YUVA is organising a debate forum on “Good Governance” with delegates from Africa, school students, university students, government officials, NGO representatives and personalities from the corporate sector as participants.

In this context, YUVA invites you and officials of your organisation as participants on Wednesday 2 December 2015, from 09:00hr to noon at Le Saint Georges Hotel, 19 St George Street, Port Louis.

Good governance requires a number of mechanisms in order to work efficiently, performance being one of those mechanisms. As a principle, performance is determined as their ability to respond to institutions and processes trying to serve all stakeholders involved. It also goes without saying that in line with performance indicators, effectiveness and efficiency features in among this as performance is hardly anything unless measured as being effective or at least having the ability to measure such factors. When speaking about effectiveness and efficiency in the context of good governance, it enshrines the processes and institutions ability to produce results that meet the needs of society while ensuring that resources are used as best as possible.

Working Definition

Good governance is a complex and at times elusive term widely used in different contexts. Governance does not relate exclusively with government. Instead, governance is “a process whereby societies or organizations make their important decisions, determine whom they involve in the process and how they render account” (Graham, J., B. Amos and T. Plumptre, 2003:1). The concept of governance can be used in different contexts such as the international, national, local, and corporate sphere

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a branch of the United Nations (UN) focused on global development, provides five guiding principles, legitimacy and voice, direction, performance, accountability, and fairness, that allow a better grasp of the term good governance.

Challenges associated with the conceptualization of Good Governance

The conceptualization of the term good governance creates challenges at the operational level as it offers little guidance on concrete actions to be taken. For example, de Vries (2013) points out that behind each of the UNDP’s five dimensions are multiple indicators. This results in over 150 indicators for improving governance, thus further complicating the application of the principles of good governance. Grindle (2007), a critic of the term good governance, argues that governments often lack the resources to adequately apply the concepts of good governance. It is thus difficult to fully achieve the ideals of good governance.

The question then remains what is good governance and how can it effectively be applied?

Good governance in the Mauritian context

• Public Sector: The Ministry of Financial Services, Good Governance and Institutional Reforms

The Ministry of Financial Services, Good Governance and Institutional Reforms is a newly created Ministry with the aim to “fight fraud, eradicate corruption, malpractices and irregularities in all aspects of public life to foster development”. This ministry seeks to highlight the need for judicious utilization of funds, transparency, and accountability in the public sector. It also seeks to provide guidance and support for the enforcement of good governance.

• Civil Society: Mauritius Council of Social Science (MACOSS)

MACOSS is an umbrella organization for Mauritian NGOs, which has 368 registered NGOs. It seeks to promote social and community development and voluntary actions through non-governmental organizations. In its recent publication, Principles and Guidelines for Good Governance (2015) MACOSS provides guidance to help NGOs apply the abstract term of good governance into practical terms within the Mauritian context. MACOSS describes what good governance looks like within an organization. It gives NGOs concrete steps to ensure the application of good governance such as separation of governance and management, need for high professional and ethical standards, need for financial disclosure, and the importance of internal and external audits.

We rely on your collaboration and shall be pleased to have your presence for the Mauritius Youth Parliament‘s session 3.