Publication: Better Governance for Development in the Middle East and North Africa : Enhancing Inclusiveness and Accountability
Date
2003
ISSN
Published
2003
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Development is often defined in terms of
its economic aspects, as increased material well-being
through ensured employment and income for all who want it.
But as knows anyone whose children go to schools of poor
quality, have no clean water to drink, or face the threat of
violence, development is also about having access to
adequate social services. And development is ultimately
about human development-the quality of material living, with
wider choices and opportunities for people to realize their
potential, plus the guarantee of those intangible qualities
that characterize all more-developed societies: equality of
treatment, freedom to choose, greater voice, and
opportunities to participate in the process by which they
are governed. Virtually all constitutions in the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA) region enshrine those values of
development, and public governance is one of the mechanisms
through which the values are secured for the people. From
getting a driver's license in Casablanca to voting in
municipal elections in Beirut, public governance
relationships in the MENA region, as elsewhere, manifest
themselves in almost every situation in which individuals
and groups interact with the government. The challenge for
governments and people throughout the region is to expand
the interactions that are smooth and productive and to
minimize the ones that are frustrating and wasteful-in a
move toward "good" governance. If public
governance is the exercise of authority in the name of the
people, good governance is exercising that authority in ways
that respect the integrity, rights, and needs of everyone
within the state.
Citation
“World Bank. 2003. Better Governance for Development in the Middle East and North Africa : Enhancing Inclusiveness and Accountability. MENA Development Report;. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/6f986cad-4781-5a3f-a26d-7c772e917287 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”