(i) the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs at all levels, comprising the complex mechanisms, processes, relationships and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their rights and obligations and mediate their differences.
(ii) the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for the common good, including the processes by which those in authority are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively manage its resources and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them4;
(iii) the process of creating an organizational vision and mission – what it will be and what it will do – in addition to defining the goals and objectives that should be met to achieve the vision and mission; of articulating the organization, its owners and the policies that derive from these values – policies concerning the options that its members should have in order to achieve the desired outcomes; and adopting the management necessary for achieving those results and a performance evaluation of the managers and the organization as a whole.
In its Health Systems Strengthening Glossary, The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Governance as:
(i) the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs at all levels, comprising the complex mechanisms, processes, relationships and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their rights and obligations and mediate their differences.
(ii) the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for the common good, including the processes by which those in authority are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively manage its resources and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them;
(iii) the process of creating an organizational vision and mission—what it will be and what it will do—in addition to defining the goals and objectives that should be met to achieve the vision and mission; of articulating the organization, its owners and the policies that derive from these values—policies concerning the options that its members should have in order to achieve the desired outcomes; and adopting the management necessary for achieving those results and a performance evaluation of the managers and the organization as a whole.
The glossary itself is an extensive list of terms and definitions—many of which the Coalition has decided to use—that draws from technical briefs, research, and textbooks. This specific definition uses a number of sources: Governance for sustainable human development, which is a United States Development Programme (UNDP) policy document; Governance matters 2008: Worldwide Governance Indicators 1996-2007, developed by the World Bank Institute’s Development Research Group; and Riding the Third Rail: The Story of Ontario’s Health Services Restructuring Commission, by Duncan Sinclair, Mark Rochon, and Peggy Leatt.
World Health Organization. “Health Systems Strengthening Glossary.” World Health Organization, 2011. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/documents/health-systems-strengthening-glossary.pdf?sfvrsn=b871d95f_4.