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Contribution to
ECOSOC–AMR Themes
CEPA Focus Areas in Relation to DPADM
Work: [View]
Contribution to ECOSOC–AMR Themes
The Annual Ministerial Review Themes
have been included for discussion in CEPA since 2007. Please click on the theme to view the major recommendations.
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CEPA Focus Areas in Relation to DPADM Work
Below, the relevant sessions and sub-themes are displayed. Please click on the sessions to view the major recommendations.
I. Topics Related to the Public Administration, Governance and Development
Session 10
- Public Governance for Results in General
- Post-conflict and Post Disaster Countries
- Social Protection of Vulnerable Populations
Session 7
- Capacity-Building for the MDGs
- Capacity-Building for Post-Conflict Reconstruction
- Capacity-Building for Disaster Management and Preparedness
Session 6
- Policy Development; Service Delivery; Budgeting and Public Accountability
Session 5
- Innovations in Governance and Public Administration for the Achievement of the IADGs and MDGs
- Searching for a Bottom-up Approach and Methodologies for Developing Foundations and Principles of Sound
Public Administration
Session 4
- Revitalizing Public Administration
Session 3
- Strengthening Public Administration for the MDGs: a Partnership-Building Approach
Session 1
- Enhancing the Capacity of Public Administration to Implement the United Nations Millennium Declaration
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II. Topics Specific to Institutional and
Human Resource Capacity Development
Session 9
- Enhanced Public Governance for Speedy and Coordinated Policy Response
- Leadership Capacity-building in the Public Sector in the Context of the Financial and Economic Crisis
Session
8
- Human Resources Management Regime
- Leadership and Learning
Session
4
- Promoting and Rewarding Innovation and Excellence for Revitalizing Public Administration and Service
Delivery
Session
3
- The role of Human Resources in Revitalizing Public Administration
- Public Sector Institutional Capacity for African
Renewal
Session
2
- Strengthening and Revitalizing Public Administration and the State
- Human Resources Capacity Development
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III. Topics Specific to Electronic/Mobile Government Development
Session 9
- Citizen-centered Public Service Delivery
Session 8
- Serving the Information Age
Session 3
- The Role of the Public Sector in Advancing the Knowledge Society
Session 2
- E-Government for Improved Transparency and Public Service Delivery
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IV. Topics Specific to Citizen Engagement for Development Management
Session 9
- Transparency and Accountability
Session 8
- Accountability, Transparency and Citizen Trust in Government
Session 4
- Searching for a Bottom-up Approach and Methodologies for Developing Foundations and Principles of Sound Public Administration
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Session 9
19 - 23 April 2010
Transparency and Accountability - The Economic and Social Council should continue to promote and enhance transparent and accountable governance structures, processes and tools, particularly through harnessing the transformative power of information and communications technology.
Member States should provide regular reports of their actions in response to the financial and economic crisis so that citizens can become fully participatory in managing its effects and its exit and to restore the trust of citizens in government.
Also, Member States should set standards of conduct and undertake training to encourage a culture of openness within the civil service, to alter incentives away from risk averseness that fosters secrecy and to undertake information campaigns to make citizens aware of their right to information, legislation facilitating this and the benefits for all that will result.
The Secretariat should continue its work to clearly define and comparatively demonstrate the role of information management and knowledge creation in crisis management and development overall, with an emphasis on both formal and informal mechanisms of public management and citizen engagement.
The Secretariat should undertake a comprehensive and comparative study on targeted social protection programmes for vulnerable populations during times of crisis, including analysis of institutional preparedness for rapid response, vulnerabilities on a macroeconomic and global scale and innovative forms of financing for countries with no fiscal space or safety nets, such as South-South solidarity.
Also, the Secretariat should look into the different ways in which the crisis could be an opportunity to promote a green economy and low-carbon solutions for development, particularly for countries that cannot do so on their own, while supporting the overall work of the United Nations concerning climate change.
Session 8
30 March - 3 April 2009
Accountability, Transparency and Citizen Trust in Government - Member States need to review governance and public administration institutional arrangements, structures, systems, and practices to make them more conducive to civic engagement, transparency and accountability as key components of trust, which is critical for achieving the MDGs.
Because accountability is crucial for government performance, Member States need to strengthen the cognitive and participatory capacities of their citizens; the professional and advisory capacities of intermediary organizations; and the learning and analytical capacities of governments and public managers.
