and technological environments inthe world today, universities need to reinforcetheir mission to educate and prepare futuregenerations capable of effective governance atlocal, national and global levels. For this purpose,universities are expected to adopt:

• New approaches in educationalmethodologies, including distance learning;

• Interdisciplinary curricula focused onpractical social issues;

• Voluntary activities to expose students to thereal world;

• Continuous updating of their teachingmaterials, making them more transnational

The Role of Universities in Promoting Global Partnerships 15

and multicultural in nature, includingtwinning arrangements, internationaleducational exchange, associations withregional and global academic bodies andparticipation in a myriad of developmentactivities; and

• Self-governing strategies as a model of goodgovernance, while working harmoniouslywith local governments and privateorganizations to resolve issues of their

immediate concern.

These strategies would lead universities todevelop meaningful partnerships beneficial to allthe parties concerned. Twinning arrangementsneed to migrate from bilateral to multilateralarrangements, to focus on networking andexchange (students/faculty exchange)programmes and establish joint programmes inresearch, education and service to society.

Chapter 5National Governance Mechanisms FosteringNational Governance Mechanisms FosteringNational Governance Mechanisms FosteringNational Governance Mechanisms FosteringPartnershipsPartnershipsPartnershipsPartnerships

Globalization, both through the global economyand through the spread of accessible information,has increased the tendency for some nationalgovernments to engage in regional and globalpartnerships, as well as to increase innovation andproductivity through greater citizen initiative.Mechanisms for encouraging citizen participationgenerally involve increasingly decentralizeddecision-making, which leads to the need forcoordination among levels and units of govern-ment, as well as with the private sector and civilsociety organizations.

The workshop on “National GovernanceMechanisms Fostering Partnerships” was chairedby Professor Akira Nakamura, Meiji University.The panellists included: Dr. Leonora Briones,Director of Budget, Ministry of Finance, thePhilippines; Mr. Dai Guangqian, Vice-Minister incharge of Civil Servants and Human ResourcesDevelopment, China; Mr. Sum Manit, StateSecretary for Administrative Reform, Cambodia;and Professor John Halligan of the University ofCanberra, Australia. Mr. Nakamura served asRapporteur.

During the 20th century, central governmentinstitutions, especially national executives, havebeen dominant in decision-making and imple-mentation. With the onset of the 21st century,national governments continue to have a “steeringfunction” in national and international develop-ment. Nonetheless, many other institutions nowshare the decision-making arena, and successfulstrategies generally flow from effective gover-nance partnerships at the national level. In the ageof globalization, goods and services move acrossboundaries, despite national attempts to restrainthe flow of transactions. Increasingly, goods andservices appear to recognize no national boun-daries, nor any government rules and regulations.

Likewise, information has long been one of themajor sources of power and influence. Indeed, in

many countries, the central government organiza-tion has traditionally controlled the flow of infor-mation. Often governments as well as privatesector companies have restricted public access tostored data. However, the rise of informationtechnology has altered the flow and availability ofinformation. At the dawn of the 21st century, it isthe effective utilization of information, rather thanthe hoarding of information, that results in effec-tive strategies and successful economies. Thepanellists in this session noted that governmentsneed to adjust to pressures generated from the riseof globalization and the development of infor-mation technology. To the extent that isolationiststrategies, economic or social, are not viable, thepanellists suggested that government needs toadjust to rapid global changes. Panellists sug-gested that partnerships could empower govern-ments with wider resources and networks forproblem-solving.

The panellists concurred that partnership-buildingcould take two directions. One direction was toseek a horizontal route. In this dimension, thecentral government would be able to developworking relationships with other public organiza-tions and private groups at the national level.An example would be that a central labourministry would seek policy collaboration with anindustry-wide labour organization to increase theemployment rate. A case such as this seemedfrequent in many countries. The participants inthe panel thought that there should be anotherpattern. It would be a vertical route. Somepanellists held that central-local administrativepartnerships would grow to be important in thecoming century. Under this configuration, thecentral government would seek working policypartnerships with local governments and differentorganizations in various communities. As thefollowing summaries of different presentationstestify, these cases were, in fact, abundant in theAustralia, Cambodia, China and the Philippines.

National Governance Mechanisms Fostering Partnerships 17

Citizen participation in national financeDr. Leonora Briones noted that the PhilippinesBureau of Treasury had traditionally managedgovernment bonds and notes through issuing themto large stakeholders, namely, major industries. In1998, the Bureau launched a Small InvestorsProgramme (SIP). With SIP, the Bureau traveledto local communities to encourage residents topurchase government bonds and notes. Accordingto Dr. Briones, the programme has two purposes.The first is to promote savings among the Filipinopublic, while the second is to increase the nationalgovernment funds. In Dr. Briones’ opinion, SIPhas become one of the best examples of public-private partnership-building in the country.

Human resources developmentMr. Dai Guangqian noted that as China moves toa “planned market economy”, human resourcesmanagement has become increasingly essential.Technical and professional human resources hadbeen regarded as the engine for development inthe 21st century. Mr. Dai noted that these pro-fessionals were popularly known as persons of“talent” in China. He argued that one of the majorissues for the country is to seek partnerships withthese professional groups. In his opinion, China’seconomic advancement will depend on the extentto which the country is able to integrate thesetalented people into China’s human resourcesmanagement. This being the main issue, heprescribed that Chinese personnel managementwould need to become compatible with themarket-enabling model. Mr. Dai believed thatpartnership-building between the public andprivate sectors in personnel development wouldbecome essential for Chinese future development.

Restoration of national governance structuresMr. Sum Manit noted that Cambodia continues toface challenges as a post-war country and as anation in transition to a market economy. Theemerging governance milieu requiresstrengthened and integrated governmentpartnerships and modern modalities ofgovernment engagement with the private sector

and civil society. The national framework forimproving governance includes: establishment oflegal frameworks, enforcement of rule of law andincreased cooperation between the governmentand civil society. While strengthening thegovernment administration, reform of governmentaims to reduce and redirect the role ofgovernment to policy-making and policy-steering.In a post-conflict situation, Cambodia emphasizesboth stability and change. Stability is required torestart development processes, while change isrequired to keep Cambodia competitive and activein a dynamic regional and global economy. Thegovernment emphasizes strengthening admini-stration while also strengthening its partners, theprivate sector and civil society.

The initiating role of national governmentProfessor John Halligan noted that within theinterface among government, private sector andcivil society, the role of the national governmentcould define the possible interactions, encour-aging either a wider or a more limited involve-ment. He pointed out that the quality of nationalgovernment, that is, the performance of publicinstitutions and public servants, directly affectsthe strength of national governance. Withoutsufficient encouragement, such as an enablingenvironment and legal framework, private sectorand civil society organizations may not partnerwith national government initiatives, in order tolead to synergies in economic and social develop-ment. Although much capacity and responsibilityrests in the private sector and civil society organi-zations, it is often within the national governmentthat initiative for partnership resides. Throughstrong policies and programmes of inclusion,decentralization, coordination and participation,national governments can ensure mobilization ofnational energy and human capital for economicand social development.

Professor Halligan illustrated these issues in thecontext of decentralization in Australia. He notedthat the state government sought policy collabor-ations with local governments in areas such ascommunity and regional development.


Transparency, accountability and participationMr. Akira Nakamura argued that governance hasto be based on management with transparency,accountability and participation (TAP). He feltthat TAP would be the hallmark of moderngovernment. Mr. Nakamura noted that, in manycountries, government still tends to be secretive.In the coming century, under the new governancemodel, Mr. Nakamura believed that these com-mon and traditional patterns of public admini-stration would be ameliorated. Government wouldbe open and, at the same time, would increasecitizen and private sector participation in thepromotion of public goods. Through these means,government would be able to improve its publicaccountability.

RecommendationsMechanisms to foster partnerships by the nationalgovernments which were recommended include:

• Strengthening policy development, leadershipand steering processes, with inclusion ofpartners from the private sector and non-governmental organizations;

• Building networks for sharing information,expertise and experience, as well as forstrengthening transparency, accountabilityand participation (TAP);

• Establishing productive linkages betweenglobal level processes and local citizens;

• Scanning, through increasingly sensitivemeans, rapidly changing global and regionaltrends to widen the relevant context ofnational government; and

• Initiating partnerships, both vertically andhorizontally, taking advantage of informationtechnology linkages.

Chapter 6Mobilizing Civil Society for NationalMobilizing Civil Society for NationalMobilizing Civil Society for NationalMobilizing Civil Society for NationalPartnershipsPartnershipsPartnershipsPartnerships

Good governance partnerships require inclusionof civil society organizations along with govern-ment institutions and private sector organizations.Multidimensional sharing of information andperspectives through public dialogue supports thedevelopment of shared visions. Social consensusemerges through mutual interaction, shared appre-ciation and joint participation in national andlocal initiatives especially for economicdevelopment. Through policy dialogues, peopleand organizations develop commitment toworking together.

The workshop was chaired by Ms. Jeanne-MarieCol, Interregional Adviser, Division for PublicEconomics and Public Administration of theUnited Nations Department of Economic andSocial Affairs. The panellists included: SenatorMiriam Defensor-Santiago of the Philippines;Mr. Christopher Gotanco, President of Anglo-Philippine Holdings Corporation; and ProfessorFrancis Delpérée of the Catholic University ofLouvain in Belgium. Ms. Col served asrapporteur.

Civil society empowerment involves sharing ofindividual, institutional and organizational per-spectives within an action framework. Thebehaviour of citizens and leaders who serve asstewards of the values and strategies developedwithin this framework vary from the most passiveto the most active: (1) awareness, (2) involvementand (3) initiative. Citizens can exert initiativeover actions that they control; they can influenceelements of organizational life and through directand indirect representation, the actions of govern-ments at all levels. They can also be aware offactors in their context that can be brought intoactive domains. Opportunities for civil societyinvolvement include both interest group politicsand consultative institutions, such as policy con-ferences, leadership summit meetings and com-munity consultations. Citizens can be aware ofpartnerships, participate in and benefit from them

and even initiate them. When citizens are activein building partnerships, good governance is morelikely to evolve towards relevant and effectivepolicies and implementation.

Empowerment of civil society further entailsfacilitation and encouragement of civil societyorganizations as platforms for individual par-ticipation in policy dialogues and access to meansto communicate views and perspectives. Thesecivil society organizations institutionalize andgive voice to public concerns. Under optimalgovernance conditions, public institutions wel-come initiatives and feedback from citizens andrespond actively to their needs and viewpoints.Although lively public dialogue can be time-consuming, the agreement and commitment thatresults ensures sustainability of public policiesand programmes. In some cases, public dialogueis an “investment” in social cohesion and dynamiceconomic development.

When roles and tasks are not monopolized butshared between central and non-central public andprivate/civil society sectors, greater accountabilityis achievable. When tasks are performed by amonopoly, usually centralized, services aredelivered at higher costs, with less efficiency andwithin a less accountable framework. By referringto roles and tasks, the administrative designframework becomes both concrete and dynamic.It is concrete because it directly relates tasks toorganizations or institutions. It is dynamic,because it notes that roles can change over timeand be managed by different organizations, insti-tutions or combinations of them. Distribution oftasks to local governments, the private sector and/or civil society organizations requires significantcapacity for policy development andimplementation.

A strong center, with a relevant enabling environ-ment, is a prerequisite to meaningful and effectivespatial and sectoral devolution. Obstacles that im-


pede decentralization include poor coordinationand monitoring, as well as non-functioning regu-latory and feedback frameworks. Currently, manygovernments are experimenting with decentraliza-tion strategies, most notably in the areas of devel-opment planning and service delivery. The greatvariety in experiments makes fertile ground forinternational exchange of experience andexpertise, particularly through South-to-Southcooperation.

Within a governance context, public institutionsplay a key role in providing mechanisms forsharing of information and coordinating activities.In their role of “representing the future to thepresent”, public institutions embody the agreed-upon development vision of the society andprovide a platform for cooperation and coordi-nation. An enabling bureaucracy facilitates com-munity initiatives to respond to real contingenciesthat emerge in the course of everyday life.

