Social Accountability & Natural Resource Management
CISDL Legal research Fellow Kishan Khoday
In this UNDP research paper, Kishan Khoday explores the nexus between sustainable development and governance reform following the Arab revolution. Control over the environment has for decades been central to state legitimacy and power in the region, shaping the nature of autocratic and centralized systems of governance and influencing how sovereignty and statecraft function in the region. As countries across the region craft new social compacts for development, the equitable and sustainable use of natural resources and the environment will likely emerge as a central issue of contention. The social compact in many countries has been defined by a balance between the state control over natural wealth and provision of social development results. But development is about more than charity, it is also about justice and accountability. As chants of freedom and calls for a new era of inclusive and equitable development arise across the Arab region, the history of unsustainable and inequitable use of resources like land, water, energy and minerals will likely emerge as a central focus of reform.
Paper available for download Accountability__NatResources_Kishan_2012