The Secretariat should support the deepening of understanding and the transfer of knowledge to enhance the importance of institutions and human resources capacity building, while working to underline the importance of civil society and citizen participation.
Session 10
4 – 8 April 2011
Public Governance for Results in General - The Committee urges the Secretariat and the Economic and Social Council that they assist Governments in the how, such as through better practice guides, mechanisms for constant monitoring and review, and building organizations with a learning culture.
The Secretariat and the Economic and Social Council should ensure that the United Nations has the capacity to provide independent information, such as on the Millennium Development Goals, without which independent performance evaluation is not possible.
Also, concerned with the possibility of promoting governance frameworks that may be too costly for, or ill-suited to, a country’s conditions, yet may become adopted as a result of citizen and international pressure, the Committee recommends that the Secretariat add sensitivity to national and regional conditions in its advocacy and assistance work.
The Committee request the Secretariat to explore ways that the United Nations can support capacity-building for democracy and a democratic culture in developing countries.
Post-conflict and Post-disaster Countries - The character of current international assistance to post-conflict countries requires radical reappraisal to simplify, respect the time necessary for a sustainable peace by multi-year mandates and funds, put local governments in the driver’s seat in choosing priorities in relation to local conditions and move from prescription to facilitation.
The Committee urges the Secretariat to develop its capacities to complement ongoing assistance in peace and security, through the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the United Nations Development Programme, with the crucial assistance on governance capacities for development, specifically, advice on options and on identifying the civil service positions vital to understanding economic policymaking, training skills for negotiating with donors and trade groups, and assisting public management to support the productive sector, in partnership with the private sector.
Programmes of public sector development in post-conflict countries must move from technical assistance provided by expatriate advisers, which creates a parallel civil service without transferring knowledge, to the creation of a locally rooted and professional public administration.
International actors intervening in post-conflict countries should rethink concepts of security to recognize its necessary link with broad public participation, the strategic importance of local government, and the imperative of building trust in technical programmes for capacity-building and skills development.
The Committee recommends that the Secretariat create an active repository of knowledge of what does succeed, how, and why in post-conflict transitions, including citizen participation in rebuilding the State, an effective civil service, and innovations in public administration, possibly through case studies of the United Nations Public Service Awards.
The environmental crisis is not only an issue of climate change but is also a profound threat to development and human security. The Committee urges the Department of Economic and Social Affairs to contribute to an international mechanism for financing adjustments and provide technical support to address agricultural losses and food insecurity. It urges the Division for Public Administration and Development Management to assist countries in the radical restructuring of public administration and development management that is required to meet the challenges of the cumulative impacts of successive disasters.
Social protection of vulnerable populations - Protecting vulnerable groups should be a priority for any Government, providing social protection within available resources.
Criteria for social protection strategies should include: (a) affordability; (b) national values on an ethic of social solidarity; (c) vertical and horizontal equity; (d) support from non-State actors; (e) gender; (f) sustainability over time; (g) the possibility of phasing out when appropriate so as to avoid individual dependency as much as fiscal traps; and (h) administrative efficiency.
Special attention should be paid to vulnerable groups currently excluded from mainstream social protection programmes, such as labour migrants, displaced persons, certain minorities such as indigenous peoples, and those denied citizenship where they live.
In spite of the United Nations commitment to social protection through internationally agreed goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and the work of programmes and agencies such as UNDP, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Health Organization, poverty and inequality continue to be pervasive on a global scale. As 2015 approaches, the United Nations should work with Member States to forge a global agenda for social protection, linked more closely with national development agendas beyond the targeted year of 2015.
An important contribution to such a global agenda and continuous United Nations involvement is building the capacity of public administrations to implement those goals at the international, national, and local levels.
Another contribution would be a global system of knowledge management on the many components of social protection, beginning with an international reference toolkit based on case studies, comparisons, and programme evaluations and an international network on e-services for the disabled and elderly, anchored in the
United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN).
To reduce corruption in social protection programmes and increase accountability, the Committee recommends that public administrations keep public records of the beneficiaries of social programmes.
