By Tim Hanstad

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To build an equitable and sustainable society, the social sector cannot take the place of the government, as Mark Kramer and Steve Phillips recently observed; “Only government has the capacity to address social and environmental problems on a national scale. Philanthropy simply cannot compensate for the ongoing failure of our government to meet the needs of its entire population.” Where we have seen major, population-level, and systemic advances in social and economic well-being, governments have been the primary driving force. Whether it’s the billion people who rose out of extreme poverty in recent decades thanks to the Chinese government’s embrace and effective implementation of pragmatic economic reforms or the swell of entrepreneurship and economic growth lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in India (where the Indian government ended excessive central control of the economy, derisively called the “License Raj”), philanthropy has not played the lead role.

Yet while I wholeheartedly agree, with Kramer and Phillips, that strategic philanthropy must empower people to elect the kind of representative government that can pass policies that will benefit everyone, the global philanthropic community would benefit from broadening this focus.

For one thing, such an important conversation shouldn’t remain US-centric: The same myth that Kramer and Phillips identify as undermining US philanthropy plagues international philanthropy, which typically focuses on alleviating symptoms of failing government systems through private, small-scale direct service delivery parallel to government systems (instead of fixing or strengthening government systems).

For another, Kramer and Phillips only identify the demand-side pillars of voter engagement and awareness as effective levers for addressing the challenges they identify. But while demand-side, citizen-based efforts are important in the US and many other countries, they are only a small part of what is needed from philanthropy to help governments around the world better perform. The problem in many settings isn’t merely that elected leaders are enacting self-serving or misguided policies (though there is that too); many or even most countries also suffer from a supply-side problem: they lack the capability, systems, institutional culture and practice to deliver for their citizens. Strategic philanthropy therefore needs to grow those governments’ ability. That requires addressing high levels of corruption, a lack of rule of law, weak civil service capacity, poor public service delivery, and a lack of both transparency and accountability. All are problems that philanthropy can and should help address.

Consider, for example, that most government health systems leave billions behind: half of health facilities in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, for example, lack reliable electricity, while 12-15 percent have no electricity at all. At the same time, 10 to 25 percent of the $7 trillion spent on healthcare globally every year is lost because of corruption, an amount that exceeds the investments needed to achieve universal healthcare by 2030. School systems are similarly underperforming due to poor governance and weak state capacity. According to the World Bank, teachers’ absenteeism is rampant in many LMICs, with 18 percent of teachers in Senegal and 27 percent in Uganda absent on any given day. A recent report found that in seven African countries, deficient governance systems are the key obstacle limiting national educational goals. Meanwhile, across many LMICs there is often no functional governmental administration of land records, undermining families’ claim to the land or business they rely on; a mere 30 percent of the global population has legally registered rights to their land. Justice systems are often inaccessible or ineffectual; in India, for example, the criminal and civil courts are so backed up that it would take an estimated 300 years to clear the backlog. All of this depresses economic activity and increases poverty.

The population-scale solution is not to fund NGO-run health, education, and justice systems. But internationally minded philanthropy can and should invest in advancing good governance: low levels of corruption, the rule of law, responsiveness and accountability to citizens, a capable civil service, effective public service delivery, and a long-term strategic vision. Good governance allows governments to manage public resources and affairs to benefit society as a whole and matters enormously for the social and economic outcomes of citizens.

Indeed, around the world, good governance is the greatest predictor of a society’s well-being. As Bo Rothstein puts it in The Quality of Government, “the higher the level of quality of governance in a given country, the fewer babies die, the longer people live, the greater people’s life satisfaction, the better the environment, and the fewer people unemployed or defined as living in poverty.” The recent history of Botswana, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay, among others, demonstrate that effective governance can be established, nurtured, and strengthened. Philanthropy has a multitude of pathways and levers for supporting governments on this journey and achieving population-scale impact.

Though by no means exhaustive, the list below gestures towards the broad range of strategies beyond the ballot box for strengthening and securing governance capable of building more equitable and sustainable societies, giving philanthropy our best chance of building a foundation for durable, sustainable, and inclusive development.

Without investing in good governance, all of our other investments are built on sand.

1. Tackling corruption:

Funds lost to corruption are 10 times the amount of official development assistance. What would our world look like if countries like Malawi, Haiti, or South Sudan, among the poorest on the planet, had ten times more public funding for education, healthcare, and economic development? But the price of corruption is not evenly distributed. Borne overwhelmingly by the poorest and most vulnerable, it exacerbates their poverty and threatens their health.