Citizen participation in community consensus-buildingSenator Miriam Defensor-Santiago presented anexample of how civil society and the businesssector have been able to participate in thegovernment-led social and economic planningprocess steered by the National EconomicDevelopment Authority (NEDA). She said,“governments profit from consensus-building,particularly in development planning, becauseagreement by stakeholders is vital to successfulimplementation.”

Senator Defensor-Santiago noted the widespreadfiscal constraints and economic problems in the1980s, the trends of liberalization and globaliza-tion, as well as the emergence of a practicalframework of decentralization. A new concept ofgovernance is “anchored in consensus, collectivechoice, shared responsibility and on the funda-mental solutions of accountability, transparency,predictability and participation”. The Senatorproposed that consensus-building is the basis ofgovernance, problem-solving and management ofconflicts. In presenting the case of the develop-ment planning process, the National Economic

Development Authority (NEDA) brings civilsociety and the private sector into consensus-building and conflict-management. As the leadingplanning agency of the Philippines, NEDAcoordinates inputs to the national developmentplans. Several major points regarding this case areessential:

• Participative development planningresponded to “the people power revolution”that helped to end the Marcos administration;

• The planning documents generated throughthis process, namely the Medium-TermDevelopment Plan and the Medium-TermInvestment Plan, are then reviewed andpassed by national legislative resolution,thereby guaranteeing political support;

• Core planning agencies lead a focused, butpeople-friendly process involving key stake-holders, experts, representatives of majorinterests, advocacy groups, as well as margi-nalized members of society;

• Task skills are combined with people andnegotiation skills;

• Regional planning processes are supported.

Senator Defensor-Santiago concluded that thisinclusive, people-friendly development planningprocess contributes to communication and povertyalleviation that is needed to promote peace.Furthermore, these consensus-building strategieslead to establishing intersectoral trust.

Corporate governance and socialresponsibilityMr. Christopher Gotanco shared a recentexperience in which, after negotiating a waterproject with local officials, it was discoverednecessary to involve also civil society organi-zations in the dialogue. Mr. Gotanco said“corporate involvement in social and environ-mental problems relates directly to creating andmaintaining environments conducive to long-termsocial stability and commercial success.Mr. Gotanco presented a case based on theexperience of multinational business alliance

Mobilizing Civil Society for National Partnerships 21

advocating a water supply project in the provinceof Bohol in the Philippines, based on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) concept. This caseillustrates how the relationship between the State,business and civil society has changed fromadversarial to collaborative. The project wasdesigned to use run-off water from a major riversystem in the province and aimed to produce safewater for sale to areas in the province and aneighboring island metropolis through anunderwater pipeline.

While initially focusing on technical and financialaspects of the project, as well as agreement withlocal political leadership, a significant distrust ofthe project emerged from various community-based organizations (CBOs). This atmosphere ofdistrust was alleviated through linking up withcivil society organizations to address concerns forsocial acceptance, project sustainability and basicequity. The identified non-governmental organi-zation was given the task of explaining the projectto the populace and gathering community senti-ments so that the project could address their needswithout sacrificing its long-term viability. Theparticular NGO was chosen because it held aneutral position concerning the project andenjoyed the trust and confidence of the affectedcommunities.

Mr. Gotanco noted that business engagement withcommunity organizations is a win-win situationwhereby improving the quality of life in the com-munities would be strategic for both the targetbeneficiaries and private sector companies.

Bottom-up and top-down combinationProfessor Francis Delpérée noted the opportu-nities to integrate the “top-down” and “bottom-up” approaches into viable development strate-gies. Senator Leticia Shahani mentioned this bi-directional relationship in the plenary when sheshared the “bibingka approach” promoted by theRamos administration in which state-generatedplans were integrated with corresponding grass-roots initiatives.

Professor Delpérée noted five important elementsin the bottom-up perspective:

• Citizens’ political rights under transparentrule of law;

• Civil society and private sector organizationscontributing to social and economicdevelopment;

• Negotiation among organizations and sectors,including the government, concerning taskroles and rules of conduct;

• Implementation by many stakeholders while aconsortium or independent source monitorsequity and equality; and

• Monitoring of performance by key stake-holders in government, the private sector andcivil society.

Widespread participation in governance processesresults in more sustainable social and economicdevelopment for the widest range of citizens.Partnerships involving civil society are initiatedby a government or a private sector firm (top-down), as well as from civil society (bottom-up).This panel brought together panellists represent-ing three different sectors: government, academiaand the private sector. Each panellist illustratedan aspect of key partnerships among theirinstitutions and with citizens. All panellistsagreed that government’s role in society wasevolving to encourage greater participation andcoordination of private sector and civil societyorganizations. Throughout their presentations, thepanellists emphasized the importance of nurturingincreased confidence and trust among the variousorganizations.

Recommendations • Governance is everyone’s affair and needs to

be carried out in a dialogue format;

• Decentralized and participatory developmentplanning promotes consensus-building andconflict-management;

• Representative democracy in legislatures,both national and local, and within abroadened democratic space, needs to besupplemented by continuous citizenparticipation (more direct democracy) in


planning, operations and evaluation in orderto promote more sustainable development;

• “Community impact analysis” processes,especially those which involve communitymembers themselves, need to be encouraged;

• Mutual compatibility between productivegovernment, the profit motive in the privatesector and social benefits for all citizensshould be promoted;

• Collaborative relations that contribute todeveloping “common ground” to promotesustainable development with equity shouldbe facilitated; and

• Mutual understanding, agreement and trust,built up over the long term through workingrelationships, are the most importantingredients for governance success.

Chapter 7Building Eco-Partnership for Local GovernanceBuilding Eco-Partnership for Local GovernanceBuilding Eco-Partnership for Local GovernanceBuilding Eco-Partnership for Local Governance

The recently held Eco-Partnership WorldConference in Tokyo, jointly organized by theTokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) and theUnited Nations, emphasized the need for leadersof cities of the world to exchange experiences ofbest practices and lessons learned and to streng-then partnership amongst themselves, on the onehand, and partnership between government, theprivate sector and NGOs, on the other, for pro-moting an environmentally sound society. Thisworkshop on “Building Eco-Partnership in LocalGovernance” was a follow-up of the TokyoConference, which aimed at providing a forum formayors, business leaders, NGO representatives,including women and other stakeholders, toconsider various mechanisms for cooperation andpartnership-building in local environmentalgovernance, such as public-private partnership,creative national-local relationships, integratedpolicy-making approaches and the increased roleof women in environmental governance. Thisworking group also provided an opportunity formayors from Africa and Asia to consider variousmechanisms for South-South cooperation in localenvironmental governance.

The workshop was chaired by Ms. Itoko Suzuki,Chief, Governance and Public AdministrationBranch of the United Nations Department ofEconomic and Social Development. Thepanellists included: Ms. Angela Mawle,Coordinator, Gender 21; Mr. Samuel W. Mbugua,Mayor of Nairobi; Mr. Tsuneyuki Ueki, GeneralManager, Corporate Planning Office, EbaraCorporation, Tokyo, Japan; and Mr. ShinYamamoto, Director, International AffairsDivision, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Mr.Zakaria Ahmad, Chief Administrator of the Asianand Pacific Development Center, served asrapporteur.

The Eco-Partnership Tokyo ConferenceMr. Shin Yamamoto shared the Tokyo Metropoli-tan Government’s experiences in creating an“Eco-Society”. The Eco-Society movement,

which was exemplified in the Eco-PartnershipTokyo Conference, seeks ways to bring people’slifestyles into harmony with nature’s ecologicalsystems and eliminate current systems that place aburden on the environment. This movement seeksto create a foundation for building a sustainablecity and society by discussing issues such asurban waste management; urban transportation;water, natural resources and energy conservation;and environmental education. During the Eco-Partnership Conference, TMG also served assecretariat to a Mayors’ Forum, which centeredon the affiliated cities of the Summit Conferenceof Major Cities of the world and the large cities ofAsia and Africa. The Conference led to the for-mulation of the Tokyo Declaration, whichestablished guidelines for harmony between citiesand their environment.

Mr. Yamamoto also outlined some of the follow-up activities being undertaken by TMG in col-laboration with the United Nations, such as “RoadMap”, an Internet search engine, and a series ofeco-partnership training activities, including TheAfrica-Asia Eco-Partnership Programmes, to beheld in July 1999 in Bangkok and Tokyo, andNovember 1999 in Kuala Lumpur; and the 25thJapan-American Conference for Mayors andChamber of Commerce Presidents to be held inNovember 1999 in Kita Kyushu City, Japan. Inaddition, TMG will establish a Tokyo Inter-national Cooperation Association (TICA) topromote the spirit of eco-partnership withcitizens, NGOs and the private sector. Mr.Yamamoto noted the TMG’s facilities andspecialized knowledge for training. Study tourswill include waste treatment plants, treatmentresearch centers, the role of transportation indensely populated inter-city regions and sewagewater recycling systems.

City governmentMayor Samuel Mbugua emphasized that theNairobi City Council encourages a participatoryapproach in solving it problems. The Council is


composed of both elected and nominated mem-bers. The business community participates in cityimprovement programmes. Neighborhood associ-ations supplement the City Council’s efforts inuplifting the standard of cleanliness, security andother services required by the city dwellers. Theconcept of “Nairobi for Nairobians” was pro-moted to get the people involved in the problem-solving processes that affect their home andbusiness premises. He concluded that “communityparticipation and partnership-building wouldremain key factors in mobilizing human andmaterial resources in our cities.”

Empowering women in environmentalgovernanceMs. Angela Mawle noted that women compriseabout 70% of the world’s poor, yet they receivejust 10% of the world’s income, they own lessthan 1% of the world’s property, they work longerhours than men, and their global non-monetizedinvisible contribution amounts to about 11 trillionUS dollars a year. Further, Ms. Mawle notedglobal initiatives and movements for genderequality: for example, the 1989 UN-adoptedConvention on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination Against Women (CEDAW); Eco-feminism; the setting up of the Commission onthe Status of Women (CSW), Women’s Congressfor a Healthy Planet, Women’s EnvironmentalNetwork, the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategiesand conventions of the ILO and UNESCO.

Ms. Mawle noted that despite these efforts,women are still faced with two major outstandingissues impeding the liberation of humankind:the secondary status of women and the sexualobjectification of women. Likewise, Ms. Mawleemphasized that “bureaucracies” in the worldcurrently discourage involvement of women indecision-making. Nevertheless, women haveassumed a very important role in human develop-ment and are substantially involved in environ-mental issues. In a most important mission,women encourage, by their thrifty example, futuregenerations of children to conserve earth’s limitedenergy and to seek innovative ways of recycling.Women are both key consumers and resource

managers. While women have gained some prom-inence in decision-making at the community level,they should be encouraged to contribute atnational, regional and global levels. Ms. Mawlealso emphasized Chapter 24 of Agenda 21, whichstates: “Effective implementation of theseprogrammes will depend on the active involve-ment of women in economic and politicaldecision-making.”

On the issue of empowering women in localgovernment eco-partnerships, Ms. Mawleproposed that local authorities:

• Seek out women who are influential in theircommunities;

• Conduct frequent meetings and dialogueswith women;

• Encourage women as community advocates,e.g., as consultants, liaison officers orcommunity leaders;

• Support care-giving roles of women,especially in relation to children, the elderlyand the infirm; and

• Demilitarize civic offices, officers andprocesses, in order to encourage morepeaceful, conflict-resolution styles ofcommunication and interaction.

Ms. Mawle cited the success of women’s groupsin Canada who lobbied against a bleaching pro-duct of Proctor & Gamble. The women recog-nized this product as a pollutant and foughtagainst its use in communities. Eventually, thewomen’s lobbying activities resulted in the com-pany withdrawing the commodity from groceryshelves. In conclusion, she proposed that womenshould not be afraid to articulate theirperspectives and their demands, lobby for theenvironment and participate in decision-making.

The private sector’s role in partnerships forbuilding eco-cities Mr. Tsuneyuki Ueki highlighted the participationof the business sector in promoting environment-ally sound societies. He cited the role of zeroemission (ZE) technologies and training or know-

Building Eco-Partnership for Local Governance 25

how transfers in this regard and mentioned theexperiences of various private corporations, e.g.,Fuji, Xerox and some 1,632 other Japanese com-panies (which qualified with ISO 14000 certifica-tion) in “zero waste management and recycling”.