Session 7
14 – 18 April 2008
Capacity-Building for the MDGs - The Economic and Social Council should:
- Reiterate to Member States the need to monitor the progress made towards the achievement of the MDGs. That would include public reporting to citizens, including time-bound targets and national/subnational action plans, as appropriate. Such public reporting would require shared accountability for results on the part of both elected leaders and professional public servants;
- Emphasize the importance of national evidence-based reporting, with sets of data disaggregated by socially relevant categories such as gender, income levels, age groups and sub-national aspects. The good practices and innovative methods of gender mainstreaming undertaken by different ministries or organizations can be operationalized and disseminated through disaggregated data. In this way, an effective exchange of information based on comparable data and targets can culminate in effective learning and successful replication;
- Urge Member States to prepare an inventory of good administrative policies and practices implemented to support the MDGs. Such an inventory would include the necessary capacities, institutional preparedness aspects and a strategic vision concerning a modern civil service. The United Nations system, particularly the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and other concerned bodies, should support these efforts.
Capacity-Building for Post-Conflict Reconstruction - Public administration reconstruction in a post-conflict environment needs to be undertaken at the systemic and societal levels (State-building, legitimacy, and leadership), the organizational level (public administration bodies and agencies) and the individual level (public sector ethos, citizenship, trust, allegiance). In such contexts, reconstruction should start, if possible, before the end of conflict. With these criteria in mind, the Secretariat should compile lessons learned in post-conflict recovery and reconstruction. Early warning systems for future conflicts should be identified and mechanisms put in place to eliminate possible sources of conflict.
Capacity-Building for Disaster Management and Preparedness - Member States should:
- Conduct post-crisis evaluations and research through, inter alia, white papers;
- Make such reports publicly available so as to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of the resources allocated to disaster management;
- Work to make the publicly available evaluations on post-crisis interventions into international standards for excellence in crisis management. Such evaluations could be carried out on a country-by-country basis or through peer review or other means, this allowing Member States to exchange information on best practices and lessons leant related to disaster risk management;
- Develop capacities at the individual level through the training of public servants in the discipline of disaster management.
Since disaster management is an emerging field in public administration, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs should expand its activities in this area, including through community-based approaches. The Department should also initiate the development of a “minimal toolkit” for public administrators that addresses issues related to disaster management.
The Secretariat should consider the feasibility of creating a working group or task force jointly with other relevant international organizations (including the relevant functional commissions of the United Nations) in the field of disaster management. Through such a working group, the Committee could endeavour to raise global awareness of disaster management within public administrations and create a trans-administrative response.
Session 6
10-13 April 2007
Policy development; Service Delivery; Budgeting and Public Accountability - Member States should reaffirm and deepen participatory governance and citizen engagement, and instigate the necessary capacity-building initiatives, while continuing to include the cross-cutting issues of governance and public administration, and particularly participatory governance, in the implementation of IADGs and the MDGs.
The Secretariat should:
- Ensure that the normative, analytical and technical cooperation elements of the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance continue to include participatory governance and citizen engagement in policy development, service delivery and public accountability;
- Strengthen its partnership with other international and regional organizations, particularly civil society groups, in carrying out its work on participatory governance;
- Prepare and circulate a policy brief on the main theme in consultation with the lead speakers.
Session 5
27-31 March 2006
Innovations in Governance and Public Administration for the Achievement of the IADGs and MDGs - Member States should:
- Pursue ethically sustainable innovations in line with the rule-of-law and through a strategic perspective while emphasizing the significance of enabling factors such as freedom of thought and expression, an open society and public administrative structures that encourage dialogue among public servants;
- Have: (i) the willingness to change and take risks; and (ii) the managerial capacity to lead change and take risks, including the resources needed for such change. In that regard, national human resources development policies towards good governance are essential. It is also important to institutionalize innovation while focusing on how to avoid resistance in the process;
- Prepare young professionals to help and sustain innovations in the public sector while working to train all citizens to value democratic processes and innovation.
The Secretariat should facilitate innovations in governance in the United Nations Member States by:
- Maximizing the use of the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UNPAN) as a repository of innovations in governance;
- Strengthen its function as a forum for the exchange of innovations in public administration among countries, particularly through increased focus on the United Nations Public Service Awards;
- Conducting analytical research on innovations in governance, and preparing practical case studies useful for replication of innovative ideas;
- Documenting and disseminating knowledge on innovations, including the achievements of the winners of the United Nations Public Service Awards;
- Providing leadership capacity-building programmes on innovations.
