Governance
Agenda 2030's SDG 16 reflects a commitment to the rule of law, human rights and good governance as essential foundations for sustainable development. By striving to reduce violence and corruption, while enhancing transparency, accountability and participation, SDG 16 aims to create societies where individuals can live with dignity, enjoy their fundamental freedoms and access justice.
Achieving the governance ideals embodied in SDG 16 faces formidable challenges, however. The persistence of conflicts, violence, and instability in many parts of the world undermines efforts to establish peaceful and inclusive societies. Corruption, lack of transparency, and weak institutional capacity pose considerable obstacles to building effective and accountable governance structures. Ensuring access to justice and the rule of law for all remains a daunting task, particularly for marginalised and vulnerable populations who often face barriers such as discrimination, inequality, and limited legal empowerment. Even countries with long-established traditions of democratic and inclusive instutitions experience erosions in individuals freedoms, political polarisation, the spread of misinformation, distrust over electoral results, and a weakening of the separation of powers.
In such a context, it is vital to understand the roots of democratic backsliding around the world and to better promote institutional reforms aimed at strengthening transparency and accountability, fostering social inclusion, and upholding human rights and the rule of law as central tenets of sustainable development. Future Horizons works with international and national government bodies and non-governmental organisations to analyse governance challenges and evaluate reform options in a wide range of contexts.