Stabilizing the Core
by Divya Sharan
by Divya Sharan
"Obama-mania," as it was termed, is quickly sweeping across the globe, reaching all those who want to see an end to the problems facing the world today. Recent Nobel Prize winner, Barack Obama, has become a highly influential household name; simply put, what he says, goes. On his first trip to Africa as President of the United States, Obama addressed one of the most pressing, yet often overlooked issues in the world – the problem of "Good Governance."
" [ G o o d governance] is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long." It remains to be seen how Obama's words impact the Africans, but this year's THIMUN Administrators have decided to take up the challenge and explore what the world would be like with good governance. The selection of this theme came about when "during the mid-evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), experts proved that a part of the failure of some of the goals were due to Bad Governance," says Mr. Alain Meidinger, a member of the Board of Directors. In addition, Her Royal Highness Princess Mabel van Oranje brought up this issue in her book, 'In vrijheid blijven ge loven' (Continue to believe in freedom). In this book, she addresses the need for certain freedoms and the need to defend democracy across the globe. Furthermore, Mr. Meidinger states that this book mentioned the defense of democracy against dictatorship, corruption, and lack of transparency in government institutions – which is exactly what "Good Governance" refers to.
It is the lack of this sense of "Good Governance" in the world that inadvertently makes it the root cause of many of the world's problems. Paul Wolfowitz, former President of the World Bank, said that good governance "is essentially the combination of transparent and accountable institutions, strong skills and competence, and a fundamental willingness to do the right thing. Those are the things that enable a government to deliver services to its people efficiently."
Furthermore, Mr. Jeff Buscher, a THIMUN Advisory Board Member, explains that "Good governance is more critical today than ever before, both in the developing and developed worlds." As the developing world realizes the sheer quality and quantity of wealth and resources present in their nations, mismanagement and corruption are becoming more and more widespread, driving these nations deeper into poverty than they should be. Thus, good governance is necessary for them to lift themselves out of poverty. At the same time, people in the developed world continue to turn a blind eye to such poor governance since their own lifestyles and luxuries are not being jeopardized. "However, in the face of economic and environmental crises, that complacency just isn't possible anymore," Mr. Buscher adds.
It is becoming more and more evident that there is a need to look in to the transparency and accountability of individual governments. In fact, there is nothing the rest of the world can do to solve this problem. Instead, it is up to individual governments to take responsibility for their actions and to uphold the United Nations Charter. "Good Governance" is the theme of THIMUN 2010. Amongst all the problems facing the world, this was singled out to be one of the most important issues that needed to be solved, and in fact, it is. If nations can achieve the standards of "Good Governance," almost half the world's problems will become less daunting or simply disappear.
That brings us to THIMUN XLII. Delegates will get to interact and debate on issues pertaining to this idea of good governance. In particular, the focus will be on the Special Conference delegates to produce first-class resolutions that aim to cover topics ranging from corruption to increased national dialogue. Delegates should keep in mind the relevance of good governance to almost every major world problem when they engage in fruitful debates in their respective committees in order to understand and create solutions for the core issues of "Good Governance".
" [ G o o d governance] is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long." It remains to be seen how Obama's words impact the Africans, but this year's THIMUN Administrators have decided to take up the challenge and explore what the world would be like with good governance. The selection of this theme came about when "during the mid-evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), experts proved that a part of the failure of some of the goals were due to Bad Governance," says Mr. Alain Meidinger, a member of the Board of Directors. In addition, Her Royal Highness Princess Mabel van Oranje brought up this issue in her book, 'In vrijheid blijven ge loven' (Continue to believe in freedom). In this book, she addresses the need for certain freedoms and the need to defend democracy across the globe. Furthermore, Mr. Meidinger states that this book mentioned the defense of democracy against dictatorship, corruption, and lack of transparency in government institutions – which is exactly what "Good Governance" refers to.
It is the lack of this sense of "Good Governance" in the world that inadvertently makes it the root cause of many of the world's problems. Paul Wolfowitz, former President of the World Bank, said that good governance "is essentially the combination of transparent and accountable institutions, strong skills and competence, and a fundamental willingness to do the right thing. Those are the things that enable a government to deliver services to its people efficiently."
Furthermore, Mr. Jeff Buscher, a THIMUN Advisory Board Member, explains that "Good governance is more critical today than ever before, both in the developing and developed worlds." As the developing world realizes the sheer quality and quantity of wealth and resources present in their nations, mismanagement and corruption are becoming more and more widespread, driving these nations deeper into poverty than they should be. Thus, good governance is necessary for them to lift themselves out of poverty. At the same time, people in the developed world continue to turn a blind eye to such poor governance since their own lifestyles and luxuries are not being jeopardized. "However, in the face of economic and environmental crises, that complacency just isn't possible anymore," Mr. Buscher adds.
It is becoming more and more evident that there is a need to look in to the transparency and accountability of individual governments. In fact, there is nothing the rest of the world can do to solve this problem. Instead, it is up to individual governments to take responsibility for their actions and to uphold the United Nations Charter. "Good Governance" is the theme of THIMUN 2010. Amongst all the problems facing the world, this was singled out to be one of the most important issues that needed to be solved, and in fact, it is. If nations can achieve the standards of "Good Governance," almost half the world's problems will become less daunting or simply disappear.
That brings us to THIMUN XLII. Delegates will get to interact and debate on issues pertaining to this idea of good governance. In particular, the focus will be on the Special Conference delegates to produce first-class resolutions that aim to cover topics ranging from corruption to increased national dialogue. Delegates should keep in mind the relevance of good governance to almost every major world problem when they engage in fruitful debates in their respective committees in order to understand and create solutions for the core issues of "Good Governance".
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