income countries 1 (MIC). After signing a Special Partnership

Transcription

1 TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE EXPERIENCE SHARING REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON 'THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM AND THE REFORM OF ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL GOVERNANCE IN LUSOPHONE AND ECOWAS' COUNTRIES. July 25-26, 2012, Oasis Atlantico Praia Mar, Praia, CAPE VERDE I- CONTEXT. As part of its project "Enhancing Citizen Voice and Accountability in Africa 'and its contribution to the 2012 Program of the African Union on' shared values' for a developmental governance in Africa, the Africa Governance Institute (AGI) organize - under the leadership of the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission and in partnership with the African Development Bank, the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning, the UNDP Country Office and the Delegation to the State Reform and Technical Assistance of Senegal, a experience sharing regional workshop on the theme 'the Relationship Between Public Administration Reform and Reform of Economic and Financial Governance in Lusophone and ECOWAS Countries '. The meeting will be held on 25 and 26 July 2012 in Praia (Cape Verde).

2 II- JUSTIFICATION. The issue of Public Administration Reform in Africa and the quality of service delivery is central in the African Governance Agenda. The effectiveness and efficiency of these governments are indeed considered as pre-conditions to the ability of the States to meet the socio-economic rights of their citizens and promote real development. The recent adoption by the Declaration AU/Dec.337 (XVI), of the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration, provides a major opportunity for African states to undertake their Public Administration Reform appropriately and in view of the construction of developmental States. This is about a paradigm shift in moving from a coercive and injunctive administration (usually inherited from colonization), 'fragile' or 'collapsed' or absent into a proactive service administration and for the development of states and peoples of Africa. The final declaration of the 7th Conference of African Ministers of Public Service (CAMPS), held at the Kenyatta International Conference Center in Nairobi (Kenya) on 13 and 14 May 2011, reinforce this new African dynamic. The different conclusions of the events celebrating the 12th African Day of Public Service and Administration in African countries on June 21, 2011, also confirmed this: the paradigm shift is the guarantee of a public administration that is the vector of an effective development for emerging African countries. Moreover, this paradigm shift must necessarily examine the contexts and patterns in African countries - in this case the Lusophone and ECOWAS ones

3 that are characterized by the development of local democracy and the strengthening of the decentralization and the relationship / inference between administration reform and security sector reform in postconflict situations or recovery. On another level, the issue of Public Administration Reform in African countries is congruent to a questioning on economic and financial governance in each African country. Initial results of the study on 'Strengthening citizen voice and accountability in Africa - led by the AGI and commissioned by the AfDB - clearly show that there are strong relations between these two themes. The Economic Report on Africa 2012 published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) confirms the correlation between public administration reform and good economic and financial governance. The authors of this paper even see preconditions for the establishment of inclusive growth in African countries, which would make the continent a chain pole of global growth. The workshop will address this issue, from a country that can be qualified as a case study whose experience should be shared : Cape Verde. Cape Verde has indeed excellent scores in the CPI index and VOI (Voice and Accountability Index). During the period , with an improvement in democratic and financial governance, the country experienced one of the best economic performances in Africa, with growth rates averaging 7% annually. This performance has enabled the graduation of Cape Verde in January 2008 to the ranks of middle

4 income countries 1 (MIC). After signing a Special Partnership agreement in November 2007 with the European Union, the country has made its entry into the WTO in July However, in 2009, the country has not escaped the impact of the global financial crisis which affected the main drivers of the economy such as tourism, foreign direct investment and migrant remittances. The Government responded by setting up a counter-cyclical 2 policy which helped stabilize the economy and revive the activities. In March 2011, the Government has defined its main objective for , which focuses on building a dynamic economy and shared prosperity for everyone. Several strategic areas have been defined for this purpose in order to achieve it. It includes: (i) promoting private sector growth, investment and productivity, (ii) promoting the participation and good governance, (iii) Modernizing and developing infrastructure and (iv) promoting social development - including through an adapted Public Administration Reform. It is then necessary to share this experience as part of the AGI / AfDB Project on Enhancing citizens' Voice and Accountability in Africa', by questioning in particular the role played by non-state actors in the implementation of an administrative, economic and financial developmental governance and their impact in terms of public administration efficiency, the strengthening of voice and accountability, effective and efficient administration, management of 1 GNI per capita is estimated at $ 3,010 in The policy consisted of a large public investment program and a package of tax breaks for businesses.

5 public expenditure, public procurement, mobilization of local resources and strengthening of social responsibility. III- OBJECTIVE. In a very practical sense and in addition to participating in the process of popularizing the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration in order to encourage its ratification, the Praia workshop will aim to allow participants to answer five basic questions posed by the sub-regional context: - In the light of the experience of Cape Verde, what are the interactions between public administration reform and good economic and financial governance? - In the light of the experience of Cape Verde, what is the role of Non State Actors in boosting proactive public administration reforms and in promoting accountability and integrity? - What is the role of local governance in these processes? - How to consider the linkages between public administration reform, reform of the security sector and economic and financial governance reform (with a focus on the case of Côte d'ivoire, Bissau Guinea, Guinea Conakry and Mali)? - What principles and practices of good financial governance shall constitute preconditions for an effective and efficient public administration reform? Part of the AGI work is to promote, with its strategic partners, endogenous thinking and proactive ways to chart a

6 new African perspective for developmental governance in Africa. In this regard, the ultimate goal of the Praia experience sharing regional workshop is to engage and deepen the participatory debate on African Public Administration Reforms but also to share the best practices in economic and financial governance reforms which necessarily accompany or reinforce public administration reforms. This meeting is thus an extension of the discussions undertaken by AGI at the Workshop held in Dakar with the theme of the Public Administration Reform in Africa: Towards an effective and efficient service'. More specifically, the regional workshop aim to: contribute to the popularization in the Lusophone and ECOWAS countries of the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration in Africa in order to encourage its ratification; contribute to proactive thinking on the adjustment of the Charter to specific contexts and settings in Africa (transitional, postconflict, recovery,...); contribute to further reflection on the interaction between public administration reform and Economic and Financial Governance; share best practices of non-state actors in their role in these processes and their windows of opportunity in their interventions. Help create a network of practicians in administrative, economic and financial governance;

7 Feed the governance agenda of the African Union, particularly in the context of the Work Program 2012 on 'Shared Values'. IV- FORMAT The workshop will be organized around four (4) sessions. There are three (3) communications session, whose theme will be attached to the workshop program. Each session will be facilitated by a chair / moderator. V- WORKING LANGUAGES: French, English and Portuguese (simultaneous translation provided).