Background and synopsis of the draft Charter for the Public Service in Africa

Transcription

1 United Nations ST/SG/AC.6/2000/L.3 Secretariat Distr.: Limited 27 March 2000 English Original: French Group of Experts on the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance Fifteenth session 8-12 May 2000 Background and synopsis of the draft Charter for the Public Service in Africa Report prepared by the Secretariat Summary The Second Pan-African Conference of Ministers of the Civil Service, organized with the support of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations and held in Rabat from 13 to 15 December 1998, was a landmark event for African public administration not only because of its theme, Civil service in Africa: New challenges, professionalism and ethics, but also and above all because of the special interest generated by this theme and the work and conclusions of the Conference. In particular, in keeping with one of the recommendations of the Conference, major progress was made by a ministerial working group and a technical support committee in elaborating a draft Charter for the Public Service in Africa, including a code of conduct of public service employees, which should be considered and adopted at the next Pan-African Conference of Ministers of the Civil Service, to be held in the latter half of By drafting this Charter, the African countries wish to give themselves the means of establishing new relations between the public service and its environment in order to meet development needs and adapt to the profound changes taking place in this new millennium. Bearing in mind the importance of the draft Charter, the United Nations should support the African Governments in its implementation and also use it as a reference for similar exercises in other regions (E) * *

2 Background and synopsis of the draft Charter for the Public Service in Africa I. Introduction 1. Over the past several years, many African countries have undertaken reforms of their public service with a view to ensuring conditions for sustainable economic and social development. However, in spite of the various initiatives that have been taken in one country or another, socio-economic difficulties have persisted and continue to create or increase poverty. Even in the rare cases of countries where significant progress has been made or is apparent, there are still serious doubts about the sustainability of economic performance. 2. Moreover, there is today a growing interest in the democratization process in Africa, particularly for greater transparency in public management, for economic and political liberalization and for respect for human rights. But while democracy is necessary for the establishment of a State governed by the rule of law, democracy alone cannot provide a modern State with the economic and social development or the administrative structures and system of governance that it needs. 3. Finally, it has been acknowledged that development and poor governance do not go hand in hand, since development cannot be sustained without good governance and governance has no meaning unless it supports economic and social development. 4. The significance of the economic, social and technological changes taking place today in Africa reopens questions relating to the role of the public service, the professionalism of public service employees and the ethical values to be upheld. 5. In this regard, the Second Pan-African Conference of Ministers of the Civil Service, held in Rabat from 13 to 15 December 1998, was a landmark event for African public administration not only because of its theme, Civil service in Africa: New challenges, professionalism and ethics, but also and above all because of the special interest generated by this theme, as well as the work and conclusions of the Conference. 6. Indeed, the Rabat Declaration, adopted at the conclusion of the Conference, recommended that the Chairperson of the Conference, the Minister of the Civil Service and Administrative Reform of the Kingdom of Morocco, should set up, with some of the participants in the Conference, a working group with the backing of the African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD) and in close cooperation with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations to take measures to enhance professionalism and ethics in the public service in Africa, and to elaborate a draft Charter for the Public Service in Africa, including a code of conduct of public service employees. 7. In accordance with this recommendation, major progress has been made by the ministerial working group and the technical support committee in preparing and finalizing a preliminary draft of the Charter, which should be considered and adopted at the next Pan-African Conference of Ministers of the Civil Service, to be held in the latter half of

3 II. Problems 8. It is generally recognized that public service, as an instrument for carrying out government policies, has a vital role to play in the social and economic development of a country. In Africa in particular, the question is very often raised concerning the role played by the State and public administration structures, regulations and procedures in what is considered to be a decline in public service. In order to address this problem, a number of countries have taken steps to modernize their public service. Unfortunately, their efforts have not achieved the desired results, particularly owing to the predominantly structural nature of the reforms. Indeed, these reforms have so far been characterized by a technical approach and have focused more on actions to help achieve the goals of structural adjustment programmes, particularly programmes dealing with staff management and salaries, or on activities such as the restructuring of services, rationalization of administrative procedures or the automation of personnel management. 9. Thus, as was stressed at the Rabat Conference, everyone acknowledges the need to rehabilitate the role of the State, strengthen administrative systems by concentrating on the human factor, particularly by reviving professionalism and ethical values. Professionalism is understood in the double meaning of enhancing the competence of public service employees and improving their relations with the users, since these two elements are conditions for the effectiveness and legitimacy of the public service. Enhancement of the integrity and ethics of public service employees, in addition to the desire to improve the morals of public life and combat corruption, is based on restoring the image of the public service and on the establishment of relations of trust with the public, which are more conducive to the implementation of government policies. 10. The initiative to draft and publish a Charter for the Public Service, including a code of conduct of public service employees, demonstrates a real desire on the part of the African States to find additional means of coping with development problems by inculcating in the public service the behaviour required for dealing with current economic, social and technological challenges. 11. In this regard, the elaboration of the Charter had to focus on the following objectives: (a) Adopt a strategy to enhance transparency, ethics, performance and professionalism in African public services; (b) Increase awareness of the importance of the role and image of the public service, as well as its legitimacy and social usefulness; (c) Create a tool for African countries to use in connection with these principles to inculcate significant changes in behaviour and better practices. 12. The provisions of the Charter should focus on the following main themes: (a) The role of the public service and the measures needed to restore and/or strengthen its image, credibility and legitimacy (creation of systems for programming activities, staff planning, contact with and provision of information to users, transparent recruitment and promotion procedures and so forth); (b) The political and moral commitment required by leaders and the reaffirmation of moral values, integrity, ethics and professionalism; 3