Mr. Ueki differentiated zero emission technolo-gies from conventional environmental technolo-gies based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA),using both quantitative and qualitative analyses.Citing an LCA analysis applied to solid wastetreatment systems, Mr. Ueki showed that thegasification combustion, chemical recycling andash melting system, an advanced waste treatmenttechnology (zero emission), has lower environ-mental impacts compared with the waste incinera-tion system of a generator. The former showedmore favorable effects, in terms of lower emissionof greenhouse gases, reduced consumption ofnon-reusable resources and reduced emission ofacid rain pollutants. Thus, he inferred that thegasification system is a highly effective techno-logy for the realization of a ZE society.

Although the private sector in developedcountries is increasingly committed to ZE, Mr.Ueki elaborated more tasks and challenges aheadin promoting eco-cities with ZE. Among these arethe following:

• Further technology development and theutilization of reusable and alternative energy;

• Formation of industrial clusters and optimumcombination of industrial sectors;

• Creation and organization of socialframeworks which support the ZE system,e.g., laws and regulations, taxes andincentives, paradigm change of people andenvironmental education;

• Application of LCA to whole social systems;

and

• International cooperation.

RecommendationsAmong the issues and concerns raised were:

• The need for networks and linkages beyondthe eleven major cities of the world;

• The need for mayors, NGOs, NPOs, busi-nesses, women and government to continu-ously work together to develop eco-cities;

• The need for all stakeholders to be involvedin policy-making and implementation;

• The need for the private sector to be moreassertive in standing up to hierarchy andpower in societies;

• The need for everyone to realize that theyhave a role to play in promoting eco-governance.

Upon the suggestion of Akua Sena Dansua,District Chief Executive of Kpando DistrictAssembly, Ghana, a network called “Eco-Earth”was initiated as a result of this workshop. A webpage will be developed by Tokyo MetropolitanGovernment on behalf of both the United Nationsand TMG.

Building eco-partnerships in local governanceneeds to be a continuous process. With thisworkshop as a first follow-up of the Eco-Partnership Tokyo Conference, Ms. Suzuki,United Nations representative, announced thatprogrammes will follow, particularly for Mayorsof African and Asian cities. The proposed website, “Eco-Earth”, will not only facilitate neces-sary information exchange, but also facilitateparticipants’ efforts to promote eco-societies.

Chapter 8Conclusion: Partnerships for the 21st Century Conclusion: Partnerships for the 21st Century Conclusion: Partnerships for the 21st Century Conclusion: Partnerships for the 21st Century

Participants agreed that good governance involvesstrategic partnerships including all relevant stake-holders in a community in order to develop syner-gies for results-oriented activities. Institutions,citizens and organizations recognize the value ofseeking out the best of each others’ performancepossibilities.

Partnership relationships are characterized by sixelements:

• Inclusiveness: widening the scope ofparticipation to include all relevantstakeholders;

• Experience-sharing: finding commonalitiesand comparing perspectives;

• Strategy: linking stakeholders proactively tomaximize outcomes and economies of scale;

• Empowerment: building capacity of allstakeholders and in their interrelationships;

• Consensus-building: developing mutually-supportive policies, processes and operations;

• Continuous improvement: establishingmoving targets of success and measures ofapproaching success and building onsuccesses.

Building partnerships for governance at all levelsfrom local to global is essential for sustainablehuman development. These partnerships are bothvertical and horizontal. They are vertical in link-ing global, national and local institutions, pro-cesses and people. They are horizontal in linkinggovernment, civil society and the private sector ateach level. A variety of issues—for example,technological advances, scientific discoveries,ecological interdependencies, populationdynamics, natural disasters and emerging normsof good governance—influence all levels ofgovernment, all aspects of civil society andprivate sector activities. Furthermore, these trendsare also reflected in the relative importance ofpartnerships between levels of government and

sectors of society and the private sector. Effectivegovernance is characterized by joining in commu-nication, information and joint actions among thevarious sectors at all levels.

Although these actions are challenging, we canafford to do no less. The more we leave to chance,the more vulnerable are our societies to thevagaries and blowing winds of change. What arekey questions to be asked?

• All together in optimal consensus. Are allrelevant institutions, organizations and indi-viduals participating in joint initiatives? Isanyone or any idea being left out? Can wetolerate the cacophony of complexity in orderto achieve the effectiveness of developmentand progress?

• Open, transparent and accountable. Are weopenly and transparently planning and operat-ing in a manner in which we are holding eachother accountable for results for the society,most importantly the social and economicwell-being of the people in the future?

• Co-operating and sharing in an environmentof mutual trust. Are we discussing similar-ities and differences so as to develop mutualunderstanding of perspectives, as well asstrengths and weaknesses in contributing tosolutions? Are we joining efforts to comple-ment each other’s efforts?

• Learning by doing. Are we learning from thesuccesses and shortcomings of our jointactions? Are we discussing strengths, weak-nesses, opportunities and threats for the futureof our citizens? Are we involving all citizensin these discussions in order to enable andempower them to take actions for theirfuture?

• Strategic development. Are we building part-nerships assertively, confidently and passion-ately or are we waiting passively for opportu-nities to come to us? Are we reacting to the

Conclusion: Partnerships for the 21st Century 27

initiatives of stronger institutions or organiza-tions? Are we acting responsibly on behalf ofthe society, the citizens and the future?

• Looking to the future. Answers to thesequestions might help us to understand thenature of constructive partnerships for goodgovernance in the 21st century. We need toponder these questions.

With these questions and guidelines, countries

and communities can promote partnership-building for good governance, in which everyoneand every institution and organization participatesin shared goals and activities. The reporthighlights the role of global conferences, nationalinstitutions, local communities, private sector andcivil society. All of these and more combine togenerate sustainable development.

Annex 1Opening Statement by Mr. Guido BertucciOpening Statement by Mr. Guido BertucciOpening Statement by Mr. Guido BertucciOpening Statement by Mr. Guido BertucciDirector, Division for Public Economics and Public Administration, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Ladies and gentlemen,

The theme of the Conference which has broughtall of us here this week, is “From Government toGovernance”. Government has been along thecenturies the basic mechanism to manage a coun-try’s affairs. A democratic government operateson the basis of the principle of representation,through which people pass the responsibility fordecision-making to their elected representativesand to the organs of the State. Once this respons-ibility is passed, people somehow become dis-connected from the decision-making process untilthe next opportunity to either renew or withdrawthe decision-making mandate at election time.

Governance, instead, is a method of managingpublic affairs in a participatory manner, so thatpeople may have a direct and ongoing voice in themaking of the decisions that affect them, as wellas in the process of implementation of the same.By its participatory nature, governance fosterscontinuous relationships and partnerships amongall the members of the society. Although gov-ernment is one of the mechanisms of governance,a multiplicity of mechanisms and processes arepart and parcel of a healthy and sophisticatedgovernance system.

Partnerships are thus at the very essence of gov-ernance. In effective management of institutionalrelationships, isolation and control have givenway to linkages and negotiations. The old-style“government” has been replaced by“governance”, thereby acknowledging thatgovernment does not act alone, but rather indeliberately forged partnerships. Thesepartnerships are wide-ranging, depending uponthe goals. Indeed, at the launch of the 21stcentury, leadership is often defined as the abilityto create “vision” that provides the impetus forcreating partnerships and the glue for maintainingthem. “Governance partnerships” are essentiallythe organizational pattern for the future,

internationally, regionally, nationally and locally.

This morning, it gives me great pleasure to launchSession Three of this Conference, specificallydealing with “Building Partnerships forGovernance”. The United Nations Department ofEconomic and Social Affairs, as well as otherorganizations within the United Nations family,uses partnership strategies in all their activities.Indeed, the United Nations family partners withother international and regional organizations,such as EROPA and ADB; with national gov-ernments, such as that of the Philippines, our hostfor this meeting; with NGOs, such as the Instituteon Governance of Canada, today’s United Nationspartner for this topic; and even local good gov-ernance groups, such as the Galling Pook AwardsFoundation, which has helped to identify some ofthe “best practices” highlighted in thisConference.

Citizens and institutions are tied together in acommon future. Like Russian dolls, the variouslayers of governance are interrelated throughopportunity and interdependency. Only throughrecognition, respect and relationship can insti-tutions and their constituent citizens play fully thesocial, economic, political and administrativeroles which will contribute to a productive andsustainable future. By joining together in theambitious quest for peace and development,citizens can build partnerships of confidence.

These partnerships include a wide variety oflinkages, such as citizen-to-citizen dialogue,government-to-government associations, gov-ernment-market relations and local communitiesunited in protecting their environments. There isno limit to the needs emanating circumstances orthe creativity of people. Nor is there a limit to thenumber of hands that can be mutually extendedand joined to form effective partnerships.

We pursue these partnership strategies with our

Opening Statement by Mr. Guido Bertucci 29

eyes on the prize: increased social and economicwell-being of the people. Strategic alliances havealways evolved in social and political life, but the20th century’s global explosion of informationand the “global market economy” have encour-aged greater numbers of intergovernmental andintersectoral economic alliances. The greatlyaccelerated pace of change and the complexmultiplicity of organizations beg for frameworksfor acting rationally within the globalenvironment and for understanding the futureopportunities with hope and optimism.

Governance requires massive numbers of partner-ships within a society, as well as within the globalcontext. With the above principles in mind, theorganizations within global, national and localcommunities can contribute to “thinking globallyand acting locally”. Although there is an infinitemosaic of partnering organizations and people,this panel and the following workshops willconcentrate on:

• Sharing consensus on major global themesand partnerships that can implement agreedupon actions;

• Leadership by national government initiativesfor partnership with private sector and civilsociety organizations;

• Encouraging the many voices of governanceat all levels of government and society;

• Highlighting partnerships that contribute toeco-society principles at the city level; and

• Empowering people through effectivegovernment, private sector and civil societypartnerships.

It is with this perspective in mind that I invite youto partake in this discussion on partnerships ingovernance, and hope that new perceptions, newunderstanding, and many exciting and effectivepartnerships for governance result from thesediscussions.

Annex IIKeynote Address by H.E. Mr. Hage GeingobKeynote Address by H.E. Mr. Hage GeingobKeynote Address by H.E. Mr. Hage GeingobKeynote Address by H.E. Mr. Hage GeingobPrime Minister of Namibia

Chairman of the EROPA Executive Council,Secretary-General of EROPA, Chairman of theOrganizing Committee, members of the ExecutiveCouncil, ladies and gentlemen,

Last time I had come to this beautiful country,some twenty years ago, as the representative ofNamibia’s liberation movement, SWAPO. But,today, I proudly stand before you as the firstPrime Minister of independent Namibia. I mustsay that when I arrived here yesterday, I waspleasantly surprised to see so much developmenttaking place here. However, I also could not helpbut notice that contact between Asia and Africahas not grown as much as one would have thoughtin this age of globalization. This feeling, Ilearned, was also shared by our Filipino friends.We need better contact between our twocontinents and our two countries. I am thereforevery pleased to be here in an effort to improvecontact across the Indian Ocean.

Of course, Namibia is the child of internationalsolidarity. In our struggle for freedom, we weregreatly supported by the United Nations and manyother countries that you represent here. I thankyou for this support. I thank His Excellency thePresident of the Philippines, and through him thepeople of the Philippines, for this country’s stead-fast support during the difficult years of our strug-gle for liberation. I also take this opportunity tocongratulate the Philippines Civil Service on theoccasion of the celebration of the centennial of itsfounding.

Keeping in view that Namibia became free after along and bitter struggle against the apartheidregime, we have built up some knowledge aboutestablishing and maintaining good government inpost-conflict situations. I was therefore verypleased to accept Mr. Bertucci’s invitation tofocus on this specific theme for this Conference.It is one thing to gain independence, but anotherto create a culture of service to people. This canbe done only by creating conditions for good

governance through transparency, accountabilityand commitment to service to people in partner-ship with other stakeholders.

As we talk about post-conflict situations, certainimages of conflicts come to mind. These imagesare mostly the images of civil wars, of liberationwars and of cross-border conflicts. However, thatwould be too narrow a perception of conflicts.We must also take into account conflicts mani-festing themselves as a result of citizens seekingemancipation from dictatorships, misrule or stateviolence.

