Innovating Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development

Transcription

1 ST/ESA/PAD/SER.E/203 Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Public Administration and Development Management Innovating Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development Report of the Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting Innovating Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development June 2014 Seoul, Republic of Korea United Nations New York, 2014

2 ii DESA The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is a vital interface between global policies in the economic, social and environmental spheres and national action. The Department works in three main interlinked areas: (i) it compiles, generates and analyses a wide range of economic, social and environmental data and information on which Member States of the United Nations draw to review common problems and to take stock of policy options; (ii) it facilitates the negotiations of Member States in many intergovernmental bodies on joint course of action to address ongoing or emerging global challenges; and (iii) it advises interested Governments on the ways and means of translating policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes at the country level and, through technical assistance, helps build national capacities. Note The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The designations developed and developing economics are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily imply a judgment about the state reached by a particular country or area in the development process. The term country as used in the text of this publication also refers, as appropriate, to territories or areas. The term dollar normally refers to the United States dollar ($). The views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not imply any expression of opinion on the part of the United Nations. ST/ESA/PAD/SER.E/203 United Nations Publication Copyright United Nations, 2014 All rights reserved

3 iii Contents Executive Summary... iv Background and Introduction... v Objectives of the AEGM... viii Approach and Methodology... ix Topics... ix Innovating the Capability of the State for Sustainable Development... 1 Innovating Governance through Information and Communications-Technology (ICT)... 3 Innovating government for gender equality and inclusiveness... 6 Transformative Leadership for Inspiring Innovation... 9 The Importance of Transparency Accountability and Civic Engagement Public Policy-Making, Risk Analysis, and Disaster Prevention for Sustainable Development Developing Technical Cooperation and Partnerships in Innovating Public Administration for Sustainable Development Innovating for Maximizing the Delivery of Quality Public Services at the Local Level.. 17 Summary of Recommendations Annex 1: List of Experts Annex 2: Paper and Presentations... 22

4 iv Executive Summary The efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), pursue the post Development Agenda, and achieve Sustainable Development are pausing challenges to governments at the beginning of the 21st Century. Overcoming the challenges requires that governments become change agents, enablers and facilitators of networked and integrated shared governance. It requires empowering communities to engage in finding solutions to the obstacles and challenges to sustainable development. It also calls on governments to be entrepreneurial in foreseeing the needed development strategies and trajectories for their countries, driven by the public interest, responsive and supportive to the adoption of ICT, and committed to developing the capacities of governance including through creativity, innovation and sharing of knowledge and successful practices. Preoccupied with the concerns of innovations and creativity in governance, the Public Administration Capacity Branch (PACB) of the Division for Public Administration and Development management (DPADM), Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) organized an Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting (AEGM) on Innovating Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development, which took place during the 2014 United Nations Public Service Forum, Day and Awards Ceremony held at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX), Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 23 to 26 June The AEGM brought together Experts from around the world who shared information and knowledge on new and innovative approaches, concepts and practices in governance and public administration and made some recommendations on how innovations should be promoted and capacities developed to enable governments to achieve sustainable development. Among the many proposals and recommendations made by the experts, the following stand out: (i): implementing the post 2015 development agenda and achieving sustainable development needs effective, efficient, and intelligent States focusing capacities on the challenges of the future and transformation on individuals, institutions, organisations and societies through creativity, innovation especially in the delivery of public services, (ii)this will require transformative leaders at all level and in all sectors of society to drive forward innovation and comprehensive transformation, (iii)application of ICT in all aspects of governance and public administration including the delivery of services, e- learning, knowledge sharing, and transfer and adaptation of innovative practices to spread benefits of development, (iv) Investment in Human Resources and leadership and valuing peoples well-being more than anything else given that development is done by people and is for the people, (v) bring on board every citizen to engage them in the process of production and consumption of goods and services ensuring equity and equality of all including women, the youth, children, people with disabilities indigenous people etc, (vi) Paying particular attention to risk assessment and disaster prevention especially in the

