Egypt’s NIGSD organizes a workshop on presenting the draft structure of the National Governance Index
23 July 2021
Egypt’s National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development organized a workshop on presenting and discussing the draft structure of the national indicator of governance.
Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, indicated that the National Governance Index aims to monitor national performance in governance in addition to the various areas of sustainable development at the economic, environmental, and social levels.
El-Said explained that the proposed indicator relies on a variety of data sources for its measurement, intending to reflect a more neutral and objective picture of the current situation and the country's efforts to strengthen governance and the challenges it faces.
El-Said added the National Governance Index is an indicator with a scientific reference that is consistent in content with internationally recognized indicator methodologies.
For her part, Dr. Sherifa El-Sherif, Executive Director of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), explained that the importance of establishing a national indicator of governance is to monitor Egypt's performance in various areas of governance, as well as the dissemination of national policies and achievements in the areas of sustainable development.
The National Governance Index works to improve performance and spread societal awareness, good governance practices, in addition to highlighting national efforts to be reflected in the international and regional indicators for classifying Egypt.
The index works also to identify strengths and weaknesses in Egypt's performance and making recommendations, which will contribute to improving Egypt's position in the index and other international indicators.
El-Sherif added that the National Governance Index represents a self-diagnostic tool that monitors the reality of efforts made to strengthen governance, and how to improve it.
It also represents a basis through which the government can measure its performance in implementing development programs related to governance.
El-Sherif emphasized that the Egyptian government does not consider the national indicator of governance as a substitute for international indicators of governance.
During the workshop, the objectives of the National Governance Index were reviewed, represented in monitoring Egypt’s performance in various areas related to governance, improving the government’s performance in the areas of governance.
The workshop dealt with the pillars of the index, which are law enforcement, efficiency and effectiveness, accountability and transparency, participation and inclusiveness, and the fight against corruption, which leads to achieving development and increasing citizen satisfaction.
The elements of the national indicator of governance were also reviewed, where the law enforcement is achieved through the independence of the judiciary, speed of the judicial process, access to the judicial system, the impartiality of the legal framework, contract enforcement, protection of intellectual property rights, and protection of private property.
The pillar of stability is based on several elements, including the business environment, organized crime, human trafficking, cybersecurity, trust in police services, the government's long-term vision, and political and economic stability.
The workshop dealt with the pillar of effectiveness and efficiency, which is based on several elements, namely the quality and availability of services, government performance, public financial management, economic performance, digital society, climate action, and environmental policies.
The accountability pillar is based on executive accountability of the legislature, independent and oversight bodies, and community accountability.