ABSTRACT
Agenda 21, which was created at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, marked a global commitment to apply the basic elements of what is now known as ‘good governance’, including accountability, participation, predictability, and transparency in order to ensure the best use of resources in a sustainable manner.1 These principles were further developed in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and during the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which called for good governance with the participation of civil society, the private sector, and governments in partnerships to fight poverty and promote sustainable development.2 At the national level, the WSSD Plan of Implementation states that good governance should be based on democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people, rule of law, anticorruption measures, gender equality, an enabling environment for investment, sound environmental, social, and economic policies (United Nations 2002b).