The Secretariat should also:
- Focus on good policies and legislation for innovation and on mainstreaming successful knowledge systems as national policy tools;
- Examine several key questions in order to better assist Member States in introducing change in the public sector. These questions are: How do new ideas get accepted?; What is involved in the process of innovation?; How to build political coalitions to support and validate the innovation process?; What are the main obstacles that should be addressed?; How can the effectiveness of innovations be assessed?; How can innovations be sustained?; What happens when the leader that initiated the innovation leaves office?;
- Analyse the incentives for innovation among Governments and civil servants, and address the issue of innovation in the public sector at the local and national levels and in multilateral organizations;
- Devise tools and methods for risk assessment and change management in the public sector, given that all innovation inevitably modifies the status quo of public administration, and thus encounters resistance;
- Continue to focus on uncovering the “black box” of the process through which innovations in government come about.
Searching for a Bottom-up Approach and Methodologies for Developing Foundations and Principles of Sound Public Administration - Member States should strengthen their participatory institutions, opportunities and mechanisms to build citizen trust in government.
The Secretariat should:
- Place its technical advisory facilities at the disposal of Member States, especially those that seek assistance on the design of instruments for monitoring and evaluating participatory processes and their impact on citizens;
- Undertake a review of literature, desk and country case studies on obstacles faced and approaches adopted by countries in fostering citizen participation in governance and public administration.
Session 4
4-8 April 2005
Revitalizing Public Administration - The Secretariat to the United Nations should deepen its analytical, advisory and technical cooperation capacities to ensure that viable options of public administration practices are identified and that the pre-conditions for their successful adaptation are clearly set out, in support of the Millennium Development Goals. The new challenge is one of finding how to work with acknowledged diverse models and traditions of organization and management of public affairs, and looking for successful policy options. This implies shared knowledge, public administration education and training, trans-border cooperation and support for international organizations.
Session 4
4-8 April 2005
Searching for a Bottom-up Approach and Methodologies for Developing Foundations and Principles of Sound Public Administration - Member States should opt for bottom-up approaches, which ensure that citizens themselves have the last word on the underlying principles, foundations, quality and effectiveness of their own public administration, and which lead to the due recognition of the diversity of national management systems.
It is important to promote participation in public affairs and to find a sound method of assessing and alleviating the declining trust in government.
The Secretariat should prepare a questionnaire to elicit views from the recipients of public services on what constitutes a well-performing, efficient and quality-oriented public administration. This questionnaire should be prepared with due attention to public service indicators that apply to achieving the MDGs.
Session 3
29 March – 2 April 2004
Strengthening Public Administration for the MDGs: a Partnership-Building Approach -The Council should reaffirm the role of the public service in the fulfilment of the specific national goals for socioeconomic development, as they are key indicators of Member States’ attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. To this end, the Committee reiterates its earlier recommendation to the Council that it devote one of its next high-level segments to the changing role of a public administration geared to development, both economic and human, in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, with public service delivery as the pivotal element. The segment could be entitled “A service-oriented public administration for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.”
Member States should:
- Pursue the issue of partnerships through South-South cooperation, in order to strengthen their capacities at all levels and in order for civil society to develop the necessary framework, tools and processes for formulation of pro-poor policies and programmes and the implementation of the commitments of the MDGs;
- Develop approaches, methodologies and tools for, and knowledge on, citizen-based policy formulation and performance monitoring that are independent, transparent and inclusive;
- Pay attention to low ratios of tax revenues to GDP, an indicator of low internal resource mobilization and, consequently, of low levels of resources for distribution and developmental activities;
- Disseminate available data on the public sector and strive to produce consolidated general government accounts that include the revenue by type and expenditure by functions, by all levels of government —central, local, public enterprises etc.
The Secretariat should:
- Develop innovative tools, such as the code of accountability and engaged governance norms, as well as a database of best practices and indicators, and provide the necessary skills to Governments at all levels and civil society to carry out more informed, rigorous and analytical dialogue with their partners, for the development, implementation and monitoring of pro-poor strategies and other MDGs.
Session 2
7–11 April 2003
Strengthening and Revitalizing Public Administration and the State - The Council may wish to devote its next high-level segment to a debate on revitalizing public administration.
The Council should establish linkages between the work of the Commission for Social Development and the work of the Committee.
Member States should organize events to celebrate United Nations Public Service Day on 23 June of each year, at the national and local levels, to enhance the perceived image of the public sector; to show recognition for the work of public servants; and to encourage young people to pursue with pride their career in this field.
The Secretariat should:
- Disseminate among Member States and the general public information on the activities related to the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance;
- Make use of the network utilized for the United Nations Public Service Awards to reach most sectors of society;
- Extend the reach of the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration to the sub-regional level in order to strengthen the capacity of public administration institutions at that level.