In Madagascar, for example, women report having to pay bribes at public hospitals to give birth, and when such corruption becomes endemic, it can destabilize nations, as we see today in South Africa (where corruption at the parastatal power company has brought regular blackouts and undermined the economy). Such corruption also reduces private investor confidence and levels of direct investment that play critical roles in driving economic growth.

The work performed by Transparency International chapters and similar organizations that holistically address corruption is critical, but addressing corruption involves much more than prosecution. Prevention is key, nowhere more than with public contracts, where money, power, and discretion collide. Public contracts are the number one corruption risk for most governments. NGOs such as Open Contracting Partnership and Open Ownership work to institutionalize transparency, accountability, and fairness within government procurement systems.

2. Strengthening civil service capabilities:

There are few more powerful levers for improving governance than investing in civil service capabilities; as a recent McKinsey report noted, civil servants’ “work touches almost every aspect of people’s lives and can measurably improve the quality and length of people’s lives, expand livelihoods, and create resilient communities.”

For example, the Center for Effective Governance of Indian States works closely with Indian state-level officials and implementing partners to set performance goals for government agencies and departments and help them monitor progress. The Chandler Institute of Governance (CIG) supports governments across Africa and Asia to build civil service capabilities and improve government performance through training, hands-on projects to build institutional capacity, and knowledge creation, and has developed an annual good government index. Another example of building civil service capabilities is Apolitical, a certified B corporation backed by impact investors, which aims to build the capabilities for civil servants across the globe through online courses, events, and knowledge products, and has reached over 200,000 civil servants in 160 countries.

3. Increasing transparency and accountability with multi-stakeholder frameworks:

Moving the needle on improving governance is more likely when stakeholders from civil society and the business sector join. A growing number of multi-stakeholder frameworks engage non-state actors in collaboration with the government, and philanthropy can support their development, launch, and growth. For example, the Open Government Partnership is a global membership of 75 countries and 150 local governments where government and non-government actors co-create National Action Plans of specific, closely monitored reforms that tackle corruption, advance good governance, and improve transparency and accountability.

Since the extractive industries (mining, oil, and gas) have proven to be a sector with among the highest risks for corruption and poor governance, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) was founded in 2003 to provide a framework for governments, civil society, and extractive industry companies to improve governance, fair markets, and better outcomes for citizens. EITI, for example, now offers a public database that includes every transaction involving oil, gas, and mining by state-owned enterprises across more than 50 countries. This helps ensure that proceeds from a country’s natural resources benefit the citizens of that country.

Another example of a multi-stakeholder framework is the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative, which works with government officials, civil society, and businesses to improve transparency, participation, and accountability in public infrastructure projects. The initiative helps governments collaborate with civil society and the private sector to ensure public schools, hospitals, roads, bridges and the like are built to standard and at a reasonable price.

4. Strengthening rule of law:

The rule of law—the ideal that all citizens and institutions be accountable to the same laws and have access to impartial justice is closely linked to higher economic growth, greater peace, more education, and improved health outcomes. World Justice Project (WJP) works around the world to advance the rule of law. The organization is best known for its Rule of Law Index, but WJP also engages with governments to build their capacity to better assess and promote the rule of law. International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is a global intergovernmental organization devoted to promoting the rule of law to advance peace and sustainable development. IDLO has worked in more than 90 countries around the world, supporting government and other stakeholders on projects that advance the rule of law.

5. Building data-policy feedback loops:

Philanthropy can also support the NGOs working with governments to develop, implement, and monitor evidence-based policies and programs, and build a data-based culture. The founders of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), for example, were awarded a Nobel Prize in economics for their work adapting randomized control trial protocols traditionally used in medical trials to strengthen governance and improve the delivery of critical services. Their 900 researchers around the world conduct evaluations to implement, measure, and iterate evidence-based policies. More importantly, they help build governments’ capacity to collect data, rigorously analyze and absorb that data, and then incorporate that data into their daily policy- and decision-making.

Similarly, IDInsight works closely with government leaders to help them design effective programs and rigorously test policies and programs to improve both policymaking and the delivery of public services.

