Resilient States, Engaged Societies & Legal Empowerment Issues in SD

Beginning in the early 1990s, Africa has been experiencing a major ground swell of social, economic, cultural and political changes. Notwithstanding the remarkable successes, formidable challenges prevail as state institutions often are burdened by counter-productive incentives and constraints that outweigh and outlast efforts to ameliorate them. A combination of the Western prescription of the basic ingredients of ‘democratic tradition’ – elections, rule of law, economic, social and political governance have spun opportunities and threats to social stability and political sustainability. The knowledge gap the paper addresses is the nexus between good economic, political and social governance and sustainable development, augured on legal empowerment and the construction of democratic rules and institutions. Gaps identified in constructing the architecture for good governance are remuneration of civil servants, absence of checklist and framework for appraisal, lack of skills, attitudes and knowledge management systems. On the arrearage side for meritocracy, the lack of a system of publicly known and acknowledged public appointment at all levels of the civil service could be undermining of the career structure. Strategic entry points for reform are systematic review of objectives, outputs, activities and verifiable indicators for utility of civil service institutions. Furthermore, the need for a rights-based approach, knowledge management systems, code of conduct for the communities of practice, integration and mainstreaming, leadership capacity building, remuneration and career incentive, independent human quality development think tanks and education for democratic citizenship is imperative.
See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/13047665/Resilient_States_Engaged_Societies_and_Legal_Empowerment_of_the_Poor_Strategic_Iss