- Continue to provide, upon request of Member States, technical advisory support in the areas of enhancing the quality of personnel in the public sector; reinforcing governance and public administration systems and institutions; and fostering transparency and accountability, as well as reconstructing public administration in post-conflict countries and situations of decentralized governance;
- Intensify leadership development activities, with a particular focus on Africa and developing countries in general, and emphasize capacity building support to and partnerships with regional and national institutions to provide the necessary training;
- Undertake a systematic assessment of institutional capacity requirements in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions of the world, and produce a compilation of experiences and good practices in public administration;
- Embark on a step-by-step approach of researching among the various indicators that can be used to characterize the public sector, and which may be available from other organizations, bearing in mind the following three aspects of evaluating the public sector: efficiency, transparency and participation.
Human Resources Capacity Development - Given the rapidly changing public administration and human resources needs of Member States, the Committee strongly recommends that it meets annually, instead of biennially, for one week. This would ensure that its input into the work of the Council and its advice to Member States were timely and up to date.
Member States should:
- Establish and/or strengthen their human resources planning and management systems and units, as well as focus on leadership capacity development of future and present leaders in the public sector; and
- Professionalise their public service and establish effective incentive structures that enhance recognition of and pride in the public service, while creating a learning organization culture in the public service and tap talent from underrepresented groups.
The Secretariat should:
- Undertake policy analysis and research in developing human capacity in the public sector of developing countries;
- Develop and share tools and guidelines for enhancing human resources planning and management capacities in developing countries (including regional public service charters and manuals on codes of conduct); and
- Organize forums (meetings, seminars, workshops) at regional levels, including in small island States, especially for developing countries, to further explore how to strengthen the human resources capacity in the public sector and develop appropriate solutions.
Session 1
22–26 July 2002
Enhancing the Capacity of Public Administration to Implement the United Nations Millennium Declaration - The Council was requested to consider authorizing annual meetings of the Committee in order to follow the progress of Member States and the United Nations in enhancing the capacity of public administration to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Upon a request by the Council, the Committee decided to establish a subcommittee to set its agendas and prepare its meetings. Other subcommittees, whether established by function or region, could also help to conduct the work of the Committee.
Member States should:
- Explore the concept of public sector learning organizations;
- Rely on conceptual work to support progress in the sectoral areas responsible for the issues highlighted in the Millennium Declaration;
- Define a road map for implementation of measures regarding income poverty, hunger, access to water and sanitation, slums, health, education, employment, gender and environment;
- Rely on innovations and horizontal processes, as exemplified by public sector learning organizations;
- Better define the role of the state as enabler and as user of knowledge and technology in order to support and encourage innovation throughout the public administration and the society as a whole; and
- Design and implement effective decentralization policies and programmes (financial and administrative) and build the capacity of governance institutions at the central, subnational and local levels to accomplish the MDGs.
The Secretariat should:
- Identify the critical factors that could guide Member States’ decisions on the proper balance between centralized and decentralized responsibilities in fiscal and financial administration;
- Show how public administration reforms could best increase effectiveness and efficiency, reduce the cost of government and release resources to meet higher societal needs;
- Relate all initiatives planned or undertaken in the area of state governance and public administration in Africa with the work of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), as well as the G-8 Africa Action Plan, in order to ensure maximum synergy and to be supportive of the partnership concept advocated by NEPAD; and
- Give priority to the needs of Africa through its technical assistance activities.
Session 9
19 - 23 April 2010
Citizen-centered Public Service Delivery - Member States should not lose sight of the purpose of regulation: citizens and the quality of their lives. This would include supporting human resources development in the public sector that aims at citizen-centric governance, supporting the effective use of information and communications technology and e-government towards enhancing citizen engagement.
The Secretariat needs to continue publicizing good examples of innovative citizen participation initiatives through the United Nations Public Service Awards.
Session 8
30 March - 3 April 2009
Serving the Information Age - Given the potential power of information and communications technology in improving the delivery of public services and the creation of knowledge, Member States need to anchor capacity-building in the public service via, inter alia, the application of appropriate information and communications technology (ICT).
Both donors and multinational information technology companies should increase their financial support to developing countries in order to build their ICT capacities.
The Secretariat should increase the provision of online training using UNPAN as an efficient and cost-effective tool of human resources capacity-building.
