PRESS BRIEFING BY ADMINISTRATOR OF UNDP

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY ADMINISTRATOR OF UNDP

At a Headquarters press briefing yesterday afternoon, 28 July, the Administrator of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), James Gustave Speth, announced that UNDP had created a special $36 million fund for global initiatives in good governance. The fund would disseminate widely the best examples and experiences in the areas of governance, and help countries adopt the most innovative approaches to governance-related issues.

Also participating in the briefing were the Director of UNDP's Management Development and Governance Division, G. Shabbir Cheema, who developed the initiative, and the Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, Anders Wijkman.

Mr. Speth said that attendance at the UNDP-sponsored International Conference on Governance for Sustainable Growth and Equity -- which began today at Headquarters and would continue until Wednesday, 30 July -- had soared far beyond UNDP's early expectations, increasing from a few hundred to over 1,000 participants. That high level of participation reflected the global revolution in democratization, openness and more accountable government. There was a very powerful worldwide movement today for a stronger, more effective, more accountable and more transparent governance. Good governance, involved democratization, free elections, an accountable assembly, the rule of law backed by a strong judiciary, a free press, a civil society that had access to decision-makers, and a vibrant private sector. All those aspects were mutually reinforcing.

The emphasis on good governance was also a revolution in UNDP's programming, Mr. Speth said. In recent years, there had been an upsurge in the demand on UNDP for assistance in the area of governance, which had now grown from a modest programme to the point where the organization was now allocating about 40 per cent of its total resources to governance and governance-related areas.

He said that trend indicated that such development objectives as poverty eradication, the advancement of women, environmental regeneration, increased employment and the provision of basic social services could not be realized merely by the market or by relaxed policies. Strong, capable, participatory governance was required. In the past, development assistance had focused on the economy and neglected the polity. There had now been a significant shift towards implementation of a more balanced development assistance programme.

Mr. Speth said the Conference was bringing together for the first time a broad global constituency for good governance, including governments and civil society, as well as local government officials and national and international officials. One of its achievements should be a very powerful sense of community, an exchange on the best practices in the various areas of good governance, and a commitment to continue the dialogue at a very high level. There was now a ground-swell of international recognition that a strong polity was necessary for a strong economy, particularly in today's globalizing world.

Mr. Cheema, the principal organizer of the Conference, said UNDP had analysed all the assistance it had provided to the developing countries during 1994-1995. It had realized that 45 per cent of that assistance went into economic management, public sector management and public sector reform, while only 13 per cent went into supporting such governance institutions as parliaments, the judiciary, human rights institutions and electoral bodies. Recent analysis had found that 35 per cent of the total governance funding for the next three years would be allocated to supporting governance institutions -- evidence of a radical shift in UNDP's funding. The demands for such funding had not been "cooked up by UNDP" but came from the developing countries.

Mr. Wijkman said that several statements at the Conference this morning had focused the effects of globalization, raising the need for some standards to address governance issues at the global level. It was important that discussion of governance focus on all the levels, including the global level, he said.

Asked for additional information on how the $36 million fund would be used, Mr. Cheema said there would be an emphasis on innovations and special initiatives in the following five areas: documentation and analyses of best practices in governing institutions; follow up on urban management issues arising from the 1996 Istanbul Conference on Human Settlements; accountability in the public sector, including effective strategies that governments have used to deal with corruption; promotion of dialogue between governments and civil society, including at the regional and national levels; and assistance to countries in crisis, including some of the countries with economies in transition that were undergoing radical socio-economic transformation. Other funds allocated at the regional and country levels would be used to ensure sustained impact for the new initiatives.

A correspondent asked about the importance of education in UNDP's approach to promoting good governance. Mr Speth said education was a priority in the development of programmes in the follow-up to the recent United Nations world conferences. The UNDP's approach was a five-pronged strategy which addressed the following areas: good governance; providing basic social services, including education for girls and young women; environmental regeneration; sustainable livelihoods for the poor; and the advancement of

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women. The Programme's work built on those five components of an anti-poverty strategy and was being implemented in about 80 countries.

The UNDP also believed in the potential of distant education, Mr. Wijkman said. Even if governments decided to allocate relatively more for education, developing infrastructure and training teachers would take time. The use of a few computers to promote distant education in small community centres, linked up by satellite to information systems, would make a great difference. A proposal had already been made to implement the idea in some shanty towns in South Africa.

Stating that the fight against corruption in some societies required a change of mentality, a correspondent asked how the UNDP programme would deal with that problem. Mr Speth said that UNDP had recently issued a publication, "Corruption and Good Governance", that analysed a range of issues associated with corruption. As corruption was usually endemic at all levels of societies and represented a cancer afflicting the prospects for successful development, UNDP would try to attack the problem both indirectly and directly.

Mr. Speth said that indirect approaches included public information reform and the building of fair, open, competitive bidding systems, stronger management of external resources, working with the media to bring attention to potential problems, and the strengthening of civil society as a watchdog against corruption. Direct action included strengthening laws against corruption and appointing anti-corruption ombudsmen. The international community, particularly the private international sector, also had a responsibility to ensure high standards of accountability and transparency in its dealing in countries.

Mr. Cheema said the question of corruption was very complex. It was not expected that corruption could be eliminated from any society. However, it had to be confronted when corrupt practices became so prevalent in every facet of society that the State could lose political legitimacy. "Corruption and Good Governance" presented some successful cases, as well as some failed government strategies. Its analyses showed that as societies went through rapid economic transformation, there were also greater opportunities for corruption.

Was the aim of UNDP's programme to homogenize the developing world, so that all countries had the same kind of government and governance as the Western world? a correspondent asked. Mr. Speth said that was not UNDP's aim, and that if its programmes succeeded, they would not yield that result. It was important to have "home-grown varieties of good governance". Every country had to find its own path to good governance and democratization. Countries should not be bound by the so-called Western model. Indigenous cultures and history should be built upon; that was the only way good governance would succeed. If there was an effort simply to transplant practices from the North to the South, good governance would not take root.

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Good governance was also relevant to rich countries, Mr. Speth said. There were many failures of democracy in even the richest countries, and many failures in popular participation and ownership of the political process. Those were global problems. Since UNDP did not work in most of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), its focus was on the developing world and the countries with economies in transition. Nevertheless, the issue of good governance was also very relevant to the industrial world.

Was there was a minimum requirement for a country's participation in the UNDP programme? a correspondent asked. Mr. Speth said an assessment would be made at the country level on the feasibility of a project. If it was determined that the project would not succeed, funds would be allocated in other areas. However, some risks had to be taken, since there were governments that were sincerely trying to make political transitions. For example, at a recent conference in Addis Ababa, 15 African governments had proposed governance programmes for support from the international community. While not all of those governments were models of good governance, they had sincerely come forward with programmes.

A correspondent said there was a perception by developing countries that UNDP was a political arm of the United Nations. How did UNDP reconcile that perception with its programme? Mr. Speth said his organization welcomed being considered the largest development arm of the United Nations. However, there was a clear understanding among most governments of the difference in UNDP's role and that of the Department of Political Affairs. Historically, there had been real resistance to putting operational activities for development under a political chapeau -- which was a correct position, he said.

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