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Principles of Effective Governance for Sustainable Development

“Institutions play a crucial role in the achievement of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets. But public sector reforms needed to achieve the SDGs remain a major challenge in many countries. 

 

In order to address this challenge concretely, the Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) has developed a set of principles of effective governance for sustainable development. The essential purpose of these voluntary principles is to provide practical, expert guidance to interested countries in a broad range of governance challenges associated with implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

 

The 11 principles, endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in July 2018, highlight the need for pragmatic and ongoing improvements in national and local governance capabilities to reach the SDGs. To this end, the principles are linked to a variety of commonly used strategies for operationalizing responsive and effective governance. 

 

Applying the principles and associated strategies to all public institutions can accelerate efforts to strengthen national and local governance capacities to achieve the 2030 Agenda and other international agreements.”