4 (c) Legislation and monitoring and sanction bodies and mechanisms to be established (administrative monitoring bodies, supervisory agencies, networks and so forth); (d) Incentives and accompanying measures (remuneration policy, career plans, training activities and so forth); (e) Any other provisions that can promote and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the public service, as well as the ethical values and morals of public service employees. III. Methodology 13. The elaboration of the draft Charter involved the following stages. 14. In April 1999, at the invitation of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Minister of the Civil Service and Administrative Reform of the Kingdom of Morocco, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Second Pan-African Congress of Ministers of the Public Service, made a two-day working visit to the Division for Public Economics and Public Administration of the Department to discuss ways of implementing the recommendations of the Rabat Declaration. Among its other results, the working visit made it possible to identify the ministers members of the working group responsible for elaborating the draft Charter, namely the Ministers of Morocco, Tunisia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, Namibia and Madagascar, and to confirm the organizations constituting the working group s technical secretariat, namely CAFRAD and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 15. Between June and November 1999, the technical committee met several times to elaborate a preliminary draft based on the first two versions prepared by CAFRAD and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, respectively, and of a third draft text prepared by the Government of Morocco. 16. On 22 and 23 November 1999, the ministerial working group met in New York at the invitation of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs to consider and amend the unified preliminary draft prepared by the technical committee. Finally, in January 2000 in Tangier, meeting at the same time as the CAFRAD Governing Board, the working group adopted the draft that had been finalized in the meantime by the technical committee. 17. The methodology used in drafting the Charter consisted of reaching agreement on options before concentrating on the details of the main body of the text. 17. The two main options were the following: (a) Prepare, for reasons of convenience (single document, avoidance of repetition and so on), a text containing both general provisions concerning the functioning of the public service and a code of conduct of public service employees; (b) Give the document the form of a normative text similar to a legal text in order better to define the obligations of States in specific provisions of a practical nature. 18. In the end, the basic principles that guided the drafting of the Charter were: 4

5 (a) Define rules that could apply in general to all States, irrespective of their nature or system; (b) Avoid including in the text any element that might soon become outdated; (c) Bear in mind questions relating to the international and regional environment; (d) Distinguish the provisions dealing with the public service as a legal entity (general provisions) from those dealing with public service employees (the code of conduct); (e) Define, for each part, the general principles underlying the themes discussed before proceeding, in the articles, to rules and norms. IV. Structure of the text 19. The draft Charter comprises a preamble and three titles: Title I: General provisions; Title II: Code of conduct of public service employees; Title III: Final provision. 20. After referring to the recommendations contained in the Rabat Declaration on the elaboration of the Charter and to the mandate given to the Chairperson of the Conference to set up a working group for that purpose, the preamble describes the various aspects of the problem and recalls certain basic democratic principles. It then assesses the trends in the internal and external environment of the public service in Africa and affirms that Africa should adapt to the new requirements of the public service. 21. The general provisions, which relate to the public service as a legal entity, deal with the role of the public service and its obligation to restore and enhance its efficiency, its legitimacy, its credibility and its image. 22. These general provisions are divided into four parts: the first part defines the purpose and scope of application of the text; the second part recalls the fundamental and universal principles of the public service, namely, the principles of legality, neutrality, equality and continuity; the third part sets forth the rules governing relations between the public service and the users, which are based on the criteria of the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of the public service; the fourth part, which deals with relations between the public service and public service employees, stresses the obligations of the administration vis-à-vis public service employees with respect to the different stages of their career, their remuneration and their working conditions. 23. The code of conduct is divided into three parts entitled Fundamental values of the public service employee, Rules of conduct of public service employees and Modalities of implementation. It defines the fundamental values of professionalism and integrity that should guide public service employees, establishes the rules affirming the primacy of the general interest over private 5

6 interests and recommends that countries should undertake sensitization and training programmes in these areas and establish follow-up and monitoring bodies. 24. The final provision deals with the establishment of a regional mechanism to monitor the implementation of the Charter. V. Prospects for the future 25. By drafting the Charter for the Public Service in Africa, the African countries wish to give themselves the means of establishing new relations between the public service and its environment in order to meet development needs and adapt to the profound changes taking place in this new millennium. 26. However, it is understood that the success of this noble project depends on States respect for and implementation of the provisions of the Charter and on the updating, adoption or development of appropriate national legislation and regulations. 27. At this stage and without prejudging its adoption by the next Pan-African Conference of Ministers of the Public Service, the Charter could be brought to the attention of the Economic and Social Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations in order to ensure that professionalism and ethics are considered as priority themes in United Nations activities relating to public administration, to sensitize the international community and to mobilize the necessary resources for supporting African Governments in these areas. 28. Finally, the Charter could, as part of the exchange of information and experience among States Members of the United Nations, serve as a reference for similar exercises in other regions, such as Latin America, Asia or the community of independent States in Central and Eastern Europe. 6

7 Annex Draft Charter for the Public Service in Africa* * Adopted by the Ministerial Working Group Tangiers, Kingdom of Morocco January