"Let us dismiss hypocrisy and enhance democracy
By changing the process
to measure our progress"
Exercising power and decision-making for a group of people is called "Governance". It happens everywhere – from urban centres to rural villages – and the well-being of a community depends on the choices made by people granted this authority. Because of the diversity of organizational structures around the world, people such as land lords, heads of associations, cooperatives, NGOs, religious leaders, political parties and of course, government are all actors granted the power to govern.
“Ethical Governance” is a relatively new term that is used to describe the performance issues in management and policy making in business, government, politics, International relations, health care, etc. The principles of Ethical Governance, however, are not new. Ethical Governance is, in short, anti-corruption whereas authority and its institutions are accountable, effective and efficient, participatory, transparent, responsive, consensus-oriented, and equitable. These are the major characteristics of good governance as outlined by the United Nations.
Ethical Governance is integral to sustainable growth, stopping financial meltdowns and economic degradation, eradication of poverty and income inequalities and also to acheive high standards of ethical conduct, in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
For Ethical Governance to succeed in both theory and practice, there must be transperancy, openess, information flow, degree of congruence in communication. Although widespread information flow and accessibility could remain a barrier for many, one of the ways to overcome, is through effective use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the implementation of e-governance.