6. Supporting ethical leadership and decision-making:

“Political systems and institutions are often designed to fail because they have been molded by people who use power and politics for empty vanity and personal gain,” as former South African parliamentarian, Lindiwe Mazibuko, put it. Mazibuko and her colleagues at the global Apolitical Foundation and South Africa-based Futurelect recognize that it doesn’t have to be this way. These organizations work to make political systems less opaque, and have established “political on-ramps” to encourage and support civic-minded young people, steeped in ethics, regardless of party affiliation, to pursue elected office. Similarly, Cambridge Governance Labs has developed ethics-based training for senior public officials to help re-align decision-making processes to serve the public interest, incorporating ethics, fiduciary obligation, and administrative justice with the goal of establishing cultures of integrity among civil service workers. Meanwhile, Emerging Public Leaders supports promising future public leaders in Liberia, Ghana, and Kenya, grooming them for public service and placing them into meaningful civil service positions, creating a network of hundreds of highly trained and committed leaders.

7. Strengthening digital public infrastructure:

India illustrates another powerful lever for strengthening governance. More than 1.3 billion Indian residents possess an Aadhaar, a unique government-issued biometric digital identity number. This digital identification system has revolutionized the government’s ability to provide services such as healthcare, welfare, and land and vehicle registration; and allows individuals to send and receive secure digital payments. India’s digital transformation journey has demonstrated the potential of using digital public infrastructure to improve government’s capacity and outcomes.

The NGOs Co-Develop and E-Government Foundation are helping governments around the world build and use public digital infrastructure like this to better deliver for their citizens. Co-Develop is a global non-profit fund helping governments accelerate their digital transformation journeys. E-Government Foundation is an India-based non-profit that works with governments (in India and beyond) and other stakeholders to transform urban governance systems.

8. Strengthening land and property rights systems:

Today, an estimated 90 percent of the rural land in sub-Saharan Africa is undocumented. That leaves governments unable to tax landholdings, as well as unable to safeguard the rights of the property and landowners. This is a recipe for insecurity, conflict, and exploitation.

The land rights organization Landesa and its partners work with governments to strengthen land rights, particularly for women and other traditionally marginalized and vulnerable populations. NGOs such as Cadasta Foundation and Place engage with governments and communities to document land rights. Clearly documented land rights and functional land registration systems create clarity and security about who owns what—providing the foundation for investment, wealth generation, security, and increased tax revenue.

The Case of Malawi

One of the best examples of how philanthropic funders can support mutually reinforcing governance interventions and propel a country into a virtuous cycle of development is Malawi.

The drivers of Malawi’s poverty are apparent to even the most casual observer: a lack of capable public systems, inability to attract sufficient private investment, and, of course, corruption. The weak public systems that allow corruption and the loss of public funding that results from it have profound consequences for all Malawians, but particularly the most marginalized.

President Chakwera has repeatedly pledged to do better, including by making Malawi a center of excellence for good governance. Early in his tenure, Chakwera signaled his seriousness by firing his entire cabinet when one member was accused of corruption and later firing his agriculture minister and deputy minister for incompetence. Despite misgivings from the failed promises of previous administrations, several funders supported the Government of Malawi’s efforts to develop and launch a national anti-corruption strategy and campaign. My organization, the Chandler Foundation, supported a process by which numerous Malawian and global NGOs collaborated with government departments to develop and begin implementing a comprehensive 2-year National Action Plan with policy reform commitments in five key areas: government procurement, political party financing, digital governance, sovereign debt transparency, and natural resource governance.

The government has made meaningful progress on all five key areas, including: the establishment of a Registrar Office of Political Parties to enforce restrictions and improve transparency related to political party financing, the adoption of a Mines and Minerals Act that will improve natural resource governance, the adoption and enforcement of beneficial ownership regulations to address the problem of anonymous companies, increased access to public Parliamentary hearings via Parliament TV, and the provision of free public WiFi to public institutions as well as digital skills training for public officers.

Advancing good governance and building government capacity in Malawi through these and similar efforts are the surest path for inclusive prosperity in the country, and it illustrates important roles that funders and civil society can play in the process. While there is a long and uncertain road ahead for Malawi, improving governance and state capacity will be necessary to address the social, economic, and environmental problems on a national scale. And Malawi is not alone: despite a rule of law and democratic recession globally, there are numerous bright spots, countries and leaders demonstrating the will and potential to increase government transparency, accountability, and capacity to effectively deliver public services.

Those countries, including Zambia, Moldova, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Nepal, and others—and, of course, the NGOs well-placed to support good governance in those countries—deserve philanthropic attention. As Mark Kramer and Steve Phillips argue, philanthropy cannot and should not limit itself with merely filling in the gaps left by government failure. It can and should support NGOs that are constructively engaged with governments in system-changing efforts to improve governance and build sustainable and equitable societies. Why is so little philanthropy doing so?

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‍This article was originally published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR).