Connections that matter: how the quality of governance institutions may be the booster shot we need to reduce poverty and inequality

Oslo: UNDP / DIE (May 2022)

Volltex/Full text

Current global crises are complex. Tackling issues separately or in sequence will be futile. Transformation can happen only when multiple issues are tackled at the same time. To help do so, a new study by UNDP’s Oslo Governance Centre (OGC) and the German Development Institute (DIE/GDI) investigates how aspects of SDG 16 that are considered critical features of governance institutions – transparency, accountability and inclusion – help or hinder progress on key dimensions of SDG 1 on poverty and SDG 10 on inequality. The study is the first attempt to consolidate evidence on this link and fills a gap in the existing literature on how different SDGs can reinforce each other.
Based on a scoping literature review of 400+ academic papers, the study finds empirical evidence from across the globe that investing in accountable, transparent and inclusive governance can boost the reduction of poverty and inequality. For example, in election years, social benefits are better targeted to those with low incomes; reducing corruption is positively correlated with access to education and improved literacy rates; and civil society engagement enables the provision of health care access. It offers initial policy insights on why, how and with whom national actors can use the employed methodology to identify, prioritize and sequence governance policies with ‘booster effects’ in their own country.

About the authors

Breuer, Anita

Political Scientist

Leininger, Julia

Political Scientist

Balasubramanian, Pooja

Social Economics

Further experts

Baumann, Max-Otto

Political Science 

Brüntrup, Michael

Agricultural Economy 

Burchi, Francesco

Development Economy 

Dick, Eva

Sociologist and Spatial Planner 

Faus Onbargi, Alexia

Political Science 

Götze, Jacqueline

Political Scientist 

Hackenesch, Christine

Political Science 

Hilbrich, Sören

Economy 

Janus, Heiner

Political Science 

Keijzer, Niels

Social Science 

Koch, Svea

Social Science 

Malerba, Daniele

Economy 

Mathis, Okka Lou

Political Scientist 

Mchowa, Chifundo

Development Economics 

Mudimu, George Tonderai

Agricultural policy economics 

Schwachula, Anna

Sociology 

Srigiri, Srinivasa Reddy

Agricultural Economist 

Vogel, Johanna

International Cultural Economy 

von Haaren, Paula

Development Economics 

Wehrmann, Dorothea

Sociology