Commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction: methodological issues in the evaluation of progress at the national and local levels.

This report was prepared by Ms. Suchitra Punyaratabandhu, a member of the Committee for Development Policy, as a background paper for deliberations by the Committee at its sixth session (29 March-2 April 2004) on how to evaluate progress towards good governance in the context of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. The first part of the report reviews the concept of good governance as it has evolved over the past 15 years. Key defining properties of the concept of good governance are presented. The second part of the report examines current efforts to measure governance. As might be expected, different working definitions have led to the specification of different sets of indicators and indices of governance. The third part briefly reviews studies on governance that examine the relationship between good governance and other desired outcomes, such as poverty alleviation and policy performance. The report concludes by summarizing the key issues in the evaluation of good governance. Length of pages: 22