Governments coming to power in post-conflictenvironments have to deal with not only thevestiges of conflict, such as damage done toinfrastructure, etc., but also residual conflicts, thatmight take the form of ethnic or racialintolerance; perpetual conflicts, such as thosebetween haves and have nots; and peripheralconflicts created by global issues such as globaltrade, free flow of capital, manipulation ofmarkets and controlling technology transfer.Thus, one could argue that there are no absolutepost-conflict situations. One could also argue thatsome of these conflicts, such as ethnic and racialtensions, have the potential of becoming full-blown conflicts.

Indeed, all of these conflicts pose unique chal-lenges for governments striving to establish andmaintain good governance in “post-conflict”situations. Namibia became independent aftermany years of conflict, and therefore we havesome experience in facing the challenges of goodgovernance in a post-conflict era.

In order to establish and sustain good governancein a post-conflict situation, two important inter-linked issues need to be addressed: consolidatingpeace; and promoting and sustaining governmentmechanisms that are responsive to the needs andexpectations of the citizens.

In an early post-conflict environment, political

Keynote Address by H.E. Mr. Hage Geingob 31

leadership has the responsibility of consolidatingpeace by creating a win-win environment for allthose who were party to the conflict. This requiresthat victor/vanquished perceptions give way to asense of togetherness. There must be a strongelement of inclusivity to give all parties a sense ofbelonging.

To illustrate this point, long years of Namibians’struggle against colonialism had pitched brothersagainst brothers, sons against fathers and whitesagainst blacks. Our first task after independencewas therefore to heal the wounds of war. We didthat by adopting a policy of reconciliation. Itseems to have worked for us in reducing residualconflict at the social level. There is now a greatdeal of tolerance between communities and be-tween races. However, the task is far from com-plete. Social tolerance will be short-lived unless itis supplemented by reconciliation on the econo-mic front by economic empowerment of thosewho were left out of the mainstream of economiclife, who in our case have mostly been the blacks.

In order to promote participation of the dis-advantaged and to bring about inclusivity in thenation’s economic life, we decided to form aPresident’s Economic Advisory Council with itsmembership drawn from all sections of thecommunity. Its task is to be an instrument forsocial and economic emancipation of allNamibians through public sector and privatesector partnership. Within the Council there is agrowing recognition of the need for inclusivityand smart partnership between the variousstakeholders. The most important element is therecognition of the importance of talking withone’s adversaries. One doesn’t make peace withfriends; one makes peace with one’s enemies.

That is why one should not say that one wouldnever talk with the terrorists, as apartheid SouthAfrica used to say. In the end, of course, SouthAfrica had to sign a peace agreement withSWAPO. Ultimately, resolution of any conflictrequires that antagonists sit down and resolvetheir differences.

Our commitment to inclusivity also found mani-

festation in the process of drafting the country’sConstitution. Genuine commitment to inclusivityensured a spirit of give and take. Consequently,within three months we were able to draft aconsensus Constitution that is regarded a one ofthe most liberal in Africa, if not in the world.

The process of drafting the Constitution was thusan opportunity to create a win-win situation thatstrengthened mutual trust and respect between allthe parties.

Consolidation of peace also requires that we havenon-violent mechanisms for letting off steam andfor expressing our disagreement with the govern-ment. A free media and a strong civil society areessential elements of such mechanisms. In Nami-bia, freedom of expression, of the media and ofassociation are guaranteed. This provision hasensured our having a vibrant and free media, andcivic organizations that are becoming quitestrong.

Further, promotion of inclusivity requires thatmechanisms exist for the citizens to participate inpolitical and developmental processes. Namibia isa sparsely populated unitary State, but we alreadyhave regional governments that provide a veryuseful interface between people’s needs andexpectations and the delivery of services. We arenow in the process of institutionalizing this inter-face through the decentralization of some activi-ties, so that the communities might participate inthe planning of development in their regions.Decentralization will also shift the emphasis fromtop-down to bottom-up policy initiatives inaddressing regional developmental issues.

Most importantly, women’s role needs to beemphasized to enhance participation of citizens innational life. As regards women’s participation inpolitical processes, many countries face difficul-ties because not enough women join politics dueto cultural and social constraints. Any countrythat marginalizes 50% of its population isundermining itself. Recognizing the importance ofwomen’s participation in the developmentalprocess, we in Namibia decided to “force” theissue by passing legislation stating that at least


33% of the candidates put forward by eachpolitical party for local government electionsmust be women. The end result has been most

satisfactory. In fact, 40% of the elected candidatesof the ruling party were women. We have thusmade a good start, and it is

our intention to raise the participation of womento 50% at all levels in the not too distant future.

It is my view that consolidation of peace in apost-conflict environment is the most urgent need.Success of this effort requires that there be agenuine commitment to inclusivity.

Further, there seems to be a consensus that goodgovernance means democracy, open markets,small governments, anti-corruption initiatives, etc.However, it would be wrong for us to think thatwe have found the ultimate solution to goodgovernance.

Thus, we must continue to challenge our assump-tions by asking provocative questions: Are wecorrect in our assumptions that the processesidentified by us are necessary or required for goodgovernance? Or have the processes emerged witha life of their own? Has the process become moreimportant than the issue? Has small governmentbecome more important than good governance?

Sometimes I feel that we might have taken a verylinear, prescriptive approach to addressing theissue of good governance. In the tradition ofSocrates, we continue to consider only two issuesat a time and arrive at a decision that one is rightand the other is wrong. There is little room forconcluding that both might be right or both mightbe wrong.

One consequence of this Socratic way of thinkinghas been that we hold on to certain ideologies andclose our minds to others. If we change our mindlater on, the previous ideology will be completelytrashed. We have seen the change in fashion fromcommand economies to market economies, fromone-party State to democracy, from big govern-ment to small government, and from self-relianceto open markets. Frequently, these fashions arepresented to us as canned options.

Good governance implies service to the people.Government’s task is to govern in a way that

optimizes the security and welfare of citizens.The measure of good governance is how far thegovernment is able to improve the quality of lifeof people, tangibly as well as intangibly. If peopleare hungry, good democracy and a good Consti-tution mean very little, for people cannot eatdemocracy; people cannot eat the Constitution.Democracy, accountability, honesty and com-mitment to service are only processes by whichgood governance is delivered.

Good governance must be based on the overallperformance of the State, as measured by theimprovement in the quality of life of the people.There is an inherent danger in measuring gover-nance on the basis of processes alone. The mea-sure of a clock is how accurately it tells time.Whether it is electronic or mechanical is ofsecondary importance.

Good governance is all about partnership of allstakeholders. Such partnership brings about syn-ergies of effort and resources. It is about respectfor government and for the civil society. It isabout concentrating on being constructive in ourapproach. It is about optimizing our resources.Good governance means that all of us, employers,employees and trade unions, work together for thegood of the society. We also need to have trans-parency in our dealings at all levels. Media, inde-pendent judiciary and the parliament are partnersin good governance. One could think of them asmodules that come together to make what we callgood governance.

Processes of good governance have been takingroot in Africa since 1989. In most of the countriesthere has been a transition to multi-party democ-racy. If not, debate on the subject is gainingmomentum.

Such developments give me hope that the nextcentury will be the century of Africa. However,Africa must also own up to the fact that there aresome hot spots that bring disrepute to our con-

tinent. We should not continue to blame thecolonialists or other outside forces for the presentconflicts. We must seek solutions so that ourcontinent’s meager resources can be utilized forthe development of our countries. Africa has

taken the first few steps, and I am sure that with alittle nurturing, a little support and a little under-standing of Africa’s unique heritage, Africa willmarch into the new millennium self-assured andconfident.

Annex 3Address by Ms. Leticia ShahaniAddress by Ms. Leticia ShahaniAddress by Ms. Leticia ShahaniAddress by Ms. Leticia ShahaniFormer Senator of the Philippinesand Former United Nations Assistant Secretary-Generalfor Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs

Ladies and gentlemen,

There are so many partnerships and combinationsof partnerships possible among the multiplevoices and innumerable levels of governance thatit would be impossible for one person to cover thetopic adequately in one statement. In talkingabout governance, we are dealing not only withgoals and objectives, but with processes and, inthe case of governance, the processes might evenbe more important than the goals themselves.Governance has to do with power and authority.But in this Conference, governance, as Iunderstand it, means the exercise of power andauthority for the public good.

In fact, governance has been equated with peoplepower or empowerment. People power, as weunderstand it within its historic context in thePhilippines, means the exercise of power by civilsociety and the private sector to bring down theexisting leadership of the State and replace it withnew leadership. The demonstration of peoplepower at the event which took place on EpifanioDe Los Santos Avenue in 1986, although non-violent in nature, was a confrontational process,one of great upheaval, where an adversary of thepeople was dislodged. There was no partnershipwith the State, but rather the relationship was oneof opposition and tension. Sometimes this adver-sarial, revolutionary relationship is necessary.

The governance which we are talking about nowis of a more peaceful kind, to be pursued bygovernments and their constituencies duringperiods of coexistence and cohabitation. What

concerns us here is how to make governancedynamic, not static, through partnerships, linkagesand networks among the representatives of theState, the civil society and the private sector.Since the time allotted to me is limited, I thoughtthe best approach to adopt would be to use exam-ples of the points I want to make instead oflaunching into a general discussion of buildingpartnerships, which is a topic almost withoutlimit.

In building partnerships with civil society and theprivate sector, the State faces a major challenge. Itmust maintain its far-reaching administrativestructure without placing itself in a rigid bureau-cratic straightjacket, so that it can reach out to thepeople, to NGOs and civil society as a whole. TheState must learn how to balance its position as themost powerful sector in the configuration of gov-ernance in terms of legal authority and budgetaryresources in order to build, not to control, to nur-ture, not to manipulate, a working relationshipwith its partners. Conversely, NGOs must learn tounderstand and use to their advantage theirstrengths and weaknesses, and the private sectormust prove to be a responsible partner, not alooffrom its social responsibilities and interested onlyin profit. Among these strategic partners, theremust be a covenant of shared vision and sharedvalues for sustainable human development toensure the successful implementation ofprogrammes and projects.

Themes of United Nations conferences: genderand development


The United Nations has been instrumental inliterally “spreading the gospel” of the themes ofits major conferences, such as sustainable devel-opment, gender and development, population,environmental protection, etc. To illustrate myfirst type of partnership, let us look at the majorglobal theme “gender and development”. TheUnited Nations has made the role of women amajor concern of governments to the extent that itis now accepted by all sectors that withoutempowering women, who constitute half of theworld’s population, the development of countriescannot move forward. As the UNDP has said,development that is not engendered isendangered.

As the Secretary-General of the Third WorldConference on Women, held in 1985 in Nairobi,Kenya, I can say objectively that the Philippineshas contributed significantly to the formulation ofrelevant and timely recommendations to the Plansof Action of the world conferences on women.Conversely, we take pride that as a member of theUnited Nations, the Philippines has taken to heartthe recommendations of the world conferences onwomen by implementing them from the nationalto the local and on to the grassroots levels. Mil-lions of Filipino women have benefitted, directlyor indirectly, from the implementation of thegoals of the Women’s Decade: equality,development and peace. Laws have been passedin our Congress on issues such as the role ofwomen in nation-building, the anti-rape law andthe annual budgetary allocation of 5% of thebudget of each government department to bespent on women’s programmes and concerns.

The main reason for the effective transmittal andimplementation of United Nations Plans of Actionon women was a tight yet expanding partnershipbetween the three branches of government: theexecutive, the legislative and the judiciary. It goeswithout saying that it was the women in keypositions in these branches of government whospearheaded the policy initiatives from above. Inthe executive branch, the Department of ForeignAffairs, the National Commission on the Role ofFilipino Women, the Departments of Labor and

Education and all other relevant governmentsectors, including local government, within theirown specific mandates, enthusiastically workedon the women’s issues in the formulation of Statepolicies and programmes. NGOs, the privatesector and the citizens themselves provided theimpetus from below.