Session 6
10-13 April 2007
Policy development; Service Delivery; Budgeting and Public Accountability - Member States should reaffirm and deepen participatory governance and citizen engagement, and instigate the necessary capacity-building initiatives, while continuing to include the cross-cutting issues of governance and public administration, and particularly participatory governance, in the implementation of IADGs and the MDGs.
The Secretariat should:
- Ensure that the normative, analytical and technical cooperation elements of the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance continue to include participatory governance and citizen engagement in policy development, service delivery and public accountability;
- Strengthen its partnership with other international and regional organizations, particularly civil society groups, in carrying out its work on participatory governance;
- Prepare and circulate a policy brief on the main theme in consultation with the lead speakers.
Session 3
29 March – 2 April 2004
The Role of the Public Sector in Advancing the Knowledge Society - Member States should:
- Make their national public administrations into the major facilitating factor in transitioning to knowledge society, by enabling knowledge creation, dissemination and utilization throughout the whole society. This would require the adoption of policy frameworks that focus on people and information as society’s two main assets; and
- Perceive the national public administrations as e-governments, that produce and seek knowledge in order to use it to deliver public value to the citizens.
The Secretariat should:
- Enhance the role of the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UNPAN) to develop and disseminate knowledge and information on best practices, systematically and regularly; and
- Continue studying the issue of the knowledge society and direct its efforts to specific areas of interest for Governments, for example, the ways in which knowledge development leads to informed public policy-making.
Session 2
7–11 April 2003
E-Government for Improved Transparency and Public Service Delivery - Member States should:
- Take on the challenge of ensuring that the powers of e-government are used to deliver more rapid and improved public services, to enhance transparency and to enable people to increase their say in policy-making decisions, so as to foster greater participation and accelerated development; and
- Pay particular attention to ensuring privacy rights and legal protection when establishing e-government systems.
The Secretariat should:
- Undertake additional work to further analyze and delineate the role of the State as enabler and user of knowledge and technology in order to support and encourage innovation throughout public administration and society as a whole;
- Focus its future work in the area of e-government on how to fund egovernment and how Governments can secure appropriate financing mechanisms towards the building of learning infrastructures;
- Focus on the impact of e-government on poverty reduction, and continue publishing the global e-government survey on an annual basis, while paying special attention to the use of e-government for deepening participation;
- Work on developing appropriate tools for benchmarking the use of egovernment and integrate them into the methodology applied by the survey.
Session 9
19 - 23 April 2010
Enhanced Public Governance for Speedy and Coordinated Policy Response - It is emphasized that global problems need global solutions; no single country can provide solutions to the crisis alone. The current international institutions did not prevent the crisis. Therefore, Member States should consider a new architecture, whereby there is not only globalization of finance but also of regulation and to use the United Nations as the best forum to address such crisis-related issues, to generate a global discussion on their moral aspects and standards of justice and to link these issues with the urgent necessity to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.
Leadership Capacity-building in the Public Sector in the Context of the Financial and Economic Crisis - The Committee urges Member States to differentiate between short-term emergency responses and long-term strategic planning and transformation in their response to the financial and economic crisis and its effects. It recommends formulating timely exit strategies from emergency responses, where appropriate, and recognizing that successful adjustment requires long-term strategic planning.
The Secretariat and the Economic and Social Council should pay due attention to the factor of leadership and new leadership qualities needed in times of crisis. To this end, the Committee commends the new paradigm of public administration, “open government”, with its emphasis on citizens as partners and co-producers, instead of “government leadership” alone.
Also, policymakers should recognize the tendency of citizens not to differentiate Government from State and that they provide objective, balanced information on diagnosis, policies and anticipated impacts, by linking citizens more closely to decision-making processes, and by ensuring a civil service career track that is stable, permanent and well-trained.
Recognizing the temptation to centralize power in conditions of crisis, the Committee urges Member States not to seek simplistic solutions but rather to recognize the complexity of State capacities and to strengthen their regulatory frameworks through integrity, accountability, transparency and avoiding State capture.
Session 8
30 March - 3 April 2009
Human Resources Management Regime - Member States need to strengthen the institutional and human capacities of public services to enable them to provide more and better services to meet the national development objectives and the internationally agreed development agenda, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Secretariat needs to put more emphasis on capacity-building for effective human resources management and development.
