MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

WB: Governance in Latinamerica has not improved

Governance and Justice administration have not improved in Latin America in the last eight years, considerably reducing countries economic potential argues a report released this week by Daniel Kaufmann, World Bank Director of Global Governance.

However in spite of a lack of overall progress, Mr. Kaufmann emphasizes on the great differences in Latinamerica with Chile on one end having ratings comparable to Western countries, Mexico and El Salvador with notorious advances in human rights, while Venezuela and Cuba are a heavy burden for the continent, with Venezuela together with Paraguay and Haiti, among the most corrupt countries in the area.

The report on worldwide governance indicators covers 209 countries between 1996 and 2004 and is supported with information and opinion polls from thirty different independent or multilateral organizations.

On analyzing the causes Mr. Kaufmann argues that the modest advance in Latinamerica can't be attributed to tradition or the legacy from colonial policies, since countries such as Chile, Japan and South Africa, clearly show that progress is achievable.

The crucial element is "political commitment" to making changes possible towards improved governance, highlights Mr. Kaufmann.

This means making the civil service more efficient, simplifying regulations in the economy and combating the control of the administration by long established oligarchies, which many times affects deep rooted interests and politicians frequently prefer not to address or face.

Respect for human rights and effective justice administration and law enforcement are some of the factors included in the good governance World Bank definition since they benefit not only civil society but overall economic growth.

Mr. Kaufmann says that good governance can deliver significant improvements in living standards for people in developing countries, and although a number of countries have improved rapidly in recent times, too often there has been inaction, and leaders face the challenge of setting clear targets of good governance standards and tracking their progress.

Government reformers, citizens, domestic enterprises and foreign investors see governance as the key ingredient for sustainable development and a sound investment climate, and around the world demand data and analysis to monitor the quality of governance over time. Aid donors, too, know that aid flows are most effective in countries with good institutional quality.

The World Bank is helping these countries, and their development allies in civil society and the donor community, by providing a set of governance indicators that can help depoliticize efforts to track the quality of institutions, support capacity building, improve governance and address corruption.