5 v making and implementation of public policies, and finding effective ways of ensuring the delivery of service in disaster areas. The detailed recommendations made by the AEGM are in the main body of the report. Background and Introduction Concerned with the slow progress of development in many countries, World Leaders from at least 180 countries met in September 2000 at the Millennium Summit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and agreed on a set of Development Goals to be achieved by The eight development priorities known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are around a broad spectrum of critical development issues: (i) poverty and hunger, (ii) universal primary education, (iii) gender equality and empowerment of women, (iv) child mortality rates, (v) maternal health, (vi) HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, (vii) environmental sustainability, and (viii) a global partnership for development. The world is nearing the 2015 target date and progress reports indicate that achievements in many areas are not entirely on-track and the world community is likely to fall short of its commitments, especially in developing countries. We are still far from achieving what we set out to do. Too many people are still caught in extreme poverty, too many are hungry and sick, and too many mothers die in childbirth and far too many children still do not go to school. And we re also not yet doing all that we might to protect the environment, nor to build effective international partnerships for development. We need to speed up the progress we have been making and use every day of the next few years to alter these dreadful facts 1. Many countries are beginning to think of not only the deadline of 2015 but also of how to continue and speed up development beyond In the United Nations itself, the process is in high gear to chart out proposals for a post-2015 United Nations Development Agenda. Hopefully this time, unlike with the MDGs, issues and challenges related to governance will figure prominently in the post-2015 Development Agenda because it has been realised that none of the 8 MDGs could be adequately addressed in the context of poor governance. Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 20 to 22 June 2012, with robust participation from civil society, and reiterated the commitment to sustainable development and to ensuring the promotion of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for our planet and for present and future generations. They acknowledged the need to further mainstream sustainable development at all levels, integrating economic, social and environmental aspects and recognizing their inter-linkages, so as to achieve sustainable development in 1 Kofi Annan Former UN Secretary General; ArticleID/21712/language/en-US/Default.aspx

6 vi all its dimensions. Furthermore, they stated that poverty eradication is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. Finally, they committed to freeing humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency. The world is searching for how to improve governance and public administration as enabler and facilitator to achieving MDGs, the post-2015 agenda and sustainable development. It is critical that governments take stock of how effectively, efficiently, and equitably they deliver services to citizens, and reflect on what can be done better to ensure that citizens have access to quality services and can enjoy a good standard of living. They need to reflect on how far they have gone in achieving the MDGs, what governance and public administration obstacles and challenges they have faced, how they can build on the achievements to ensure that poverty and hunger are eradicated and sustainable development achieved, and what transformations and innovations need to be introduced to ensure that governance and public administration capacity is not only strengthened but made better for sustainable development. The kind of innovative improvement in governance that will drive the last efforts to achieve the MDGs, pursue the post-2015 Development Agenda, and achieve Sustainable Development, entails not only the design and implementation of innovative practices in public governance, but also a transformation of government s role, functions, institutional frameworks and processes as well as leadership and human resource capacities and competences. It is increasingly being recognized that governance is more than government, and that civil society and the private sector are not just customers of public services or stakeholders, but that they can and should be agents of change who can actively be part of the solution by working together in a constructive manner with their governments to solve local and national challenges. Where citizens are involved in public decision-making processes and in public service delivery, there is an increased sense of ownership and greater sustainability of public initiatives, as well as more creative ideas. Experience has shown that governments that have made progress in promoting transparency and accountability, and in providing equitable and effective service delivery have developed innovative ideas and practices, making use, whenever possible, of information and communication technology, and relying on strategic partnerships. In conjunction with the United Nations Public Service Forum, Day and Awards Ceremony held at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX), Seoul, Republic of Korea, June 2014 on the theme of Innovating Governance for Sustainable Development and Well-being of the People, the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) held an Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting (AEGM) on the topic of Innovating Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development as part of the DPADM s on-going reflection on what kind of transformation and innovation governance and public administration needs to undergo in order to make it a better enabler and facilitator of the achievement of the MDGs, post-2015 agenda and

7 vii sustainable development. Experts, (practitioners and academicians) in governance and public administration were invited from all regions of the World to share experiences, practices, knowledge and information on the innovations that are on-going and the transformations that need to take place in governance and public administration to effectively support the achievement of sustainable development.