Leadership and Learning – Member States need to:
- Strengthen the capacities of management development institutes and universities so as to empower them to sustain capacity-building in public service for current and future generations;
- Pay particular attention to the development of the capacities of human resources managers in public service to ensure that competent public administration professionals are available to provide the needed advice to governments in matters related to public service and administration;
- Pay special attention to the importance of innovative approaches to learning practices, including executive coaching and mentoring.
The UN should recognize and promote the regional centres of excellence that can offer medium to long-term training and promote cooperation among governments of given regions. Such activities can help in building hard technical skills and human capacities while promoting partnerships among public administration bodies.
Session 7
14 – 18 April 2008
Capacity-Building for the MDGs - The Economic and Social Council should:
- Reiterate to Member States the need to monitor the progress made towards the achievement of the MDGs. That would include public reporting to citizens, including time-bound targets and national/subnational action plans, as appropriate. Such public reporting would require shared accountability for results on the part of both elected leaders and professional public servants;
- Emphasize the importance of national evidence-based reporting, with sets of data disaggregated by socially relevant categories such as gender, income levels, age groups and sub-national aspects. The good practices and innovative methods of gender mainstreaming undertaken by different ministries or organizations can be operationalized and disseminated through disaggregated data. In this way, an effective exchange of information based on comparable data and targets can culminate in effective learning and successful replication;
- Urge Member States to prepare an inventory of good administrative policies and practices implemented to support the MDGs. Such an inventory would include the necessary capacities, institutional preparedness aspects and a strategic vision concerning a modern civil service. The United Nations system, particularly the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and other concerned bodies, should support these efforts.
Session 6
10-13 April 2007
Policy development; Service Delivery; Budgeting and Public Accountability - Member States should reaffirm and deepen participatory governance and citizen engagement, and instigate the necessary capacity-building initiatives, while continuing to include the cross-cutting issues of governance and public administration, and particularly participatory governance, in the implementation of IADGs and the MDGs.
The Secretariat should:
- Ensure that the normative, analytical and technical cooperation elements of the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance continue to include participatory governance and citizen engagement in policy development, service delivery and public accountability;
- Strengthen its partnership with other international and regional organizations, particularly civil society groups, in carrying out its work on participatory governance;
- Prepare and circulate a policy brief on the main theme in consultation with the lead speakers.
Session 5
27-31 March 2006
Innovations in Governance and Public Administration for the Achievement of the IADGs and MDGs - Member States should:
- Pursue ethically sustainable innovations in line with the rule-of-law and through a strategic perspective while emphasizing the significance of enabling factors such as freedom of thought and expression, an open society and public administrative structures that encourage dialogue among public servants;
- Have: (i) the willingness to change and take risks; and (ii) the managerial capacity to lead change and take risks, including the resources needed for such change. In that regard, national human resources development policies towards good governance are essential. It is also important to institutionalize innovation while focusing on how to avoid resistance in the process;
- Prepare young professionals to help and sustain innovations in the public sector while working to train all citizens to value democratic processes and innovation.
The Secretariat should facilitate innovations in governance in the United Nations Member States by:
- Maximizing the use of the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UNPAN) as a repository of innovations in governance;
- Strengthen its function as a forum for the exchange of innovations in public administration among countries, particularly through increased focus on the United Nations Public Service Awards;
- Conducting analytical research on innovations in governance, and preparing practical case studies useful for replication of innovative ideas;
- Documenting and disseminating knowledge on innovations, including the achievements of the winners of the United Nations Public Service Awards;
- Providing leadership capacity-building programmes on innovations.
The Secretariat should also:
- Focus on good policies and legislation for innovation and on mainstreaming successful knowledge systems as national policy tools;
- Examine several key questions in order to better assist Member States in introducing change in the public sector. These questions are: How do new ideas get accepted?; What is involved in the process of innovation?; How to build political coalitions to support and validate the innovation process?; What are the main obstacles that should be addressed?; How can the effectiveness of innovations be assessed?; How can innovations be sustained?; What happens when the leader that initiated the innovation leaves office?;
- Analyse the incentives for innovation among Governments and civil servants, and address the issue of innovation in the public sector at the local and national levels and in multilateral organizations;
- Devise tools and methods for risk assessment and change management in the public sector, given that all innovation inevitably modifies the status quo of public administration, and thus encounters resistance;
- Continue to focus on uncovering the “black box” of the process through which innovations in government come about.
Searching for a Bottom-up Approach and Methodologies for Developing Foundations and Principles of Sound Public Administration - Member States should strengthen their participatory institutions, opportunities and mechanisms to build citizen trust in government.