Former President Fidel Valdez Ramos used tocompare the development process to baking abibingka (a native rice cake), where live charcoalis simultaneously placed on top of and below thecake to ensure its being cooked properly. In otherwords, the top-down approach of government hadto be matched by the trickle-up movement fromthe grassroots level. The two-way momentum inthe women’s movement was helped by the factthat Philippine culture is generally sympathetic togender issues. The dynamic linkage and interfaceon the gender issue among so many actors in theState, the NGOs and the private sector literallybrought about an explosion of enthusiasm andcommitment, creating the critical mass which isso important in bringing about social andeconomic transformation..

But world conferences can be deceptive. They canbe colorful bubbles with a short life span. Thus,the constant need, after world and regional con-ferences, is to continue to monitor and evaluate,especially at the grassroots level, the implemen-tation of programmes and projects. This is whereNGOs and the media have a special role to play. Ibelieve that women’s issues have taken a firmroot in this country. I only hope that moreattention could be paid to rural women.

PopulationA more controversial issue in this country ispopulation. When I began my term as a Senator in1987, the Aquino administration did not articulateclearly its policy on population and had a minimalprogramme on family planning, implementedthrough the Department of Health. Some of us inthe legislative branch of government initiated thesetting up of a foundation called the PhilippineLegislators’ Committee on Population andDevelopment (PLCPD) to fill an important policy

Address by Ms. Leticia Shahani 35

vacuum. Within and outside Congress, PLCPDbecame an advocate of population and devel-opment. The Committee received funding fromprivate foundations and the United Nations. Thus,it did not use government money for its activities.Until the present time, the PLCPD advocates therelationship between population anddevelopment, although it has placed the issue ofpopulation and development within a largercontext of gender, environmental protection,human rights and sustainable development.PLCPD suffers, however, from lack of politicalsupport. The majority of Congressmen andSenators are hesitant to come out publicly forfamily planning for fear of political regressionsfrom the Catholic Church. All the same, thismodel of partnership of legislators withinternational organizations, NGOs, local govern-ment and the people is an important one, especi-ally where there is lack of support for controver-sial themes like population, the articulation andimplementation of which is needed. It goes with-out saying that political and cultural sensitivitiesmust be taken into account.

Another important linkage which the PhilippineLegislators’ Committee on Population andDevelopment was able to forge was with the localUnited Nations system. In most countries, theofficial partner of United Nations organizations islimited to the Executive Branch, since the UnitedNations deals, primarily, with the duly electedgovernment. It is, however, important for theUnited Nations organizations to develop policyand programme linkages with the legislativebranch of government and vice-versa. Althoughthere were some political sensitivity whichsurfaced due to the different political affiliationsof members of Congress, the relationship betweenthe PLCPD and the local United Nations organi-zations was mutually beneficial. This type ofpartnership needs to be reinforced from nationalto local levels of government.

Sustainable human developmentIt is obvious that the matter of governance re-ceives a lot of lip service from government, civilsociety and the private sector. It is an appealing

concept—even revolutionary. However, in orderto ensure that governance will not remain a paperissue, good only for conferences, advocacy andpropaganda, there must be commitment by allconcerned, particularly the State, to truly imple-ment concepts of governance so that the poor andmarginalized can benefit and empowerthemselves for sustainable development. This iswhy the pro-poor policy of President Estrada ishistoric and must succeed to help the poor helpthemselves. True, development policies must havea pro-poor bias, but they should not, indeed, mustnot, institute dole-out social welfare programmeswhich will not empower the poor, but insteadencourage them to be dependent and parasitical.

The most crucial partnerships are those at thegrassroots level, that is, the partnership of thepeople themselves with the State, civil society,the private sector and local government. This isthe bottom line—the litmus test—for governance.Here my experience as founder of the BUDHIFoundation has given me insights on how toimplement, at the grassroots level, trainingprogrammes with the assistance of government ona sustainable basis.

An anecdote will illustrate this point. BUDHI,which has its headquarters in Barangay Tulong inUrdaneta City, Pangasinan, received governmentassistance to conduct a training course on entre-preneurship. The purpose was to assist womenlearn basic business practices such as decidingwhat business to go into, marketing one’s goods,keeping accounts, etc. Since there were no live-lihood projects in the Barangay, our Foundationthought the training course would be welcomeamong the women. Some responded affirmatively,but others were not enthusiastic. Those who wereindifferent to the project explained their reserva-tions: “We don’t want the training course to inter-fere with our tong-its time.” Tong-its is pettygambling. Obviously, spending their free timeafter lunch playing tong-its was more entertainingthan increasing one’s capital through honest laborand discipline.

In finalizing the list of attendees for the trainingcourse, BUDHI replied that only women who


were truly interested in entrepreneurship wouldbe admitted into the training programme, and onlythose who demonstrated business skills and a self-reliant work ethic would be given loans at lowinterest. The message got through, so that atgraduation time, the trainees even offered to payfor the merienda (snacks) for the occasion. Self-respect is an important ingredient in the relation-ship between people, on the one hand, andgovernment, civil society and the private sector,on the other. Partners in governance must respecteach other, and even the poorest should contributesomething to projects designed for them. Other-wise, the poor will feel they have no stake in theprogramme and will remain indifferent.

At the grassroots level, the role of a credible,reliable NGO as a facilitating agency to improvethe lives of people can be crucial. It is at thegrassroots level where government, even localgovernment, is often absent, inefficient or toobureaucratic to be effective. The governmentneeds NGOs as reliable partners. People at thegrassroots level also need an NGO to be a catalystand facilitator, not a crutch for dependency.

ConclusionEarlier I said that the partners in governance musthave a shared vision of and shared values for sus-tainable human development for successful imple-mentation of programmes and projects. The out-standing example of the Grameen Bank comes tomind.

Implementing a shared vision of a society based

on democracy, the rule of law, respect for humanrights and fundamental freedoms, a culture ofpeace, the life of the mind and the spirit, not onlyat the grassroots but also at the national andglobal level, seems to be the immediate task of theUnited Nations, governments, NGOs and theprivate sector on the matter of governance as weenter the 21st century.

The means to implement the shared vision mustbe through shared values. Means and ends are,after all, interrelated. As a Senator, I advocatedthe Moral Recovery Programme with a view tomaking ethical values the means to implementnational development. The values of honesty,transparency, cooperation, efficiency, self-reliance, discipline and commitment to the com-mon good are indispensable to governance. Theremust be an end to graft and corruption, nepotism,greed and self-aggrandizement in public life.Otherwise, misery, injustice and poverty willplague a globalizing society, no matter howtechnologically and scientifically advanced it is.

In the end, people themselves, not governments,NGOS or the private sector, must be the agents aswell as the beneficiaries of development andgovernance. That is the true justification of build-ing partnerships among the multiple voices andlevels of governance. Sustainable human devel-opment, based on ethical values and scientificprinciples, is the challenge to governance in the21st century.

Annex 4Background PaperBackground PaperBackground PaperBackground PaperBuilding Partnerships for Governance

A. Introduction: sharing power, responsibility and achievement

National governance refers to the process ofmanaging—through the involvement of broad-based stakeholders—the economic, political, andsocial affairs of a country and of using its natural,financial and human resources in the interests ofall people. Good governance adheres to theprinciples of participation, fairness, equity,efficiency, transparency and accountability.

The concept of governance, therefore, is broaderthan the traditional concepts of government andgoverning characterized by unilateral, monopo-listic exercise of authority by governing eliteswithin a specific national boundary. The emerginginterpretation of governance emphasizes anincreasing role for citizens, including women,youth and other minority groups, based on, forexample, ethnicity, religion and national origin.This emerging definition of governance specific-ally involves active participation of citizens ascommunity members, as organizations and asindividuals. The former hierarchical concept ofthe “rulers and the ruled” denied a role for moststakeholders, relegating them to recipients ofpolicies and programmes.

Likewise, it is fitting to view “governance” in aglobal perspective because societies throughoutthe world are experimenting with new governancemethods and widening the arena for participationof citizens and organizations. Current trends ofglobalization and global interdependence, such asthe issues of environmental degradation, impactevery nation state, their governments and all peo-ple. We are truly inter-related. One can speak of“global governance”, including all the traditionalmechanisms of international relations and theemerging activities within international relation-ships between non-governmental organizationsrelated to markets and networks.

Mega-trends such as globalization, urbanization,global environmental changes and sweeping

privatization are beyond the capacity of anynational government to handle. These trendsrequire a wide range of partnerships at global,national and local levels. To these global issuesmust be added technological innovations, such asthe Internet and computer applications that makethe global exchange of information instantane-ously possible and give citizens and institutionsthe opportunity for sharing information, valuesand experiences in a borderless society. The tradi-tional models of governing and governments havefailed to address many problems of the economyand the environment. Today, the ability of thesetraditional models to control the information flowand the people who use it is limited, while theopportunity for citizens to form alliances andmovements at regional and global levels is almostunlimited. It is in this global context that the newconcept of governance becomes most relevant.

As a comprehensive and inclusive concept, goodgovernance is an all-encompassing, highly partici-patory, dynamic and engaging process. It seekssolutions to problems through dialogue and com-municative action, engagement through the inter-actions of citizens and non-governmental organi-zations (NGOs) and governmental institutions.Partnership, therefore, has become the centralrequirement of good governance.

Partnership implies joint and voluntary endeav-ours toward a common purpose. In the context ofgood governance, partnership is essential andrequires genuine participation of the stakeholders.The leading role of the state is very important forencouraging and building meaningful partnershipsamong various sectors of society at all levelsbecause many countries still lack strong, indepen-dent private-sector and civic organizations. Theessence of effective partnership, therefore, issharing power, responsibility and achievement.This is a noble idea aspired to by many civiliza-


tions. It is also a responsibility of the State toprovide the enabling environment and to empowercitizens for playing an effective partnership rolein the process of governance.

Partnerships involve the pooling and exchange ofknow-how, information and experience amongpartners. Sharing experiences is especially essen-tial because many institutions, governmental ornon-governmental, are conducting cutting-edgeexperiments unknown to other institutions.

The concept of partnership-based, participatorygovernance recognizes that expertise, initiative,responsibility and accountability are widelyshared throughout the society, rather than beingsolely within the realm of central government.A society with a strong governance frameworkincludes and benefits from well-developed,capable, institutionalized and active stakeholderssuch as local governments, NGOs, citizens and

private sector organizations. Furthermore, theconcept of partnership-based governance impliesa learning environment in which worldwideexperiences are shared and even linked tostimulate responsiveness, openness, transparencyand accountability. It can also lead to innovation,competence, efficiency and effectiveness.

This background paper discusses the following:

• Why build governance partnerships now?

• Preconditions for building governancepartnerships;

• Levels of partnership from local to national toglobal;

• Obstacles to building effective partnerships;and

• Strategies and models of partnership-building.

B. Why build governance partnerships now?B. Why build governance partnerships now?B. Why build governance partnerships now?B. Why build governance partnerships now?

A Persian proverb explains why partnership isimportant: “A single hand does not make soundalone, but when two hands clap together theymake sounds.” This is also true of any culture.Partnership and collaboration are keys to thesurvival of social institutions. Partnerships are akey to governance for the following majorreasons:

1. Partnerships promote creativity, innovation,synergy, a stronger ability to tackle big problems, participation and responsibility.

2. Partnerships are increasingly importantbecause interdependence connects peoples,nation-states, cultures, governments, businessesand non-governmental civil organizations.Moreover the global exchange of information hasbecome very easy. Internet and other computerapplications have enabled citizens around theworld to communicate and share information ofmutual interest and concern almost anywhere onthe planet. Partnerships among peoples and civilas well as governmental organizations across theworld are facilitated by information technology.

3. Globalization and global issues have createda formidable necessity for building global part-nerships between all stakeholders of governance.With the fall of the Soviet Union and the end ofthe Cold War, a new world order has emerged,with marketization, economic globalization andpolitical pluralism. As a consequence, manynation-states have sought to for strategic alliancesfor protection and development. These allianceshave been active in varying degrees at global,regional and sub-regional levels. By joining theglobal economy, governments are increasingeconomic opportunities, but at the same timeexposing their nation-based companies to purecompetition. Along with globalization strategies,governments need to develop social safety nets toprotect their most vulnerable citizens from thenegative consequences of globalization.

4. Global problems such as environmentaldeterioration, wars, ethnic conflicts, poverty,health crises, migration and refugee problems,are beyond any government’s capacity to solve.They require both formal and informal global

Background Paper 39

partnerships.