8 viii Objectives of the AEGM The overall purpose of the AEGM was to highlight some of the current innovative approaches, concepts and practices of governance and public administration and assess their relevance to the achievement of sustainable development. Tied to this, the AEGM served as the launch pad of the process of consultations in the preparation for the World Public Sector Report on Innovating Governance and Public Administration to implement the post-2015 Development Agenda and achieve sustainable development which will be prepared by DPADM for publication by the end of 2016 The following were the specific objectives of the AEGM: i. To share information and knowledge on new and innovative approaches, concepts and practices of governance and public administration as they relate to sustainable development; the question being which of these practices are most likely to facilitate the achievement of MDGS, post-2015 agenda and sustainable development. ii. iii. iv. To share knowledge and practices of transformative public leadership in government and other public sector institutions that are best suited to inspire and facilitate innovations in governance and public administration for sustainable development. To share knowledge and practices of participatory and inclusive governance and public administration that best mobilize people and create synergies in the development processes and promote responsiveness and equity especially in the consumption of government services that are related to sustainable development. To share knowledge and practices of innovative ways of exploiting the potential of information and communications Technologies (ICTs) to boost effectiveness, efficiency, transparency in the delivery of public services. v. To reflect and propose innovative ways of developing the various capacities of the public service to enable it to better facilitate sustainable development. vi. To reflect and propose innovative ways of technical cooperation and partnerships that can more effectively support the development of governance and public administration for sustainable development. The AEGM attracted a total of 500 participants, among them, former and incumbent ministers, city mayors and councillors, high-ranking government officials, renowned academics, experts and consultants, as well as representatives of international organizations. Experts met in plenary and then in breakout sessions. Each session began with brief presentations by a group of resource persons, followed by general discussions. The session ended with a summation (by the moderator) bringing out the issues raised and the solutions proffered.

9 ix Approach and Methodology The approach and methodology used to conduct the AEGM included: research and preparation of background papers, making brief presentations in roundtable discussions during the opening day of the forum, brief presentations during the session dedicated to the AEGM, and plenary discussions. There were three roundtable discussions conducted during the opening day of the Forum. And there were two days of presentations and discussions by selected experts dedicated to the AEGM topic alongside other side events. The following were the topics that guided the round table discussions and the two days of experts discussion: Topics Topics Discussed during the Discussion Roundtables Openness, Sharing, Communication and Collaboration: New Paradigms for Government Operation Transforming Public Governance Practices to Ensure Sustainable Development 'Good to Great'; Governance through Enhancing Gender Equality Transformative Public Sector Leadership for Sustainable Development Using Information and Communication Technologies as Enablers of Sustainable Development Engaging Citizens in Governance for Transparency and Accountability and Responsiveness in Service Delivery Towards Excellence in Public Service Delivery for Sustainable Development Topics Discussed during the Two Days of Experts Discussion Innovation and Transformation of Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development Innovative Governance and Public Administration Practices for Poverty Eradication Decentralized Governance for Promoting and Strengthening Participative and Inclusive Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development: The Experience of Uganda Transformative Public Sector Leadership for Sustainable Development Public Policy Making, Risk Analysis, and Disaster Prevention for Sustainable Development Developing Gender Sensitive Governance and Public Administration Unlocking the Potential of ICTs for Innovation in Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development Technical Cooperation and Partnerships for Innovating Public Administration for Sustainable Development Promoting and Strengthening Professionalism, Ethics, Integrity, Transparency, and Accountability in Public Sector Institutions for Sustainable Development

10 x Initiative for Promoting Ethics, Professionalism, and Integrity in the Public Service in CIS Countries Dialogue, Reflection, and Action: Responsible Public Leadership for Sustainable Development Developing Transformative Leadership, Human Resources and Other Public Administration Capacities for Sustainable Development Transferring and Adapting Innovations in Governance and Public Administration in the Least Developed Countries

