“Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government.

Implementation with integrity is our core passion.”

The best minds of mankind have always been interested in the questions of how human society
develops and what governs its development , whether the changes taking place in society are
accidental or subject to laws , and whether such changes depend on the will of people. Man is a
social being; he lives among people and is linked to them in numerous ways. It is only natural
that he should be concerned about the future of society, about the changes occurring in it, and
about the direction in which it develops. Human being since the earth has gone through the
process of learning from nature. The curiosity of “how”, “What” and “Why” has led mankind to
discover, develop, invent and create great ideas and systems to fulfill the needs and when it has
occurred. The will to explore solutions for his problems is an amazing skill that mankind
possesses despite uncountable failures and defeats. The ability to work hard, remain persistent
in adapting to new and emerging concepts, believes, systems and behaviors has been the
essence of the learning process.

To exist in this earth people must need food, clothing, shelter and other necessities of life.
Nature does not provide these necessities. And to obtain these people should work hard and
fulfill its need.

It is difficult to analyze the origins of governance as the concept is not new. It can be said that
from the existence and understanding of “good” and “bad”, “Right” or “Wrong” the concept of
governance had emerged. When people started to comprehend terms like “justice”, “fairness”
“law”, “ethics” etc they had taken their step towards governance. Every religion has given
guiding principles for life and for me these values and rules for attaining the love of GOD is part
of governance. The “Ten Commandments” for example were given to better perform ones
duties, to avoid evil deeds and promote ethics and worship and how one followed was part of
governance. Similarly in Islam the concept of Holy Quran as a guiding book and following the
life and actions of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) as a way of life fall under the
category of governance. The Qur’an defines good governance as the rule of justice, a just and
ethical order and observance of rights and obligations in a society. The Qur’an declares: “Those
when given authority in land, establish (system of) salah, give zakah and enjoin what is good
(ma’ruf) and forbid what is wrong (munkar). Al-Hajj 22:41. The last sermon of the
Prophet (Peace beupon him) is an effective example of an effective policy
and system that if followed with true spirit will result in good governance.

Good Governance is an approach to government that is committed to creating a system

founded in justice and peace that protects individual’s human rights and civil liberties. As stated
Governance is a broad concept covering all aspects of the way a country is governed, including
its economic policies and regulatory framework, as well the rule of law. "Governance is the
manner in which power is exercised in the management of a Country’s economic and social
resources for development”.

Good governance is about the processes for making and implementing decisions. It’s not about
making ‘correct’ decisions, but about the best possible process for making those decisions. It is
in this context, the study of good governance has become very important in the literature of
political science, Administrative Sciences and development studies. Good governance is
important for several benefits. First and foremost, quality of governance has to be judged by
the performance of the relevant institution. Therefore, the goal of the institution has to be
clearly defined as a matter of priority. Then, steering towards that goal requires defining
decision rights and processes, as well as establishing a feedback loop to verify and control
performance. Governance is how an institution is ruled; it is how the authority, responsibility,
and controls are required in the institution. Governance is relevant to any institution, small or
large; for profit or not; extending from a single family all the way to global institutions that have
an impact on our lives. Hence, governance is relevant for humanity for quality of life now and
for its sustainability in the future. It commonly acknowledged that in the absence of democracy,
peace and good governance, sustainable socio economic progress is not possible. In the context
of developing societies there has been an added emphasis on human development in recent
years. It means development of human capabilities and opportunities. The good governance is
a prerequisite for human development and governance which would ensure human
development is human governance. It has been widely accepted now that the main reasons for
human deprivation are not just economic. There are social and political factors too rooted in
poor governance. It is thus clear that the issue of good governance focuses on the inseparable
linkages between social-economic and political development.27 It has rightly been pointed out
that the good governance means political pluralism with free and fair elections, It means far
pending on military preparation and infrastructure and war and much more on education,
health and basic amenities. It means fighting the graft and nepotism. This also suggests that
good governance has to concentrate more on building a congenial political atmosphere for
social and economic development. The good governance has also to ensure that the funds of
the state are utilized on the development of human and productive areas instead of non-
human and nonproductive areas.28

In short, governance is about performance. Thus the governance in any society, aims to ensure
transparency through the exercise of economic political and administrative authority. It basically
strives to establish quality relationship between the rulers and the ruled. In the context,
governance point out to the nature of mutual interaction among social actors as well as between
social actors and public administration, and it contains the meaning the meaning of ‘ruling
together’ with aim of helping individuals realize their potential for improving the quality of their
lives

BENEFITS OF GOVERNANCE

1) One key benefit for governance is enabling the organization to draw clear portfolio
direction for the organization which; is in alignment with the overall vision, strategy and
goals decided by the Board of Directors. Governance enables the Board of Directors to
decide; which projects / opportunities will be captured in order to accomplish the
Organization vision, growth and future needs.

2) Another key benefit for governance is elaborating the sponsorship role in

organization. It enables the Board
of Directors to oversee, control and be accountable for all the projects in
the organization. That enables the Board to take immediate strategic decisions
when needed. An example of not doing that is the Board of Directors not being aware
of safety issues escalated in one of the organization major programs.

