I am very pleased to introduce this first issue of the Country Governance Monitor. This electronic-publication is prepared on behalf of the World Bank office for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine and aims to update our readers on key governance-related news and World Bank activities. We understand governance as the framework of rules and relationships within which governments deliver public services to enterprises and citizens and are held accountable by them. The launch of this newsletter reflects the importance we in the World Bank place on good governance as a core ingredient of development effectiveness. This includes paying close attention to how the resources we provide through our programs and projects are utilized, but goes beyond this to include a broader look at the progress made and constraints faced by our clients in achieving improved socio-economic outcomes.

Moldova and Ukraine were among the first countries in the Bank’s Europe & Central Asia (ECA) region to ramp up significantly work on governance. We began with intensified diagnostic work to guide us in strategy formulation, project design and to get better at advocating change in environments, where country ownership of the governance agenda often remains weak and the demand for better governance is poorly articulated. Now we face the challenge to operationalize what we are learning and to draw on emerging good practices elsewhere. The key objective will be to find solutions that deliver citizens the kinds of public services they want, at the quality they need, and at a cost the country can afford. The Monitor will summarize salient country-level developments and report on the growing number of interesting and innovative initiatives in our country programs ranging from coalition building and public information campaigns to report cards and technical implementation audits.

In the World Bank we are convinced that governance is central to the effectiveness of our work, but we are also aware of how much we have yet to learn on what works in promoting improved governance on the ground. We hope that readers of the Monitor will feel inspired to provide feedback and share stories of things they have tried–those that worked as well as those that didn't–so we can learn and improve.

The financial and economic crisis engulfing our client countries will not make our work easier. With minds concentrated on mitigating the economic and social impacts of the crisis, we will need to remind our clients that good governance is a foundation for sustained growth and development. Many citizens in our region are disappointed by the services they receive and some have lost their trust in the state. We need to remind them that accountability works when citizens demand the right to know.

I hope you enjoy this first edition. Please be generous with your feedback!

*Martin Raiser is the World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine.