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  2. Blog on SDG16

Blog on SDG16

Access, authentication and preservation: three keys to boosting the integrity and inclusivity of…

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes in Goal 16 that all should have access to information as a part of ensuring access to justice for all and ensuring accountable and inclusive institutions. Recognizing this shared goal, in 2015, the Law Libraries Section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) created the IFLA Statement on Government Provision of Public Legal Information in the Digital Age to set a clear standard that… Read More

Effective, accountable and inclusive institutions are critical for the recovery from COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to Africa’s sustainable development prospects. The pandemic has reversed progress on the overarching goal of eradicating poverty in all its forms everywhere. The pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity, inequality, unemployment and informality. For the first time in a decade, global poverty has increased, with the United Nations estimating that the pandemic has pushed more than 114 million people into extreme poverty. African countries face fragile… Read More

Making national institutional arrangements for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals more…

Strong and effective institutions are paramount to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is well recognized in the Agenda itself. However, five years after the start of the implementation of the Agenda, governance issues remain at the forefront. The 2021 edition of the World Public Sector Report, published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), looks in detail at changes in… Read More
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International Practice on Digital Health Certificates

Overview Globally, we see ongoing discussions on how vaccine-certificates could be part of the effort to reopen the economy and an increasing need collaborate and support cross border verifications of vaccine certificates. This led to the idea to leverage on the Digital Government Exchange (DGX), a platform that the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office and the Government Technology Agency Singapore formed in 2016. DGX facilitates dialogue amongst GCIOs and public sector leaders from… Read More

Are some countries “rich enough” that they purchase for the lowest price?

Sustainable public procurement (SPP) provides Governments with the opportunity to move beyond procuring only from suppliers that deliver the least expensive products, to prioritizing procurement from suppliers that respect human rights and the environment. Since public procurement, on average, represents 13 to 20 per cent of gross domestic product, SPP has the potential to provide a major boost to sustainable development and could be seen by many countries as a strategic priority. However, to… Read More

Links between SDGs 2 and 3: Perspectives of Eatology

A key feature of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the multi-layering of links among the Goals. While this may add to complexities in implementation, it also gives rise to potential synergies and integration and to positive spillover impacts among the Goals. In this blog, I would like to share my thoughts on two SDGs – SDG2 on ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable… Read More
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Higher Education and the Really Big Challenges

Our humanity and our planet exist in a time of great challenges. Billions of our fellow human beings still live in great poverty - and are thus denied a decent life. The inequalities in living conditions, wealth and power are enormous. Oppression of women, corruption and lack of democracy remain major challenges. Global health risks, increasingly frequent and intense natural disasters, violent extremism, terrorism and the associated humanitarian crises and forced displacements of people do… Read More

Digital Government Initiatives in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic must be inclusive

In a year where people worldwide have had to engage in social distancing, mask wearing and a range of unique behaviors to stop the transmission of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), it is easy to think that we are more divided than ever – physically and socially. But on the ground, we often see a different picture - there is real cooperation.  Across the world we witness people help each other – including among frontline public servants, such as our healthcare workers, teachers, sanitation… Read More

Let’s Wake the Giant Now!

It is the final decade to implement 2030 #SustainableDevelopment Goals (#SDGs). Most governments are failing their commitment towards promoting #Sustainable #PublicProcurement: an immense opportunity loss for leveraging the purchasing power of the public sector towards SDG agenda. We have long thought that #sustainable #public #procurement (#SPP) can be truly “fit for purpose”. The question remains largely unanswered. Were we optimistic to think that "we can wake the trillion-dollar giant?" As… Read More

Public participation in external oversight: Demystifying false dilemmas

Citizen participation in external oversight has gained renewed salience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The resort to extraordinary powers and financial resources to face the health crisis and its economic impact highlights the importance of accountability and transparency to strengthen trust in public institutions.   The international seminar “Citizen Participation and External Auditing” (in Spanish) addressed two important issues for Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), namely  the… Read More

Ten Key Elements for Accelerating Digital Transformation for Sustainable and Resilient Recovery…

1 The blog is adapted from an opening address delivered at the webinar Capacity Development Webinar on “Accelerating Digital Transformation for Sustainable and Resilient Recovery from COVID-19 The year 2020 witnessed unprecedented challenges amidst the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. With social distancing and quarantine measures underway to contain the virus, digital solutions - by leveraging ICTs and digital government, particularly AI, big data analytics, and robotics - have become… Read More

Taking an evidence-based approach to governance policy in the face of COVID-19

Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development while addressing the enormous challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic requires identifying, implementing, and scaling the most effective social policies and programs. Too often, however, this key principle—effectiveness—can get lost amid other considerations. Determining which social policies and programs are truly effective, and parsing out approaches that do not work, requires rigorous, policy-oriented research. Focusing on research… Read More