5. Learning organizations are adapting to therapid changes of their environments by acquiringinformation about their surrounding environ-ments. Governments and citizens need to do thesame by joining in partnership systems for effec-tive governance. Learning about best practices forgood governance is an important process in stimu-lating the development of effective governance.People can learn from conferences, such as thisone, and help build order through adaptation bylearning and self-regulating processes.

6. Partnerships contribute to involvement, thequality of good governance and service delivery,administration, political support and stabilityamong governments, citizens, the private sectorand NGOs.

7. Partnerships require genuine participation,which contributes to democratic, good gover-nance and sustainable development for socialwell-being.

8. The financial-economic motives for partner-ship concern, for example, the limited financialcapacity of governments for investments, which

make the prospects of private sector co-financingvery important. With the governments runningbudget deficits, the private sector can step in as aco-financier in capital projects with long andshort-term returns. This kind of partnershiprequires, and creates, significant mutual inter-dependence among the partners.

9. The strategic-managerial motives for part-nership concern the central issues of efficiencythrough the application of business-like measuresof cost effectiveness, cost-control and othercriteria used in the private sector. Efficiency is animportant criterion for effective governance, but itis not the overriding one; effectiveness is equallyimportant. Therefore, the central motive of effec-tiveness becomes strategically important to gov-ernments in forming partnerships with varioussectors of society, including private sector insti-tutions, NGOs and other civic organizations. Thestrategic motive of effectiveness drives govern-ments to draw on certain innovations, technology,expertise and skills found in non-governmentaland private sector organizations for an extendedperiod.

C. Preconditions for building effective partnerships

The many conditions for building and sustainingsuccessful and effective governance partnershipsprovide a useful framework for describing actualcases of partnerships, especially public-privatepartnerships, as well as for prescribing potentialpartnerships. Two sets of conditions are recog-nized: primary, start-up conditions and processconditions:

Primary, start-up conditionsThe primary, start-up conditions are in two forms:interdependence and convergence of objectivesand accommodation or reconciliation of goals.The increasing recognition of interdependencebetween governments and other actors in society(private sector businesses, non-governmentalorganizations, cooperative system organizations,

etc.) is an essential foundation of buildingeffective partnerships.

Interdependence means that no party alone iscapable of conceiving and implementing ideas,policies and programmes of any significant mag-nitude, especially the ones with consequentialexternalities. Interdependence also means that theapplication of the “law of relative advantage” canbe used for efficiency and effectiveness. It meansthat all parties share information, technology andorganizational and financial resources to inter-dependently complement each other for morehybrid and synergetic results. Meeting the inter-dependence condition is essential, but notsufficient for effective partnership.

Convergence means that the objectives ofdifferent parties in a partnership need to be


connected so that understanding, consensus andcooperation may follow. This means that, at least,the objectives of the parties should not be incom-patible. At the lowest level, the conditions ofaccommodation or reconciliation must be met.Accommodation means willingness to work withothers with differences and on limited basis.Accommodation does not require compatibility orconvergence of objectives, but it does require anabsence of combatting claims, the recognition of aneed for reconciliation, at least on a temporarybasis. Therefore, reconciliation means joiningpoints of difference and differing objectives forcommon interests. It does not remove differences,but turns them into irrelevant points in the junc-tures of interactions. Such dual conditions ofaccommodation and reconciliation bring partiescloser on matters of mutual interest or concern.

Recognizing interdependence and identifying theconvergence of objectives, as well as accommo-dation and reconciliation, are facilitated if at leastone of the following “secondary start-up condi-tions”, also called “linking mechanisms”, ispresent: a network or a broker. A networkthrough which individuals of various parties meetone another informally creates the opportunity foropen channels of communication and consulta-tion. Independent brokers as facilitators canbridge the gap when the existence of the networkis impossible or inadequate. Therefore, bothnetworks and brokers play important supplemen-tary roles in establishing the start-up conditionsfor effective partnership building.

Process conditionsThe following constitute major process conditionsfor building and sustaining an effective partner-ship in governance:

Mutual trust and good faith in the focussed areasof partnership. Trust is important when enteringinto cooperation relations and maintaining thefunctioning of those relations. Trust brings outmutual respect, recognition and adaptation andconstitutes the lubricating oil in complex coop-eration relations such as multiple-partypartnerships.

Recognition of limitations of each partner. Eachgovernance partner has limitations and constraintsin its relations with the other. But in formal gov-ernance processes, the State can carry greaterstrength than others and thus can develop anenabling environment for recognizing differencesand the respective strengths.

Clarification—and recording—of objectives andstrategies. In any partnership, there are manyambiguities or disagreements as to the objectivesand the way they should be achieved.Clarification and coordination play key roles in asuccessful partnership. The division of costs,inputs, risks and returns and the sharing ofresponsibilities and authority, both between andwithin the partners, are essential.

Linking aims of projects to verifiable andmeasurable details. As a process, partnershipincludes dynamics of participants, power struc-tures and the rules of the game. Phasing achieve-ments of aims helps smooth out relationships andperformance through a dynamic process, charac-terized by flexibility, adjustability and adaptation.

Creating conflict regulations and conflictresolution mechanisms. Any partnership willlikely result in conflicts that need to be managedor resolved. Spelling out rules, regulations andprocedures, as well as identifying conflict resolu-tion mechanisms, such as negotiation, mediationor arbitration, are very important.

Focussing on issues, problems and goals ofpartnerships. Effective conflict resolution alsorequires separating issues and problems frompersonalities, as well as focussing on the problemitself and finding creative solutions.

Identifying and spelling out legal issues andprocedures. Government, being the guardian of“common interests”, must also weigh the intereststhat it wants to serve through partnership, especi-ally with the private sector, against the interests ofall people and organizations that may be directlyor indirectly influenced by partnerships. Legalconsiderations are central to the State and the pri-vate sector because without laws and regulations,chaos will prevail and there will be no assurance

Background Paper 41

in either partner’s commitment to obligations.

Protection of each partner’s interests and rights.In case of partnership with a private sectororganization, two elements are important:

• Profitability of the business enterprises; and

• Accountability and observance of law inprotecting the overall rights of citizens.

Adequate support and control facilities thatenhance partnerships. This is an enabling rolethat the State must play because many NGOs maylack the institutional know-how, expertise andresources necessary for effective governancepartnership.

Internal and external coordination throughformal and informal processes, networks andmechanisms. Safeguards against duplication andwaste result from partnership through whichnecessary channels of communication, dataprocessing systems and feedback loops developand enhance understanding and reduce conflictsand misconceptions among partners.

Appropriate and adequate organizationalarrangements, management and skills for policydevelopment, analysis and implementation/administration in partnership-based governancemust be in place. Often, confusion arises as tohow and when an issue becomes a matter ofpolicy concern and through what process such adecision should be made. Similarly, implemen-tation of policy decisions can become problematicif responsibilities and authorities are not defined.

The ultimate responsibility and accountability ofany governance partnership rests on the shouldersof the government, because it is the governmentthat must be accountable to its people, not theother governing partner, unless the partner is thedirect beneficiary of the administration. Lack ofcoordination and of integrated organizationalarrangements is a central impediment to thesuccessful implementation of any partnershipeffort. Therefore, appointment of project leaderswith far-reaching authorities acceptable to allparties is highly desirable.

D. Levels of partnership for governanceD. Levels of partnership for governanceD. Levels of partnership for governanceD. Levels of partnership for governance

Partnerships occur on three levels: global,national and local.

GlobalOne of the most important factors influencing thenecessity and formation of global partnerships isthe existence of significant crosscutting issues,such as the environment, including the greenagenda (environmental deterioration issues), thebrown agenda (issues of environmentally causedloss of workforce productivity and related prob-lems), migration, poverty, refugees, wars, rapidurbanization, natural disasters and a host of otherproblems. The spillover effects of these issuesforce governments, international organizationssuch as the United Nations and citizens of theworld to seek partnership-based solutions to theseproblems that transcend national boundaries.

For effective handling of these internationalissues, the United Nations can play an important

role as a facilitating and enforcing body in a widerange of global governance partnerships. It is alsoan effective partner in many partnership arrange-ments for global and regional peace anddevelopment.

The United Nations and its specialized agencies,including the World Bank and the InternationalMonetary Fund, are very important partners inaddressing and seeking solutions to many of theseproblems. Global partnerships can also be builtbetween governments, governments and civilsocieties, NGOs and governments, regionalalliances and individual national governments,private sectors and global/national governmentsand global people-centered movements such asenvironmentalists and other independent socialorganizations. Partnerships are also helpfultoward building a global community andcitizenship.


While partnerships are important to solving manyproblems of global scale and in promoting oppor-tunities for global citizens, regional partnershipscannot be ignored. In fact, regional partnershipsare being formed through regional alliances, bothgovernmental and non-governmental, environ-mentalists and other citizen-based groups andorganizations. These regional groupings attemptto counter some of the negative consequences ofglobalization, such as labour displacement, loss ofcommunity control to global firms and massivepollution. Examples include, the European Union,the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN), the Organization of Islamic Countries(OIC) and the Arab League.

NationalNational partnerships can be built by the stake-holders of national governance, including nationalgovernments with the civil society, NGOs, theprivate sector, etc. Here, partnerships can take theforms of market-state, state-citizens, state-civilsociety, government-NGOs, state-regional organi-zations, sectoral functions-civil society/privatesectors in health and education and others,government-university, intergovernmental organi-zations, public-private enterprises and national-local governments, national state-regional govern-ment cooperation, etc. Two specializedworkshops of this conference focus on buildingpartnerships for national governance: one on“National Governance Mechanisms FosteringPartnerships” and the other on “Mobilizing CivilSociety for National Partnerships”.

LocalLocal governments are the key implementers ofpolicy decisions and produce the outcomes ofthose decisions in the governance process. It isusually at this level that needs are assessed andimplementation takes place. In addition, localgovernments are closer to citizens and stake-holders, and they must be accessible and respon-sive to citizens. Therefore, local governance is

extremely important because it is the central arenafor public participation and the democraticexercise of citizens’ rights.

Partnerships for local governance are being pro-moted all over the globe. Sister cities are an estab-lished partnership tradition that continues to playa key role in local governance. Cities of differentnations communicate with each other, transcend-ing their respective national boundaries. Thissharing of information, cultural exchange andother communication help solve many commonproblems, such as traffic, poverty and health.

Moreover, many problems of local governmentsare now global in nature, and they require globalthinking and solutions. “Thinking globally andacting locally” is a key expression of today’sdynamic environment of good governance, parti-cularly for environmental governance. Citiesaround the world share similar problems of gov-ernance. Their partnerships and cooperation at aglobal level, through international exchanges,conferences, exchanges of personnel and leader-ship skills, are examples of such partnerships.

Local partnerships can be built between govern-ments and citizens; governments and non-govern-mental or civic organizations; governments andreligious/cultural organizations; governments anduniversities; governments and civil society orprofessional organizations; governments and theprivate sector; and governments and globalcorporations or supranational agencies. Thesepartnerships can enhance the quality of gover-nance at the local level. They promote sustainabledevelopment, help prevent and reduce manysocial problems such as poverty and crime, andreduce other pressures facing local government ingeneral. Eco-partnerships for the cultivation of aneco-society among citizens, NGOs, enterprises,specialized research institutions, mayors, etc. isan example of local partnership and will be thesubject of one of the workshops during thisConference.

E. Obstacles to building partnershipsE. Obstacles to building partnershipsE. Obstacles to building partnershipsE. Obstacles to building partnerships

Background Paper 43

Every partnership faces obstacles. Obstacles canbe transformed into challenging opportunities ifmutual cooperation, good will, trust and respectprevail in the relationship among parties. Dealingwith obstacles to partnership-building is one ofthe most fundamental preconditions that must beaddressed. Obstacles appear in a variety of forms.

DistrustThe absence of mutual recognition and respectcan lead to unwillingness to negotiate. Recog-nition, respect and trust build slowly throughaccomplishing joint activities. Deep suspicion,based on ethnic, religious, political, ideological,geographic or exogenous factors, divides govern-ments, thereby minimizing the possibilities toforge partnerships on problems of commonconcern. In these cases, finding common ground,using accommodation and/or reconciliationstrategies rather than insisting on convergence canbuild limited coordination and later heartfeltcooperation for achieving common interests. Inthe close confines of partnership process, diverseentities may learn that their diversity is wider thanexpected and in some forms, intolerant. In thiscase, power-sharing is eroded by distrust.

