PHM-Exch> UN: a resounding call for HR-based governance post-2015 (3)

[Claudio Schuftan]

*
*

*
*

*Just Governance: A critical cornerstone for an equitable and human
rights-centered sustainable development agenda post-2015,  Global Thematic
Consultation on Governance and the Post-2015 Development Framework,* *Feb
2013*



[excerpts from the executive summary]



Just governance is defined by six key, mutually reinforcing dimensions,
each with their associated implications for the post-2015 sustainable
development framework. To be truly

just, governance at all levels must be: 1) human rights-centred, 2)
participatory, 3) transparent, 4) equitable, 5) guaranteeing of access to
justice, rule of law and the fight against corruption, and finally 6)
accountable.


Just governance in this sense is not a matter of external imposition, but
an indispensable precondition for ensuring that the equal rights of all
people and the sustainability of the planet effectively guide all policy
making.


Impelling decision-makers to be more responsive, providing information
about their decisions and actions, and making them ultimately answerable is
key.


Governance in practice is often coloured by unequal relations of power.


Human rights and environmental standards, can help balance inequities and
provide a common language and standard by which to hold all actors
accountable.


The new post-2015 framework must be universally applicable in rich and poor
countries alike and must remain at the service of and owned by poor people
themselves.


Fulfillment of all human rights is both the purpose and the ultimate litmus
test of success for the post-2015 agenda.

Duties will have to be clearly attributed primarily to governments, but
also to the private sector.


Well informed people will need to meaningfully participate in all stages of
the legal reform, of budget making, of fiscal, tax and development policy
cycles.


The ability to consistently monitor and review the conduct of development
actors against established responsibilities is an essential prerequisite
for just and accountable governance (i.e., monitoring of both of outcomes
and of policy processes – and both of progress and of backsliding!)


Tax justice between and within countries will also need to be closely
monitored.


A clear and unequivocal accord regarding who is responsible for what
post-2015 commitments will be indispensable.



Without progress on just governance, there is a serious risk of
predisposition to failure in all other areas, with a mirage of success
belying the absence a truly transformative sustainable development agenda.



 (see: http://cesr.org/downloads/Beyond%202015_Governance_position_paper.pdf<http://cesr.org/downloads/Beyond%202015_Governance_position_paper.pdffrom>)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20130310/e5a82727/attachment.html>