3)Governance enables organisation to organise structured reporting system for all

its programmes and projects. The reporting system will be developed along with
the programme or the project management plan and will be considered within the
review cycles. The aim of the reporting system is to keep the Board of Directors
and senior management members aware of any potential risks or escalated issues
that may affect the business. For example Programme Manager reported that
Client decided to cancel the second phase of the project which means that the
team members of the project will be soon without work.

4) Governance encourages the development of honesty culture within the

Organization. Project managers and senior management members are encouraged
to report honestly and early about the problems they are having. That is important as
it enables the Director of Boards to take early recovery actions to solve the escalated
issues / problems. For example, Project manager reported that the supply of the
pumps in one project will be delayed due to wrong delivery dates in the purchase
order. That will delay the completion
of the project and organisation will be subject to penalties.

5) Governance improves the project management capabilities within organizations.

Governance is concerned with improvement and efficient control of the performance
of project management resources, as well as communication and engagement of
 stakeholders. Governance makes sure that individual efforts are not wasted and are
efficiently utilized to satisfy the need of the Organization. For example, International
organization with several engineering centre across the world introduced new
overseas communication system and share point links which enable project teams to
communicate efficiently without the need for travelling.
Principles of Good Governance The following parameters of good governance have been
identified on the basis of above definitions. The government should be participatory, consensus
oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient; as well as equitable and
inclusive; at the same time, it follows the rule of law. More importantly, it gives assurance to its
people that its governance would be free from corruption practices. In addition to that, the
government should give priority to the views of minorities and listen to the voice of most
vulnerable group of people in the society when it comes to decision making.

Good Governance is measured by the eight factors of Participation, Rule of Law, Transparency,
Responsiveness, Consensus Oriented, Equity and Inclusiveness, Effectiveness and Efficiency,
and Accountability.

Participation requires that all groups, particularly those most vulnerable, have direct or
representative access to the systems of government. This manifests as a strong civil society and
citizens with the freedom of association and expression.

Rule of Law is exemplified by impartial legal systems that protect the human rights and civil
liberties of all citizens, particularly minorities. This is indicated by an independent judicial
branch and a police force free from corruption.

Transparency means that citizens understand and have access to the means and manner in
which decisions are made, especially if they are directly affected by such decisions. This
information must be provided in an understandable and accessible format, typically translated
through the media.

Responsivenes is simply involves that institutions respond to their stakeholders within a

reasonable time frame.

Consensus Oriented is demonstrated by an agenda that seeks to mediate between the many
different needs, perspectives, and expectations of a diverse citizenry. Decisions needs to be made
in a manner that reflects a deep understanding of the historical, cultural, and social context of the
community.

Equity and Inclusiveness: We should treat people equally; give them equal right, either the rich
or poor. We should not underestimate or disparage those people who are poor. People must get
their wealth equally and according to their skills. No one deserves to be treated differently or
badly. All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being. Depends
on ensuring that all the members of a community feel included and empowered to improve or
maintain their well being, especially those individuals and groups that are the most vulnerable.
Effectiveness and Efficiency is developed through the sustainable use of resources to meet the
needs of a society. Sustainability refers to both ensuring social investments carry through and
natural resources are maintained for future generations.

Accountability refers to institutions being ultimately accountable to the people and one another.
This includes government agencies, civil society, and the private sector all being accountable to
one another as well.

Good Governance training is a critical part of what Creative Learning does through
its International Peace & Security Institute (IPSI) and Global Education Initiatives (GEI)
divisions. IPSI regularly teaches courses on Good Governance and related topics through
its Practitioner Intensives, as well as through its International Symposiums that bring together
expert practitioners and academics from around the world. IPSI has also used the tenants of
Good Governance as a building block for its Fragility Resilience Assessment Method (FRAMe)
that it co-developed with Creative Associates. GEI regularly hosts individuals from other
countries to learn about Good Governance and Federalism through their custom-tailored Student
Educationand Practitioner Education programs.

CONCLUSION

The term ‘good governance’ is a multi-dimensional which occupies a central stage in the
development discourse. It is considered as the crucial element to be incorporated in the
development strategy. However, the development experts in recent years have emphasized
‘good governance’ as a prerequisite for development. It is clear from the above discussion that
good governance mean the art of government, in which all public decisions and other affairs
are dealt transparency and the government official are made responsible and appointed on
merit, and the gap between the government and people is bridged. All these aspects of good
governance are complimentary to each other. Scholars and experts have also paid attention to
the way of achieving good governance. Scholars tend to link good governance with a
democratic polity. Governance becomes good when the decisions and actions of the
government are based on peoples’ consent, legitimacy and accountability. Good governance
has got the great importance in every state as the problem of corruption, red-tapism and in-
efficiency has gradually crept into administrative structure of the country and the development
has stood still and the gap between rulers and ruled has widened. The lack of understanding
between them has always stood in the way of building a system that espouses the elements of
accountability, transparency, and responsiveness. The paper can be concluding that good
governance is that which fosters human development through popular participation and social
and economic equalities. The ultimate objective of good governance has to be to create lea civil
society. It may also be pointed out here that the good is not a static concept. Good governance
has to work for the realization of popular aspirations. The aspirations have to be based on a
sense of realism and dynamism. Today, good governance not only occupies central place in the
development discourse but is also considered as a crucial elements in building the nation.