The widening gap between the North and SouthnationsRegional disparities as well as national disparitiespose a major problem for global and regionalpartnerships. Similarly, disparities in capacity,resources and power structure among members ofpartnership systems are serious threats to the suc-cessful implementation of partnership agreements.Within each nation, limitations of resources andskills make partnerships among NGOs, civicorganizations and the private sector unparallel.By the same token, some local governments, suchas those of national capitals or major centers ofcommerce and industry, can be better off thanothers and have greater power in their partner-ships with weaker entities.

High expectationsExpectations that partnerships will solveproblems easily create undue dependency throughthe underdog’s often exaggerated expectationsthat stronger partners should carry nearly theentire burden.

F. Strategies and models of partnership-building

Strategies for partnershipDespite the obstacles, several strategies which canassist in building and sustaining effective part-nerships for good governance are describedbelow.

Adaptive strategies inform governance actors toaccurately read their changing environmentaldynamics and consider strategic choices forpartnership-building to maximize chances of suc-cessful governance and to avoid being behind thestate of the art in governance. Adaptive strategiesmay or may not be the real choices the gover-nance actors opt for, but environmental adaptationrequires modification and compromise inapproaches for partnership-building without com-promising principles. An example of adaptivestrategy for partnership-building can be seen in

urban governance systems adopting sister cityalliances and partnerships for staying up to dateand for sharing the latest information on localurban eco-system issues and concerns.

Proactive strategies may or may not be adaptive,but they are calculated, deliberate and criticalchoices of partnership for successful governanceat all levels, especially at global and regionallevels. Proactive strategies are real choicesgovernments may opt for to either: (a) genuinelyinvolve actors of civil society and share powerand responsibility to enhance governance process;or (b) build alliances for dominance, aggressionand control of governance domains at all levels.The latter type of strategy does not reallycontribute to genuine partnership for goodgovernance. Examples of proactive strategies


abound and almost all national governmentspursue such strategies in international relations.Proactive strategies are very effective if they aregenuinely pursued for mutual interests.

Reactive strategies are the opposite of partner-ship-building. They are a reaction to chains ofevents or the effects of actions, causing thenecessity for partnership-building. Reactivestrategies may or may not be the real choices forpartnership-building, but they become necessaryas a reaction to adversarial or competitive actions.An example of this type of strategic choice mayinclude regional security alliances that aretypically formed by governments in reaction towhat others have done.

Accommodative strategies are approaches topartnership-building that aim to manage andreconcile conflicting interests and that wouldprevent tensions or escalation of contradictions.Accommodative strategies help build tolerance inthe governance process. Neighbouring nation-states may form agreements on how to fight issuessuch as terrorism, collective fighting of the illegaldrug trade and so on.

Neutralizing strategies are deliberate attempts bygovernments to neutralize oppositions and poten-tial threats. Governments form partnerships withother governments or with adversarial parties on alimited basis to prevent or reduce the escalationof hostility and possible wars. It is not a strategyof appeasement, but rather a strategy of disarmingthe adversaries and opportunists. Such a partner-ship is only possible for fragmented, specificpolicy areas, and is not comprehensive at all.Two governments may form partnerships onmaintaining peace and order on their borders withethnic disturbances, whereas they may be at oddson many other issues.

Each of these strategies, and possibly others, helppromote building various models of partnership atall levels of governance, some more appropriateat global and national levels than others.

Models of PartnershipSeveral models can be considered for building

partnership in the governance process. Thesemodels use strategic considerations.

The autonomous model of partnership is built onthe premise of independence exercised by allparties on an equal basis. The strategies to buildthis kind of partnership may include (a) Stateinitiation with NGOs, citizens and the privatesector; (b) initiation through proposals and policyidea formulations with government by all otherpartners; and (c) third party initiation to pull gov-ernment and other parties into partnership-building at local and national levels. At the globallevel, the autonomous model is most applicablewhere national sovereignty is preserved throughindependent strategies. The United Nations can bevery effective in such partnership-building.

The interdependence model is very commonamong nation-states at regional and global levels.Such a partnership is based on the premise that allparties are living in an interdependent world inwhich no one is self-sufficient or has the capabi-lity and resources to deal with problems of aninterdependent world. All nations as well asvarious local governments, are linked interdepen-dently, so their cooperation for solving problemsand the provision of public goods and services isessential. The same rationale is applied tobuilding an interdependence model of partnershipwithin any society. Interdependence generates asense of community, togetherness andregeneration of energy for policy solutions andcreative ideas. In fact, interdependence is anessential factor for building partnerships.

The globalization-convergence model is premisedon the forces of globalization—finance, produc-tion, marketing, state and political integration andcultural, economic and policy convergence.Partnership-building becomes an important formalstructural shift to pave the way for economic,cultural and policy convergence to the globallydominant forces of power structure.

The convergence theory holds that with economicmarket convergence, cultural and policy-gover-nance convergence follow, hence a global con-vergence partnership is built against all perceived

Background Paper 45

and potential adversaries or challengers. This is apotentially repressive partnership model, ratherthan building free partnerships, for the dictationof unilateral policy choices to the rest of theworld.

The hybrid model is a combination of the abovemodels. It is hybrid in that it resembles features ofall models, yet it may display its own distinctcharacteristics. A synergy of various models tendsto develop under this model.

The elite model is the most common feature ofmodern governance partnership-building, with thepremise that elites—economic-corporate andpolitical elites—dominate the policy arena ofgovernance almost everywhere. Elite partnershipstake place on a daily basis for market expansionand domination, control of the power structure,national interests and the exclusion of non-elitemasses from strategic decision structures formany reasons. Elite-controlled governancepositions can be based on assumptions that non-elite masses are less suitable for playing keygovernance roles, therefore reserving such rightsand privileges for themselves. Elites may alsoexclude non-elites purely for self-interest, both

economic and political.

The elite model of partnership-building is acommon practice among governments—oftendominated by business/corporate elites—withsimilar elites at other levels of governance andwith sub-national and regional governmentscontrolled by other elites. Most countries aregoverned by powerful elites who represent theupper socio-economic class as well as themilitary-industrial class. The elite model ofpartnerships creates a hierarchy of elites and ofpartnerships across the globe and denies theviability of pure voluntary networking structure.

To be successful, these elites must include civilsociety, the private sector and NGOs in thegovernance process so they can build a shield ofprotection against the encroachment of globaldominance. This means sharing power with non-elites for broad common interests. All types ofstrategies may become relevant or even necessaryto build partnerships under this elite model.Sharing power, responsibility and achievement is,therefore, the essence of effective partnership-building.

G.G.G.G. Conclusion: Sustaining Transparent PartnershipsConclusion: Sustaining Transparent PartnershipsConclusion: Sustaining Transparent PartnershipsConclusion: Sustaining Transparent Partnerships

Building partnerships is one of the most essentialrequirements of good governance. While buildingeffective partnership is the first and essential steptowards developing good governance that ischaracterized by participation, efficiency, effec-tiveness, etc., transparency is the most importantrequirement for sustaining such a partnership.

Transparency in partnership helps remove manynegative effects that partnership itself may cause.Specifically, transparency:

• Develops trust as a building block of work-able partnerships;

• Facilitates open exchange of accurate infor-mation with the public and strengthens thelinkages among varying parties in thegovernance process; and

• Enhances the opportunities for evolving theforms and models of partnerships from possi-ble corruption and hence leads to fair models.

Transparency in partnerships, therefore, bringsvarying partners together and enhances theirchances of promoting a healthy community ofworking relationships towards the common good.Transparency can allow good relationships to besustained as the transactions which are subject topublic scrutiny can therefore make the partnershipitself accountable.

While transparency helps build public trust,accountability promotes responsibility, fairnessand equality. Both transparency and account-ability work as forces of consolidation andenhancement in the process of building andsustaining effective partnerships for good


governance at local, national and global levels.

The need for building transparent partnerships ismuch stronger today than ever before, mostnotably because of many scandals revealed in theAsian financial crisis. This new environmentrequires significant transparency for solvingglobal problems.

There are many preconditions for building andsustaining effective, transparent partnerships, aswell as numerous obstacles. However, opportu-nities for building partnerships for governance areunlimited at all levels. Formal structures, such asgovernments, and informal structures, such asNGOs, the private sector and other civic-basedorganizations that share concerns and voicesimilar ideas across national borders, are growingin number, and their influence on formalgovernment policies cannot be ignored. In thisenvironment of global interdependence,

partnership becomes both a challenge and anecessity for good governance.

Strategies and models of partnership-buildingabound. What is needed is courage, initiative andpromotion of a global partnership based onequality, transparency, accountability, mutualrespect and recognition of both weaknesses andstrengths. Local partnership is no longer a local ornational issue; it has already become a globalissue for many national governments. Globalcitizenship is not a utopian idea beyond reach;it can be developed as long as there is will andaction, not based on corporate greed or globaldomination by emerging empires. Human civili-zation has been advanced by partnerships, not bydestruction or repression. Let’s help build part-nerships for peace and economic justice for all ina global village, in which all citizens will sharepower, responsibility and achievement.

Annex 5ProgrammeProgrammeProgrammeProgramme3rd day plenary session and five workshops organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs3 June 1999

Plenary Session: Building Partnerships for Governance—Global, National and Local

Greetings andintroduction

Mr. Guido Bertucci, Director,Division for Public Economics andPublic Administration, UNDESA

Keynotespeaker

H.E. Mr. Hage Geingob, PrimeMinister, Namibia

Establishing and Maintaining GoodGovernance in Post-Conflict Situations

Panellists Ms. Leticia Shahani, FormerPhilippine Senator and former UnitedNations Assistant Secretary-Generalfor Social Development andHumanitarian Affairs

Building Partnerships among the MultipleVoices and Levels of Governance

Professor Ali Farazmand, FloridaAtlantic University, USA

Strategies for Building and SustainingPartnerships for Governance

Rapporteur Professor John Halligan, Universityof Canberra, Australia

Good governance requires a comprehensive andeffective partnership that embraces all sectors ofsociety. The role of the State in promoting part-nerships among various actors of civil society,including NGOs and private sector, is of criticalimportance for achieving good governance atlocal, national and global levels. Likewise,empowering people among themselves, locally,nationally and globally, through partnerships, isessential for the same desired goals of goodgovernance. International organizations can also

play a pivotal role in good governance. Thisplenary session focuses on the linkages of majorglobal themes with national and local governanceprocesses; building partnerships among multiplevoices and levels of governance; establishing andmaintaining good governance in post-conflictsituations; and empowering people through effec-tive partnerships in civil society. The plenary willbe followed by in-depth discussion on how tobuild and maintain effective global, national andlocal partnership in six separate working groups.


Workshop I: The Role of World Conferences in Developing Global Partnerships

Moderator Professor Ali Farazmand, FloridaAtlantic University, USA

Panellists Mr. Guido Bertucci, Director,Division for Public Economics and PublicAdministration, UNDESA

Developing the Global GovernanceAgenda

Ms. Rosalind Harris, former President ofthe Conference of Non-GovernmentalOrganizations in Consultative Status withthe United Nations Economic and SocialCouncil (CONGO)

The Role of Non-GovernmentalOrganizations in Global Conferences

Mr. Oscar de Rojas, InterregionalAdviser, UNDESA, former Ambassador ofVenezuela, former Chairman of the SecondCommittee of the United Nations GeneralAssembly

The Role of IntergovernmentalOrganizations in Global Conferences

Mr. Arata Fujii, Counsellor, Embassy ofJapan, Manila, the Philippines

Promoting South-South Cooperation

Rapporteur Professor Ali Farazmand, FloridaAtlantic University, USA

In the last decade, the major world conferencesorganized by the United Nations have focussedworld attention on some of the most pressingissues of our time—the environment, women,human rights, population, infrastructure andsettlements, social development and publicadministration for development. The declarationsand programmes of action generated by theseworld conferences have laid a historic foundationfor future generations. The agendas set forth andagreed to at each of these meetings by the heads

of governments not only articulate the highestaspirations of the world community, but also giveclear guidance on how governments can designand implement action programmes for reachingthese goals, in part, through mutually reinforcingregional, national and local partnerships. Thepanellists will provide perspectives on partnershipmodalities that have been employed toward theattainment of these goals in their respectiveregions, and shed light on other inter-regional andSouth-South initiatives.

