... Realization of Efficient Urban Governance Practices
“The concept of governance is complex and controversial. Before one can say what good governance is, one must be clear about what is meant by the term ‘governance’.” The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) definition of governance is: “[T]he exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs at all levels. ... ”
“The concept of governance is not the same as government; governance is a concept that recognizes the existence of power in and outside the formal authority and institutions of government. Governance includes government, the private sector and civil society. Also, governance emphasizes ‘process. ... ”
The United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) launched The Global Campaign for Urban Governance in 1999. The Global Campaign on Urban Governance focuses on promoting poverty eradication through good urban governance. Through increasing the capacity of local governments and stakeholders, the campaign hopes to raise awareness and advocate for good urban governance around the world. The campaign strives to include the urban poor and women in governance process. ... ” Through The Global Campaign for Urban Governance other United Nations goals can be achieved. For example one of the goals of the Habitat Agenda is for sustainable human settlements development which can be reached through good urban governance. Also, the UN action strategy for halving extreme poverty by 2015 since the campaign deals significantly with the goal of eradicating poverty through good urban governance.
The campaign has the following description of good urban governance: “Urban governance is the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, plan and manage the common affairs of the city. ...
Through good urban governance no human being can be denied basic necessities such as “adequate shelter, security of tenure, safe water, sanitation, clean environment, health, education and nutrition, employment and public safety and mobility.” Through good urban governance citizens will be provided with a stepping stone and will be able to use their talents to benefit themselves and improve their own living conditions and lifestyles. ... ” The concept of inclusiveness links the governance campaign to UN-HABITAT’s Global Campaign for Secure Tenure. ... The Inclusive City is a goal that can be reached through the implementation of good urban governance.
There is a need for good urban governance practices because in the near future, most people will be living in cities. ...
Eradication of Poverty
During the last few years it has been recognized by the international community that in order to reduce poverty and increase prosperity, good governance needs to be implemented. Without good governance, the benefits of public programs will not reach their target recipients, especially the poor. Good governance leads to better social outcomes that help with the reduction of poverty while poor governance leads to bad social outcomes that lead to an increase in poverty. Good governance and social outcomes are mutually reinforcing when dealing with the reduction of poverty. Poor governance and social outcomes are mutually reinforcing, however, it reinforces the exacerbation of the plight of the urban poor. Good governance leads to increases in income and improvements in social indicators such as literacy. Good social outcomes in turn support good governance while low levels of education and health and high levels of inequality and unemployment contribute to lawlessness and poor governance. ... Urban growth like this creates survival problems because cities are not able to absorb the number of citizens that need shelter and jobs and cannot provide them with these necessities. ... The local authority has made a breakthrough in providing an integrated package of basic physical, social and economic infrastructure services to the urban poor. ... The program addresses the problem of urban poverty, beginning with access to housing finance. ... “Without good governance, citizen participation, equity, transparency and accountability, and efficiency in the management of public resources and the delivery of basic social services human development will not improve.”
Equality of Women in Governance
The equality of women in governance is important for positive change in cities. Urban women usually have no say in policy making or decision making because most of the time they are not provided with the proper education that would enable them to make such decisions. ... The conference brought together over 80 women elected officials, civil society groups, international organizations and gender practitioners from around the world to discuss the advancement of women in local governance.
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