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8 Governance, Good Governance, and Global Governance • Governance in the EarlyYears, 1945–1980 • From Governance to Good Governance • Good Governance in the 1990s • From Good Governance to Global Governance • Conclusions The UN was directly concerned from its inception with four compelling ideas: peace and negotiation in place of war; national sovereignty in place of colonial status; accelerated economic and social development; and human rights (see Chapter ).All had important implications for governance—for the objectives and operations of existing structures and for their transformation. The latter three ideas have formed the backbone of activities in the economic and social arena from the outset. Morever, since the s peace has increasingly entered the economic and social arena as a condition for meaningful development. Governance in the Early Years, 1945–1980 One of the earliest and most passionate preoccupations was decolonization. The logic behind self-determination was to move toward self-reliant structures so that people could control their own lives and countries through independent governments . In ending the exploitation of the colonized for the benefit of the colonial powers, the way was opened for governmentof the people and by the people. Bringing in concerns for accelerated development and human rights opened the way for government for the people. All of this introduced an important theme for the future work of the UN: Government by andof and for the benefit of each country’s population was directly linked to what would later be labeled “good governance.” As countries became independent and the UN’s membership burgeoned in the s and s, the policy and operational priorities of development rose to the 183 Emmer 08 (183-204) FINAL 3/5/01 2:13 PM Page 183 184 Ahead of the Curve? top of the agenda.1 Along with them arose the need for supporting administration in the new governments. Many former colonies gained control of their own destinies in the s and s with only minimal preparations for governance. In an obvious and practical way, localization—replacing expatriates with nationals—became one of the world organization’s highest priorities. Brian Urquhart looked back at the tumultuous period:“We roared into Africa the last years of the th Century, when nobody knew anything about it, for purely economic and imperial reasons. . . . And then, just when the Africans were making a huge effort to get used to it, we up and left within two generations. That wasn’t, it seems to me, very responsible. Thus the Africans were stuck with the worst of both worlds. The original system, which in its own way had been quite effective, was gone, and they weren’t used to the new political and judicial system.” Consequently, the UN was asked to provide accelerated training of nationals. Where their number with at least the basics of education and experience was insufficient , the UN provided expatriates to fill positions temporarily and also trained nationals in the country and on the job.This became the focus of the UN’s early work on technical assistance, supported by the EPTA, which was created in . This was more a pragmatic response than one that rested on deep analysis or great ideas. But by responding, the world organization proved to be ahead of the curve, in deeds as well as in words. Bernard Chidzero was the first black African to head a UNDP office in the mid-s. He later was appointed deputy secretary-general of UNCTAD before becoming the first minister of finance in Zimbabwe. According to him, one of the UN’s main contributions was training and technical assistance; it played “a most constructive role . . . in promoting the independence or de-colonization process rather than simply talk, preach, make resolutions, and leave the process to take its own course.” One of the earliest expert groups organized by the UN examined in some depth what has come to be labeled“good governance.”The distinguished authors of the  report on Measures for the Economic Development of Under-Developed Countries (see Chapter ) wrote that “the first thing that is demanded of governments is that they should be efficient and honest.”2 The experts, who included Arthur Lewis and Theodore Schultz, went on to stress that a “sufficient proportion” of budgets should be devoted to such social expenditures as education and health. Several elements of the First Development Decade in the s took further many of the specifics of “good governance.” The broadening of the development agenda into such areas as land reform, urban low-cost housing...

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