E-Discussion DG & MDGs: Phase II
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Phase II: Promoting Inclusive Leadership and Innovation for Implementing MDGs based National Agenda - 26 June - 18 July
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Dear Colleagues and Members,
The insightful discussions over past few weeks on the DGP-Net and the MDG-Net reinforce the critical need of informed, knowledgeable, innovative and motivated leadership and innovations at all levels, particularly at political and institutional stages in national, sub-national and/or local governments. Strengthening such leadership, along with innovative partnerships with the NGOs, the CSOs, and the media are critical to bringing about positive social changes for development, and, to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are a concrete step on the road to sustainable human development. It is a long term struggle that needs to be won as much with sound economic policies as with the alignment of forces within a democratic governance structure in support of meaningful participation in open and accountable policy processes.
Earlier this year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon labeled 2008 the year of the “bottom billion”- certainly a year for critical action on the MDGs. Therefore, importance of innovation in leadership at all levels is profound. Governance today is no longer what it was twenty years ago even though the public purpose of the government has remained the same. Today the combined resources and expertise of the government, civil society and market are harnessed in co-producing the governance of the society. Although it is perhaps commonplace, it bears repeating that these innovations in government have helped to bring about a paradigm shift and fundamentally altered the way in which societal governance is delivered. The very concept of top-down leadership is also gradually changing to accommodate more inclusive and pro-active notion of innovative leadership dedicated to the cause of the poor and/or the marginalized groups.
These innovations have demonstrated that the governance of the society is no longer the sole prerogative of the government – the public purpose is today being advanced through the combined effort of all the three sectors in society; the governments have adopted the principle of competition and are now outsourcing many of their routine tasks to avail the comparative advantages of the other providers; the governments are strengthening the capacity of existing agencies and using market incentives (instead of setting up new/additional agencies and adding layers of bureaucracy) to advance public policy and causes; department and agencies have cut across their bureaucratic jurisdictions in order to provide seamless service to the citizens; they have become flexible and cost effective by introducing cost budgeting and simplifying procedures; the governments now emphasize outcomes and not merely outputs; they are delivering quality services through the introduction of the International Standards Organization (ISO) benchmarks and have unleashed a plethora of innovations like the citizens charter, public sector service report cards and participatory budgeting; the governments are vigorously delegating, devolving, decentralizing and de-concentrating their power and their control of the purse in recognition of the principle that problems are best solved by those who deal with it; and through the extensive application of people-friendly information communication technology and introduction of e-governance not only the cost of transaction has been cut but also the government is being delivered at the door steps of the citizens particularly the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
We would like to challenge our members and governance/development practitioners with the following two questions:
- What are the key challenges in identifying sectoral champions/change agents, innovators, especially those representing the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups through formal and informal processes at national/sub-national level? How can we facilitate innovation and strengthen their leadership capability to pursue an equitable and inclusive approach to MDGs based development agenda?
- How can we facilitate the leadership role, and, innovative work of non-state actors (i.e., political parties, faith based organisations, civil society organisations, media etc.) in the implementation of the MDGs? How can we ensure the inclusion of their effective participation in MDGs based development agenda?
We look forward to hearing stimulating views with concrete country examples from you. We also encourage those who contributed to the first phases to share their thoughts in this phase.
With best wishes.
Sincerely,
Gowher and Monjur
Professor Gowher Rizvi, Director, The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard University; and
A.H. Monjurul Kabir, Knowledge Management Specialist and Focal Point for Innovation and Leadership in Governance, Democratic Governance Group, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP New York
