Governance and public administration: ethics, transparency and accountability

The explosion of new information and communication technologies is also allowing for a rapid, global diffusion of ideas and practices, enabling the public to demand higher standards of ethics, transparency and accountability in the public sector. These prerequisite values of good governance and sustainable development not only buttress responsive public policy and high levels of public sector performance but also play a crucial role in preventing the onset of systemic corruption. There is now international recognition that corruption impedes economic development, undermines stability and erodes trust in public institutions. The pernicious effects of corruption — the lack or poor quality of essential public infrastructure and services — are borne by those the least able to do so: the poor.

http://www.unpan.org/dpepa-gpab-ethics.asp