The Secretariat should:
- Place its technical advisory facilities at the disposal of Member States, especially those that seek assistance on the design of instruments for monitoring and evaluating participatory processes and their impact on citizens;
- Undertake a review of literature, desk and country case studies on obstacles faced and approaches adopted by countries in fostering citizen participation in governance and public administration.
Session 3
29 March – 2 April 2004
The role of Human Resources in Revitalizing Public Administration - Member States should:
- Focus the reform of their public administration systems on achieving the conditions that will ensure and facilitate the attainment of the MDGs, including faster economic development at national and local levels, as a sine qua non for having the resources needed to deliver adequate and effective services;
- Adopt a holistic national strategy to strengthen the management of human capital in the public sector;
- Revisit core values and principles as outlined in national civil service legislation and charters, examine the coherence of their human resources management institutional framework, review recruitment and promotion strategies and incentives, institutionalize workforce planning, and ensure the representation of marginalized social groups.
The Secretariat should:
- Continue to focus its work on the reform/revitalization of the practice of public administration, underlining its central role in the achievement of the goals of the State, enumerating and clarifying shared universal principles, and exploring and shedding light on the demands and exigencies that require adaptation in different settings;
- Carry out policy research and technical cooperation on the role of human resources management in revitalizing public administration;
- Build on the successful outcomes of the Global Forum on Reinventing Government, by assisting in developing regional and national strategies to reinvent government; and
- Establish regional and sub-regional programmes/projects for strengthening the strategic capacity of public administration units.
Public Sector Institutional Capacity for African Renewal - The Council should recommend to the international organizations and the donor community that they should increase financial, material and technical support to African States with a view to strengthening governance and public administration institutions on the continent.
African Governments should take the following specific measures to strengthen their institutional capacities:
(a) Implement the Governance and Public Administration Programme of the African Union.
(b) Institute mechanisms for the implementation and dissemination of the Charter for the African Public Service.
(c) Adopt methods, processes and systems, such as decentralized governance, that foster opportunities for popular participation in the governance and development process.
(d) Strengthen the law-making, oversight and budget review capacities of the legislature.
(e) Depoliticize the public service and transform it into a professional and nonpartisan, but politically sensitive, agent.
(f) Strengthen the judiciary to ensure predictability and peaceful resolution of disputes arising out of trade, industrial and international relations.
The United Nations system should continue providing substantive technical and advisory support aimed at strengthening governance and public administration institutions in African States. It should also assist the secretariat of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (A/57/304, annex) in implementing the Governance and Public Administration Programme for Africa approved in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in May 2003, and adopted by the African Union, and should assist in the implementation of regional integration programmes and projects. It should also support research and dissemination of information on the application of traditional institutions and practices to public administration within the context of globalization and regional integration.
Session 1
22–26 July 2002
Enhancing the Capacity of Public Administration to Implement the United Nations Millennium Declaration - The Council was requested to consider authorizing annual meetings of the Committee in order to follow the progress of Member States and the United Nations in enhancing the capacity of public administration to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Upon a request by the Council, the Committee decided to establish a subcommittee to set its agendas and prepare its meetings. Other subcommittees, whether established by function or region, could also help to conduct the work of the Committee.
Member States should:
- Explore the concept of public sector learning organizations;
- Rely on conceptual work to support progress in the sectoral areas responsible for the issues highlighted in the Millennium Declaration;
- Define a road map for implementation of measures regarding income poverty, hunger, access to water and sanitation, slums, health, education, employment, gender and environment;
- Rely on innovations and horizontal processes, as exemplified by public sector learning organizations;
- Better define the role of the state as enabler and as user of knowledge and technology in order to support and encourage innovation throughout the public administration and the society as a whole; and
- Design and implement effective decentralization policies and programmes (financial and administrative) and build the capacity of governance institutions at the central, subnational and local levels to accomplish the MDGs.
The Secretariat should:
- Identify the critical factors that could guide Member States’ decisions on the proper balance between centralized and decentralized responsibilities in fiscal and financial administration;
- Show how public administration reforms could best increase effectiveness and efficiency, reduce the cost of government and release resources to meet higher societal needs;
- Relate all initiatives planned or undertaken in the area of state governance and public administration in Africa with the work of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), as well as the G-8 Africa Action Plan, in order to ensure maximum synergy and to be supportive of the partnership concept advocated by NEPAD; and
- Give priority to the needs of Africa through its technical assistance activities.
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