<p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial">Just Governance: A critical
cornerstone for an equitable and human rights-centered sustainable development agenda post-2015, <span style> </span>Global Thematic Consultation on Governance and
the Post-2015 Development Framework,</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span><b style><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial">Feb 2013</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial">[excerpts
from the executive summary]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">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 </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">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. <span style> </span><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">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.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">mpelling
decision-makers to be more responsive, providing information about their
decisions and actions, and making them ultimately answerable is key. <br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">Governance in
practice is often coloured by unequal relations of power.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">Human
rights and environmental standards, can help balance inequities and provide a
common language and standard by which to hold all actors accountable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">Fulfillment
of all human rights is both the purpose and the ultimate litmus test of success
for the post-2015 agenda.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">Duties will
have to be clearly attributed primarily to governments, but also to the private
sector. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">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
–</span> and both of progress and of backsliding<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">Tax justice
between and within countries will also need to be closely monitored.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">A clear and
unequivocal accord regarding who is responsible for what post-2015 commitments
will be indispensable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span><font size="1">(see: <a href="http://cesr.org/downloads/Beyond%202015_Governance_position_paper.pdffrom" target="_blank">http://cesr.org/downloads/Beyond%202015_Governance_position_paper.pdf</a> )</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"><span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>