Governing through change towards building dynamic governance in Asia and the Pacific

Audience members raising hands during a talk in a bright indoor room.

Governing through change

towards building dynamic governance in Asia and the Pacific

Governments across Asia and the Pacific are navigating an era of accelerating change - climate and nature transitions, demographic shifts, technological disruption, trade fragmentation, and growing pressure on public trust. These overlapping stressors call for institutions that not only deliver today's services, but also anticipate change, adapt as evidence shifts, and act with agility when it matters most.

This is the focus of UNDP's work on dynamic governance , delivered as part of Project Vision — a UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub initiative supporting countries in the region to initiate and sustain forward-looking reforms through future orientation, strategic focus, and a governance-first approach.

In February 2026, UNDP published the policy brief Governing Through Change in Asia and the Pacific: The Need for Dynamic Governance Capabilities. The brief sets out UNDP’s conceptual framework for dynamic governance, anchored in the three core capabilities of anticipation, adaptability, and agility, and potential linkages between these capabilities and stronger human development outcomes and greater resilience to shocks.

Building on this foundation, UNDP is partnering with the Chandler Governance Group (CGG) to develop the Asia-Pacific Future-Ready Governance Index (FRGI). Organised around three pillars of anticipation, adaptability and agility, the indicators will reflect countries’ capabilities around risk sensing, long-term planning, whole-of-government coordination, safe-to-fail innovation, rapid resource mobilisation, and digitally-enabled delivery, to name a few. The FRGI will provide a structured benchmarking platform that helps governments diagnose capability gaps, prioritise reforms, and track progress over time.

Why measure dynamic governance?

Many governments in the region recognise the need to strengthen anticipatory, adaptive and agile capabilities, but gaps in systemic evidence on where these capabilities are present, how strong they are, and what constrains them mean reform efforts often remain reactive and fragmented. A capability-based measurement tool has the potential to make future-ready capabilities visible; support learning and prioritisation by identifying strengths and gaps across countries; and anchor structured dialogue with governments, civil society and partners around credible, comparable evidence.

To strengthen the technical quality and credibility of the Index, UNDP and CGG are jointly convening an Expert Reference Group (ERG) of leading academics, international partners, and senior practitioners to guide and validate the framework and methodology, as well as advise on robustness and interpretation.

Through 2026 and 2027, UNDP is planning to pilot the Asia-Pacific Future-Ready Governance Index in selected countries, connect diagnostics to reform priorities through high-level advisory engagement under the Project Vision initiative, and link findings to country-level programmatic support.

The Index is being developed in an open, consultative spirit. UNDP welcomes engagement from governments, researchers, and partners across the region to share insights and comments, contribute data, or explore collaboration. For more information, please contact diana.torres@undp.org.