There has been a fair amount of confusion about the focus of this issue of CYE—both about the concept of “governance” (“Why don’t you just say ‘government’?”), and about how we are relating it to children (“Why are you having two issues on participation in one year?”). Some explanation is in order here. The words “governance” and “good governance” appear frequently these days in the discourse of aid agencies, civil society groups and governments at all levels. In the development world, the term does refer to the activities of government, but it is understood to go beyond government and to include the relationships between formal government institutions and an active civil society. “Rather than government taking decisions in isolation,” explains Diana Mitlin, “there is a growing acceptance (indeed expectation) of an engaged state negotiating its policies and practices with those who are a party to, or otherwise affected by, its decisions” (Mitlin 2004). In this issue of CYE there is a particular focus on this engagement at the local municipal level.

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Title:  Good governance – Making age a part of the equation

Author(s): Sheridan Bartlett

Publication Date: 2005

Publisher: Children, Youth and Environments