Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 173
CHAPTER 5
mine progress. Good governance, on the other hand, is an enabling condition and a prerequisite to lasting change. Good governance includes many elements, but the most relevant
for reducing poverty have to do with creating space for a strong civil society that can hold
governments accountable for making progress; building effective institutions to manage
and deliver public services; and
respecting the rule of law—for
example, by protecting the rights
of minorities and ensuring that
people have recourse to redress for
injustices. Most of the work to put
these elements in place must be
done by national governments and
by civil society in developing countries. What the United States and
other countries can do as partners
is set high expectations for levels of
accountability and transparency.
Additionally, they can provide
technical know-how, strengthen
global institutions that foster good
governance, and support leaders
who want to govern well.
The United States and other
development partners should explicitly support a goal on good governance, effective leadership and the institutions that make them work. This should include a focus on citizen
participation and strengthening capacity for institutional and policy change. An example in
Ghana shows how the U.S. government could support this kind of capacity strengthening
through its development partners in the NGO community. The Development Action Association (DAA) is a Ghanaian NGO that provides technical assistance to women farmers in
villages across the country. DAA’s leaders received advocacy training from the U.S. NGO
Women Thrive Worldwide. The training came in handy in 2012 when DAA members participated in a nationwide lobbying effort to change the laws that affected their livelihoods.
In Ghana, the traditional way agricultural products are measured is with cups and bowls,
a practice that makes it easy for buyers to cheat producers, especially those who are poorly
educated, which describes many of the women farmers in DAA. Before they received the
advocacy training, few of the women from DAA who participated in the lobbying campaign
would have dared to speak up in public, but the training gave them the confidence. In 2012,
the government banned the use of the traditional measuring instruments in place of scales.
Leveling the playing field so that women and men have equal chances to actively engage
socially and politically—to make decis ions and shape policies—is likely to lead over time to
more representative and more inclusive institutions and policies. Evidence suggests a direct
correlation between a country’s policy and institutional framework and progress towards
the MDGs.36 This also will help local stakeholders “own” national development goals. Both
the High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the U.N Secretary General
www.bread.org/institute?
Todd Post/Bread for the World
Villagers in Guatemala’s
Dry Corridor region
receive cook stoves and
training to assemble
them. The stoves and
training were provided
through USAID.
? 2014 Hunger Report? 163
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