Governance in the Middle East, North Africa and the Western Balkans: Challenges and Priorities in Reforming Public Administration in the Mediterranean Region, edited by Adriana Alberti, Laila Fala and Fatma Sayed, provides an overview of critical governance issues in selected countries. It examines the challenges and priorities of the respective Governments in reforming public administration at the national and local levels, with a special focus on institutional reforms, decentralization, human resource management in the public sector, e-government development, and public service delivery. This publication is the result of contributions of over 45 national and international experts and it is unique in its kind since it describes not only the institutional, economic and social context of each country of the Mediterranean region, but also analyzes the challenges and priorities in reforming public administration at the national and regional levels.
This publication is intended for policy makers, scholars and practitioners who have a keen interest in concrete solutions to governance challenges. Its purpose is to encourage more women and men in the public sector who are working hard to improve citizens’ lives to share with the world their innovations by applying to the United Nations Public Service Awards Programme which is held annually; to recognize the efforts of those who have already won this prestigious Awards by showcasing their successful practices; and to provide UN Member States interested in innovation in governance with useful information and knowledge about practices that have worked on the ground. In light of the above, the publication is divided into three main parts.
The first part gives an overview of what the UNPSA is, who and how to apply, and highlights key aspects of the selection process. The second part of this publication provides a description and brief analysis of the UNPSA winners’ successful practices from 2002 to 2006. The Third Part looks at the winners’ successful stories for the year 2007 and takes stock of some important lessons learned after five years of the Programme’s inception. Finally, it presents key findings on the positive impact that the UNPSA has on further promoting and sustaining innovation in government among its winners.
This Manual has been developed within the framework of the Programme for Innovation in Public Administration in the Mediterranean Region – InnovMed. Its goal is to facilitate the process of transfer and adaptation of innovations in governance by providing those involved in a peer-to-peer exchange programme with concrete steps and tools to easily navigate this challenging and rewarding process. Governments that adapt a successful practice from another country can benefit in a relatively short time from the achievements of others and increase the quality of their public administration while Governments that wish to provide support in adapting their own locally grown successful initiative can gain greater prestige and recognition of excellence in the public service; contribute to improving the quality of life of citizens worldwide and learn important lessons from the process of adaptation in order to improve even further their own initiative.
Successful practices and innovations can be effectively transferred and there is evidence that it can be done. The process of adapting an innovation presents, however, a number of challenges. Knowing what to do is one thing, knowing how to do it is a challenge in its own right. To facilitate the replication of a best practice, it is essential that governments interested in adapting innovations in governance be guided by a set of tools and steps that can assist them in using the acquired knowledge about a successful practice and how to put that knowledge into practice. This Manual provides a road map for those governments or public organizations that are interested in adapting innovations in public administration that have succeeded in other countries to their own administrative systems. To support the process of adaptation, this guide provides conceptual and practical tools for the transfer of innovations in public administration.
The UNDESA publication "Innovations in Governance and Public Administration: Replicating What Works" issued by the United Nations Division for Public Administration and Development Management in English is now available in Arabic. The translation was coordinated by Prof. Hyam Al-Nashash from the Al Balqa’ Applied University / Princess Alia University College, in Jordan.
Click here to download online the full publication. If you wish to receive a hard copy of this publication, please e-mail us.
Report of the 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government in Arabic by Ragaa Makharita. Click here to download online the full publication.
The Report of the 2 Meeting of the Network of Innovators in Governance in the Mediterranean Region, which was held in Vienna in June 2007, is available on-line together with all the presentation made at that meeting
The Report and papers containing information regarding a number of Innovations in the public sector presented during the UNDESA Capacity Development Workshop on Restoring Trust in Government through Public Sector innovations are available at http://www.unpan.org/InnovMed/Viennadoc_28June07.html
