A/HRC/34/28 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 31/14, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a compilation of the activities and programmes of the United Nations system that contribute to the role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights, including its efforts to support States in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in this context, and to submit it to the Council at its thirty-fourth session. 2. In the same resolution, the Human Rights Council recognized that transparent, responsible, accountable, open and participatory government, responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people, is the foundation on which good governance rests, and that such a foundation is one of the indispensable conditions for the full realization of human rights, including the right to development. The Council also recognized the mutually reinforcing relationship between good governance and human rights, and acknowledged that good governance had a central role in the promotion and protection of human rights, and in preventing and combating corruption at all levels. It welcomed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its recognition of the need to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies that provide equal access to justice and that are based on respect for human rights, including the right to development, on effective rule of law and good governance at all levels, and on transparent, effective and accountable institutions. The Council also welcomed the commitments made by all States in the Agenda with regard to good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights, including in Sustainable Development Goal 16. 3. Pursuant to the request of the Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) contacted all organizations of the United Nations system to solicit their inputs. OHCHR invited all organizations to share information on their policies, programmes and activities aimed at strengthening good governance at the national level, in particular in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in this regard, in particular Sustainable Development Goal 16. It invited all respondents to describe the governance areas that they covered and the conceptual, policy and programmatic approach taken, and to share information on activities and approaches for measuring progress in governance reforms, including examples that demonstrated the relationship between good governance and human rights and could serve as best practices and lessons learned in strengthening governance. 4. OHCHR received responses from regional commissions, including the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA); from funds and programmes, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); from specialized agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the World Bank; from departments and offices of the United Nations Secretariat, including the Department of Political Affairs, the Rule of Law Unit of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OHCHR-Palestine, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and the United Nations country team in Madagascar; the United Nations Statistics Division; and other bodies, inter alia the secretariats of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and of the Convention on Biological Diversity. 2