Governance & Human Development

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This paper attempts to critically outline the role of governance in human development. In retrospect, it shall state the linkages between good governance; trends; reforms in governance and human development in Zambia and lastly it will clearly outline Zambia’s strengths and weaknesses in her indicators for development. Human development is defined by the UNDP (2010: 22) as; “the process of expanding people’s freedoms to live long, healthy and creative lives; to advance towards other goals that they have reason to value; and to engage actively in shaping equitable and sustainable development on a shared planet People are both beneficiaries and drivers of human development, as individuals and in groups.” This definition is underpinned by the philosophical premise that all human beings desire to enjoy well-being, security, empowerment, justice and freedom. Fundamental to enlarging their choices is the building of human capacities the range of things that people can do or be in life. Investing in people will enable growth and empower people, thus developing human capacities. This section will critically outline the role of governance in human development. According to Harttgen and Klasen (2010) the most basic capabilities for human development are to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to have access to resources and social services needed for a decent standard of living, and to be able to participate in the life of the community. Without these, many choices are simply not available, and many opportunities in life remain inaccessible. Therefore, it is the role of governance to ensure that the citizens of a nation are meeting these basic capabilities of human development. Adams et’al (2004) argues that the governance system should know that the basic services is thus central to reducing human poverty and should therefore ensure that they are

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