- Principles of good governance

Four principles are basic to democratic governance:

responsibility: this task falls on both public authorities and citizens. ECOWAS countries have harmonized their legislations with international human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international conventions. Despite this, there are still corruption-related issues and lack of respect for the rule of law. This means, democratic governance issues are not necessarily resolved just by creating democratic institutions. In other words, the existence of these institutions does not guarantee good governance.

It is the responsibility of both national and local leaders to see to the strict application of laws and regulations, fair and independent justice, and respect for constitutional laws.

Citizens must be conscious of the fact that social demands and pressure on government or local communities must necessarily take into consideration public resource constraints: human, organisational and financial. This responsibility may not be spontaneously demonstrated by citizens or be an innate reality; it must be learnt from a set of knowledge, know-how and life skills.

In doing this, citizens must acquire and cultivate civic culture. Civic culture may be defined as a "set of beliefs, convictions, global visions and practices which have been formed in the course of a society's history, in such a way that they constitute pieces that have been moulded into a whole." J. Pershoor, Conférence Civitas, Mexico City, September, 1999.

Civil society must play an important role. It must contribute to effectively ensuring that the rule of law is dynamic, and promote civic education and human rights, peace and democracy. Civil society must also contribute to information dissemination and fight against abuse of power and impunity at all levels, especially by championing the protection of the less-fortunate.

	- Principles of good governance Four principles are basic to democratic governance: responsibility: this task falls on both public authorities and citizens. ECOWAS countries have harmonized their legislations with international human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international conventions. Despite this, there are still corruption-related issues and lack of respect for the rule of law. This means, democratic governance issues are not necessarily resolved just by creating democratic institutions. In other words, the existence of these institutions does not guarantee good governance. It is the responsibility of both national and local leaders to see to the strict application of laws and regulations, fair and independent justice, and respect for constitutional laws. Citizens must be conscious of the fact that social demands and pressure on government or local communities must necessarily take into consideration public resource constraints: human, organisational and financial. This responsibility may not be spontaneously demonstrated by citizens or be an innate reality; it must be learnt from a set of knowledge, know-how and life skills. In doing this, citizens must acquire and cultivate civic culture. Civic culture may be defined as a "set of beliefs, convictions, global visions and practices which have been formed in the course of a society's history, in such a way that they constitute pieces that have been moulded into a whole." J. Pershoor, Conférence Civitas, Mexico City, September, 1999. Civil society must play an important role. It must contribute to effectively ensuring that the rule of law is dynamic, and promote civic education and human rights, peace and democracy. Civil society must also contribute to information dissemination and fight against abuse of power and impunity at all levels, especially by championing the protection of the less-fortunate.
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