UNDESA MISSION REPORT

Transcription

1 UNDESA MISSION REPORT Ms Najet Karaborni, Senior Interregional Adviser/UNDESA Ms Elba Cristina Sanches de Andrade, Director/SESAC/Bahia Havana, CUBA, from 6 to 12 February 2000 I INTRODUCTION 1. At the request of the Government of Cuba, Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC), and as a follow up action to the UN-Pilot Mission to Bahia (30 August-4 september 1999), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Division for Public Economics and Public Administration (DPEPA) field a one week mission to Havana, Cuba from 6 to 12 February The Mission was composed of Ms Najet Karaborni, Senior interregional Adviser, UNDESA and Ms Elba Cristina Sanches de Andrade, Management Assessment Director, Super Intendancy for the Development of Public Service and Citizen Assistance (SESAC), Bahia, Brazil 3 The purpose of the mission was: to conduct a seminar on the public service delivery to the citizens together with the MINVEC and the Municipality of Old Havana (La Habana Vieja) and to support its organization; to held field visits to different Citizen Assistance Offices in order to learn about their experiences and assess their needs and possiblities; to make proposals and recommendations to support the implementation of facilities for public service delivery to the citizens taking into account the national and local contexts of Cuba as well as the Bahia s experience in this field (SAC).

2 II SEMINAR 4 A Seminar was co-organized by the Municipality of Old Havana, MINVEC, UNDP- OPS and UNDESA from 7 to 9 february 2000 in the Conference Room of the Municipal Assembly of Old Havana (Municipality Palace) 5 The seminar was conducted by UNDESA representatives and grouped participants from several Ministries and Municipalities including Domestic Trade, Taxes, Health, Housing, City assistance to the citizens offices (see list attached) 2

3 6 The President of the Municipality of La Havana Vieja, Mr. Luis Gonzalez Ricardo and Mr. Alfredo Puig Pino, Deputy-Chief of the Economic International Organizations Division, Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation welcomed, in their speeches, the UN-DESA Delegates and the Havana official representatives. They outlined the importance of the seminar which will promote the exchange of innovative experiences on public service delivery to the citizens among Cuban national, provincial and municipal departments. 3

4 7 The Seminar included a number of conferences carried by Ms Karaborni and Ms Andrade followed by an extensive discussion and exchange of best practices and experiences (see programme attached) 8 In the opening session, Ms Najet Karaborni explained the approach developed by the UNDESA for strengthening South-South cooperation through exchange of innovatives experiences and best practices among developing countries. She emphasizes on the three following components of this approach: Organization of field visits to learn about the innovative experiences Development of training material Support to the transfer of the experience to the interested countries. 4

5 9 Ms Elba Andrade presented the SAC experience of Bahia. She focused her intervention on the situation prior to the SAC, the SAC Project phases, its resources, its different components including the SAC mobile, its structure, its results and the new innovations in this field. 10 Ms Karaborni presented a training material related to the SAC : a Handbook on public service delivery developed by UNDESA in close collaboration with the Government of Bahia. This Handbook was designed at the request of the participants in the UN-Pilot mission to Bahia. Its purpose is to promote better and easier exchange in improving public administration for the benefit of the citizens. 5

6 It describes the specifications and processes for the establishment of the SAC or a similar facility. It includes the objectives, means and resources as well as the requirements that have to contribute to a successful implementation taking into account the global, regional and national environment in which it is established. 11 The Cuban representatives learned about the public service delivery experience and discussed its several aspects. They expressed their big interest for such a project and its great impact on the population 12 An evaluation session was held at the end of the seminar (see annex 3). The participants emphasized on the excellent and practical results of the seminar which demonstrates the necessity of the implementation of a facility similar to the SAC in order to better serve the citizens. This fully responds to the needs of the population and totally fit the strategy of the Government at all levels (national, provincial and municipal). The participants appreciated very much the handbook which is very clear. It is indeed very useful and helpful for them. It will facilitate the transfer of the SAC experience in their localities and its adaptation to their local and national context. 6

7 13 At the closing session, the Cuban Authorities expressed their sincere and profound gratitude to UNDESA for its support to the transfer of the SAC experience to Cuba. They also expressed their thanks to the Government of Bahia. III VISITS 14 The UNDESA Mission visited different localities: Municipality of Old Havana, Municipality of East Havana and Province of Havana City. They met the staff of these local governments, exchanged with them their experiences and discussed the conditions of success including the necessity to begin with the simplification of the present administrative procedures and the reduction of the bureaucracy. They emphasized on the importance of the training and the change of the behavior of the civil servant vis-a-vis of the citizen in order to have a custom-oriented approach. 7

8 IV CONCLUSIONS / RECOMMENDATIONS 15 The Mission noticed the big interest of the national Government as well as the provincial and municipal ones to better serve the citizens and to improve their public administration 16 They noticed that the existing offices in charge of citizen assistance at the provincial and municipal levels are willing to be improved and could serve as future SAC units if they could have information technology equipment. 17 It was very interesting to discover that in the City of Havana and especially in the Municipality of Playa, the citizen assistance office is undertaking a feasability study of a similar project to a SAC unit 18 In the province of the City of Havana, the Citizen Assistance Direction is technically coordinating the citizen assistance offices of the 15 municipalities of the province. This direction is implementing a training programme for public servants on interpersonal relationship to improve the quality of the assistance to the citizens and facilitate their access to the public services. It is very well equipped and computerized. It is prepared to become a SAC Unit Coordination Structure like SESAC in Bahia, Brazil 19 The main public sectors involved in public service delivery to the citizens are willing to participate in a SAC experience in Cuba 20 For the national level, the Citizen Assistance Centre of the Executive Council of Ministries and the National Assembly assists the citizens and coordinates the citizen assistance directions at the provincial level. This centre could become a decision making structure in a public service delivery system to ensure the political will and decision in this field 21 In order to succeed, the transfer of the SAC to Cuba has to take into account the specific context and the realities of Cuba and its localities. V NEXT STEPS 22 It is important to follow and support the pilot experience of the Playa Municipality in order to ensure the conditions of its success as well as its future development and extension to the other municipalities. 8

9 23 During the meeting held with the Deputy RESREP in Havana, the Mission was pleased to see that the UNDP Office in Havana is ready to assist in the implementation of a such initiative as it totally fit with the on going decentralization process. This will facilitate the access of the citizens to the public services and improve them. 24 At the debriefing lunch with Mr. Taladrid on 11 February 2000, it was discussed the possibility of future cooperation between UNDESA and the Cuban Government. This could include SPPD and STS funds for UNDP projects as well as trust funds to assist in the substantive and technical support of UNDESA for the implementation of a public service delivery system in Cuba. VI THANKS 25 The Mission would like to express its sincere thanks to the Government of Cuba, the provincial Government of the City of Havana as well as the Government of the Municipality of La Habana Vieja for their hospitality. Their full commitment facilitated the activities of the Mission and ensured its success 26 Thanks are also due to the UNDP Office in Cuba for its support to the Mission. 9