Whole of government and Whole of society Approaches

What is the Whole-of-Government Approach (WGA) ?

WGA refers to the joint activities performed by diverse ministries, public administrations and public agencies in order to provide a common solution to particular problems or issues.
The approach and content of the initiatives can be formal or informal. Areas covered can be related to policy development, public project management or public services.
Structural reforms performed within public administrations during the past decades have introduced this new methodology which aims to reflect individual government’s global policy and priorities through the improvement and coordination of services.
WGA also seeks to introduce coherence in the decision-making process of public administrations.
Another outgrowth of WGA is the Whole-of-Nation approach (WNA), which is gaining ascendancy as a holistic theory of Public Administration in helping to tackle key national and global issues.
Unlike WGA, WNA is more comprehensive as an approach to governance that also takes into account actors and players which are not associated with the State.

WGA on International Cooperation issues

One of the main functions of a WGA, in the international arena, relates to intergovernmental coordination towards the assistance provided to fragile states.
A growing international concern towards terrorism and other security issues after the attacks on September 11 and the military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, together with reiterative downfalls of some unstable states that where left alone to providence, have led into unexpected consequences within the international arena:
- Many limitations of traditional military and diplomatic interventions have been uncovered.
- There is a general agreement towards the need for a greater impetus from developed Governments, to come up with viable formulas towards the progress and well-being of Fragile States, due to these nations’ specific deprived conditions and risks.
Research conducted in this direction highlights the contributions that WGA can bring, towards the achievement of long term development and stability to fragile states at a lower cost. Moreover, the application of this methodology may reduce the risk of failure to meet planned objectives.

What is the Whole-of-Society Approach ?

The Whole-of-Society Approach means to consider engaging multi-sectoral stakeholders and facilitate their active participation in the decision-making process to take appropriate measures together.

Whole-of-Society Approach on Pandemic

Whole-of-Society Approach as a good way of responding to the pandemic can help to fight against the deadly virus.
The Whole-of-Society Approach means to consider engaging multi-sectoral stakeholders and facilitate their active participation in the decision-making process to take appropriate measures together.
WHO puts a whole-of-society approach, which means government engaging all stakeholders including the civil society, communities, academia, media, private sector, NGOs, other voluntary associations, families, and individuals to strengthen the resilience of communities and society as a whole.
This is about building mutual partnerships and networking not only with the stakeholders of top levels like city corporations, but it is also about building a partnership with the district and Upazila level and to the communities at the roots of a country like Bangladesh.
And this approach will build strong confidence among the citizens that will ultimately help them not to be scared, rather, help each other to come out from the fatal consequences being aware of the virus and maintaining the instructions given by WHO, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and Government’s departments.