Programme 49

Workshop II: The Role of Universities in Promoting Global Partnerships

Moderator Dr. Hideo Sato, Acting Director, theLeadership Academy, United NationsUniversity

Panellists Dr. Emil Q. Javier, President,University of the Philippines

The Role of Universities in PromotingGlobal Partnerships

Dr. Hideo Sato, Acting Director, theLeadership Academy, United NationsUniversity

Role of Universities in GlobalGovernance

Dr. Makitaro Hotta, Acting Director,Rits Center for Asia and Pacific Studies,Ritsumeikan University

Developing Governance Leaders

Dr. Dino Guerritore, Coordinator of theInternational Relations Commission,University La Sapienza, Rome

Strengthening Cooperation betweenUniversities and InternationalOrganizations for Better Governance

Rapporteur Dr. Hideo Sato, Acting Director, theLeadership Academy, United NationsUniversity

Academia has long played a pivotal role as acatalyst and focalizer of national aspirations.Indeed, universities are a resource of intellectualcapital and institutions of educating futureleaders, which are critical to promoting andrealizing global partnerships. This panel willexamine the “process” of developing partnerships,as well as the key “content” areas in whichuniversities can provide invaluable input to globalpartnerships. It will explore traditional

mechanisms of academic partnership acrossacademic disciplines, through twinningarrangements, international educational exchange,association with regional and global academicbodies and participation in a myriad ofdevelopment initiatives. It will also elaborate onthe role of universities in the international arenaand how to strengthen cooperation betweenUniversities and international organizations.


Workshop III: National Governance Mechanisms Fostering Partnerships

Moderator Dr. Akira Nakamura, Professor,Meiji University

Panellists Dr. Leonora Briones, Director ofBudget, Ministry of Finance, ThePhilippines

National Governance: Resource Base

Mr. Dai Guangqian, Vice Minister incharge of Civil Servants and HumanResources Development, China

National Governance: Human ResourceBase

Mr. Sum Manit, State Secretary forAdministrative Reform, Cambodia

National Partnerships in ReconstructingGovernments

Dr. John Halligan, Professor, Universityof Canberra

National Governance andDecentralization

Rapporteur Dr. Akira Nakamura

Globalization, among other powerful factorsimpacting on all societies, is requiring new andinnovative responses from government to meetthe needs of their constituencies. Decentralizedstructures and participatory governance requirenew mechanisms to ensure for coordination andcooperation across levels of government, as wellas actors of national governance. This panel willexplore new modalities and mechanisms fornational government partnerships, as well as the

potential for re-constituting traditional mecha-nisms with the benefit of new technologies.Panellists will highlight the role of the State inworking collaboratively with different parts ofgovernment and proactively with relevant actorsin civil society to create synergies and maximizecontributions toward their joint societal aspira-tions. They will also share experiences onpartnership mechanisms which aim at peacefulsolutions to conflicting situations.

Programme 51

Workshop IV: Mobilizing Civil Society for National Partnerships

Moderator Ms. Jeanne-Marie Col, InterregionalAdviser, DPEPA/DESA/UN

Key Speaker Ms. Miriam Defensor-Santiago,Senator, the Philippine Senate

Involving Civil Society in PolicyFormulation

Prof. Francis Delpérée, l’UniversitéCatholique de Louvain, Belgium

Mobilization of Civil Society inGovernance

Mr. Christopher GotancoPresident, Anglo-Philippine HoldingsCorporation

Corporate Governance and SocialResponsibility

Rapporteur Ms. Jeanne-Marie Col, InterregionalAdviser, DPEPA/DESA/UN

In today’s multi-dimensional and interconnectedworld, it is becoming increasingly clear that onlyby working in tandem can government and itsconstituent citizens realize a productive andsustainable future. The panellists will highlightmodalities for bringing civil society, grassrootsorganizations, NGOs, and other institutional andcommunity stakeholders into policy formulation

and service delivery. The pivotal role played byNGOs in facilitating communication betweengovernment and civil society, as well as in advo-cacy will be discussed. The role andresponsibility of the private sector will also beexplored looking at corporate and socialresponsibility, job creation, communitydevelopment, and environmental protection.


Workshop V: Building Eco-Partnership in Local Governance

Moderator Ms. Itoko Suzuki, Chief, Governanceand Public Administration Branch,DPEPA/DESA/UN

Panellists Ms. Angela Mawle, Coordinator, Gender21, United Kingdom

Partnership for Building Eco-Cities:Empowering Women in EnvironmentalGovernance

Mr. Samuel W. Mbugua, Mayor ofNairobi

Partnership for Building Eco-Cities: AnAfrican Mayor’s Point of View

Mr. Lito Atienza, Mayor of Manila, ThePhilippines (unable to attend)

Partnership for Building Eco-Cities: AnAsian Mayor’s Point of View

Mr. Shin Yamamoto, Director,International Affairs Division, TokyoMetropolitan Government

Partnership for Building Eco-Cities: TheRole of a Municipal Officer

Mr. Tsuneyuki Ueki, General Manager,Corporate Planning Office, EBARACorporation, Tokyo, Japan

Partnership for Building Eco-Cities: TheRole of the Private Sector

Rapporteur Mr. Zakaria Ahmad, Asia and PacificDevelopment Centre

The recently held Eco-partnership World Confer-ence emphasized the need for leaders of cities ofthe world to exchange experiences of best prac-tices and lessons learned, and to strengthen part-nerships among themselves for promoting anenvironmentally sound society. This workinggroup will provide a forum for mayors fromAfrica and Asia to consider various mechanisms

for South-South cooperation in local environ-mental governance. It will also highlight the keypolicy mechanisms for local environmentalgovernance such as public-private partnership,creative national-local relationships, integratedpolicy-making approaches and role of women inenvironmental governance.

Annex 6List of ParticipantsList of ParticipantsList of ParticipantsList of Participants

H.E. Mr. Hage GeingobPrime MinisterGovernment of NamibiaWindhoek, NamibiaFax: (264-61) 231-914/224-910

Ms. Leticia Shahanic/o The Permanent Mission of the Philippinesto the United Nations556 Fifth AvenueNew York, NY 10036Fax: 1-212-840-8602

Professor Ali FarazmandFlorida Atlantic University220 SE 2nd AvenueFort Lauderdale, FL 33301Fax: 1-954-762-5673

Professor John HalliganDirector, Centre for Research in Public Sector ManagementUniversity of CanberraFaculty of ManagementP.O. Box 1Belconnen ACT 2616, AustraliaFax: 612-6201-5237

Ms. Rosalind HarrisConference of Non-Governmental Organizations(CONGO)777 UN Plaza, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10017Fax: 1-212-986-0821www.conferenceofngos.org

Mr. Arata FujiiCounsellorEmbassy of JapanManila, The Philippines

Dr. Emil Q. JavierPresidentUniversity of the PhilippinesCollege of Public AdministrationDiliman, Quezon CityThe PhilippinesTel.: 632-993-014 or 990-110

Dr. Hideo SatoActing DirectorThe Leadership AcademyThe United Nations University53-70 Jingumae 5-chomeShibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925JapanFax: (81-3) 3406-7346

Dr. Makitara HottaActing DirectorRits Center for Asia and Pacific StudiesRitsumeikan University56-1 Kitamachi, TojiinKita-ku, Kyoto, Japan 603-8577Fax: (81-75) 465-8371

Dr. Dino GuerritoreCoordinatorInternational Relations CommissionUniversity La SapienzaRome, ItalyFax: (3906) 4991-0314

Dr. Akira NakamuraProfessorMeiji UniversityTokyo, Japan

Dr. Leonora BrionesDirector of BudgetMinistry of FinancePalacio del GobernadorIntramuros, Manila, The PhilippinesFax: 632-527-2822 or 928-2866


Dr. Dai GuangqianVice-Minister in charge of Civil Servants and Human Resources DevelopmentBeijing, China

Mr. Sum ManitState Secretary for Administrative ReformGovernment of CambodiaPhnom Penh, Cambodia

Ms. Miriam Defensor-SantiagoSenatorThe PhilippinesFax: 632-921-2538

Prof. Francis DelpéréeUniversité Catholique de LouvainBelgiumFax: 322-587-9702

Mr. Christopher GotancoPresidentAnglo-Philippine Holdings CorporationManila, The PhilippinesFax: 632-631-3113

Ms. Angela MawleCoordinator, Gender 21United Nations Environment and DevelopmentUK Committee (UNED-UK)3 Whitehall CourtLondon, SW1A 2EL, UKFax 44-171-930-5893

Hon. Mr. Samuel Wainaina MbuguaMayor of NairobiMayor’s Parlour, City HallP.O. Box 30075Nairobi, KenyaTel.: 254-222-3832

Fax: 254-221-8291

Hon. Mr. Lito Atienza (unable to attend)Mayor of ManilaCity Hall of ManilaManila, The PhilippinesFax: 632-527-0907

H.E. Mr. Jose Trinidad PardoMinisterMinistry of Trade and IndustryIndustry and Investment Building385 Sen. Gil Puyat AvenueMakati City, The PhilippinesTel.: 632-890-4901

Mr. Shin YamamotoDirectorInternational Affairs DivisionTokyo Metropolitan GovernmentTokyo, JapanFax: 81-3-5388-1329

Mr. Tsuneyuki UekiGeneral ManagerCorporate Planning OfficeEbara CorporationTokyo, Japan

Dr. Zakaria AhmadAsian and Pacific Development CentrePesiaran Duta, P.O. Box 1222450770 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaFax: 603-651-0316

List of Participants 55

United Nations Secretariat

Mr. Guido BertucciDirectorDivision for Public Economics and Public AdministrationDepartment of Economic and Social AffairsUnited Nations, New York, NY 10017, USAFax: 1-212-963-9681

Ms. Itoko SuzukiChiefGovernance and Public Administration BranchDivision for Public Economics and Public AdministrationDepartment of Economic and Social AffairsUnited Nations, New York, NY 10017, USAFax: 1-212-963-2916

Ms. Jeanne-Marie ColInterregional AdviserGovernance and Public Administration BranchDivision for Public Economics and Public AdministrationDepartment of Economic and Social AffairsUnited Nations, New York, NY 10017, USAFax: 1-212-963-2916

Mr. Oscar de RojasInterregional AdviserDepartment of Economic and Social AffairsUnited Nations, New York, NY 10017, USA

Mr. Jacinto De VeraDivision for Public Economics and Public AdministrationDepartment of Economic and Social AffairsUnited Nations, New York, NY 10017, USAFax: 1-212-963-9681

Annex 7List of Working PapersList of Working PapersList of Working PapersList of Working Papers

“Setting the Agenda for Global Governance” by Guido Bertucci

“Decades of United Nations Conferences and NGO Fora” by Rosalind Harris

“The Role of Universities in Promoting Global Partnerships” by Hideo Sato

“The Role of Universities in Strengthening Cooperation with International Organizations” by the University of Rome La Sapienza

“Developing Governance Leaders” by Makitaro Hotta

“Building Partnerships for Governance” by Leonora M. Briones

“National Governance: Human Resource Base—Reforms and Innovations of HumanResources Management in China” by Dai Guangqian

“National Partnerships in Reconstructing Governments” by Manit Sum

“Building a National Coalition Mechanism for Bringing Civil Society and the BusinessSector into Consensus-Building and Conflict-Resolution” by Miriam Defensor-Santiago

“Mobilization of Civil Society for National Partnerships” by Francis Delpérée

“Mobilizing Civil Society for National Partnerships: a Philippine Experience” by Christopher M. Gotanco

“Empowering Women on Environmental Governance” by Angela Mawle

“From Government to Governance” by Samuel W. Mbugua

“Partnership for Building Eco-cities: the Role of the Private Sector” by Tsuneyuki Ueki

“Governance in Africa: Consolidating the Institutional Foundations” by the United NationsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs

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