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This is the World Bank's blog on governance and anti-corruption. It aims at providing a space for debate and knowledge sharing on this critical field of development. | Learn more...

East Asia and Pacific

Tackling deforestation and climate change, not without good governance

Submitted by Alfredo on Tue, 2009-07-07 09:27

Good governance has received little attention in the global agenda for climate change.  Yet, it seems that it is making its way, at least on climate change issues related to deforestation and forest degradation -which account for about 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

A study recently published by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IEED) states that "in many areas where deforestation and degradation are at their highest, governance is weak and is an underlying cause of deforestation and degradation."

When blogging becomes an issue: worst places to be a blogger

Submitted by Alfredo on Tue, 2009-05-19 18:29

Blogs have changed the way people put into practice concepts such as voice and freedom of expression.  In a matter of minutes, anyone who has access to a computer with internet connection can create a blog and start posting ideas, experiences, opinions, pictures and videos that will be become available to more than 1.5 billion internet users in the world.

Also, blogs' features enable two-way communication and interaction between users, very different to the "static" dynamic of traditional websites. Most important, people can do all of these things at no cost.

However, the expansion of the blogosphere has also triggered negative reactions, especially in environments where censorship and control of information still prevail. Touching on several of these reactions, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) launched a special report in which it highlights the "10 worst countries to be a blogger."

 

Fighting Bribery in Public Procurement in Asia and the Pacific

Submitted by Alfredo on Thu, 2008-08-21 22:49

 

 Corruption in public procurement is a very sensitive issue, not only because it squanders scarce and valuable resources, but also because when bribing is systematic it shatters the confidence that people have in their governments.

The ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia Pacific recently published “Fighting Bribery in Public Procurement in Asia and the Pacific,” a seminar compilation about the experiences by experts.  Some options discussed for that region:
 

Don't rush to dismiss governance, it'll come back to haunt you

Submitted by Edouard on Wed, 2008-07-09 17:52

Noted Le Monde economic journalist Eric Le Boucher recently wrote that the sustained growth over several decades of East Asian economies with poor democratic governance, such as China, signals the demise of the values of democracy and humanism that the West inherited from Classical Greece and developed and advocated for the next 25 centuries. The worry is that the countries growing without democratic governance were championing a development model (he called it the “Chinese model”) that does away with democracy and good governance (the “Greek heritage model”).  His article, provocatively titled “the decline of white man”, takes a number of debatable shortcuts to make this point.