11 1 Innovating the Capability of the State for Sustainable Development In discussing Innovating Governance and Public Administration for Sustainable Development it is important to rethink the mission and the role of public administration in the context of a global, regional, national, and local community agenda that concerns social, economic and environmental sustainable development. It is important to revisit the effectiveness of the state and its institutions as they relate to the implementation of the development agenda at different levels. The State needs to be effective, intelligent and capable. An effective state is the one that achieves objectives especially in delivering services, accomplishing the missions including security, law and order, justice, etc., and spearheading development for its people. The state needs to be intelligent, by creating partnerships and networks at the global, regional, national, and local levels; involving civil society, private sector and the people; mastering communication to and with the citizens; leveraging information and communication technologies (ICT); focusing on the challenges of the future and transformation rather than just progress and promoting innovations in its operations. Furthermore, the state needs to be capable, by creating and nurturing functioning institutions, systems, structures, and processes; acquiring, using, and maintaining sufficient facilities and logistics; developing and deploying knowledgeable, skilled and motivated human resources; cultivating a peoplecentred, capable and transformative leadership in all sectors (public, private, and civil society); mobilizing and efficiently utilizing financial and other resources; protecting life and property, respecting the rule of law and human rights and securing the future of the country; and protecting the sovereignty of the country especially against foreign aggression. Public administration, to be innovative, should first bring the public back into public administration by having participatory governance mechanisms, citizen engagement, decentralized structures, people-centred policies and strategies. The state needs to be intelligent, by creating partnerships and networks at the global, regional, national, and local levels; involving civil society, private sector and the people; mastering communication to and with the citizens; leveraging information and communication technologies (ICT); focusing on the challenges of the future and transformation rather than just progress and promoting innovations in its operations

12 2 Moreover, public administration should strengthen institutions and invest in human resource and leadership development, harness the potential of ICT, invest in research and development, ensure professionalism, ethics, integrity, openness, transparency and accountability. It needs operate within a good mix of tenets of Public Administration, Public Management, and Good Governance and emphasize service to the people above anything else.

13 3 Innovating Governance through Information and Communications-Technology (ICT) The strategic role of governance was expressed in terms of its approaches to ICT innovation. It was observed that new requirements on government administration are expressed by (i) government, (ii) business, and (ii) citizens. New ICT generates citizens' new demand on government (Technology Pull) while citizens' new demand on government produces new government administration paradigm (Demand Push). The new social change should be supported by the factors of technology and demand. ICT pushes the development of e-government, and social demand pulls it. It was acknowledged that e-government was the main actor of a series of government reforms in the Republic of Korea, and it has been used as a synonym for government reform there. Three main areas on which the development of e-government in the Republic of Korea depends were pointed out: (i) the need for ensuring active citizen participation to maintain an efficient e- Government, (ii) the need for government to realise that e-government is a neverending process, and (iii) maintaining open data that allow citizen access by any method they choose, such as through third party search engines, etc. It was observed that, for example, the fact that the Republic of Korea had already won e- Government awards through the UNPSA in previous years, does not mean that the system is fully established and therefore does not require further attention or development. It was also highlighted that governments cannot be expected to provide the entire line-up of all possible online services, and that governments primary role is to maintain and make accessible open data to their citizens. Given the importance of ICT, it was proposed that it be accorded a more substantive part in the post-2015 Development Agenda, with even more focus than it had during the establishment of the Millennium Development Goals. The chances of governments to fulfil their development targets will depend on their capability to achieve and enhance collaboration in coordinating government agencies through ICT, to ensure more integrated and effective public policies. E-Governance can enable governments to develop more effective, efficient, and transparent delivery of public services to citizens. In addition to increasing efficiency and creating more streamlined services, ICT integration can provide ways in which governments can promote social inclusion, increase transparency, and accountability. There is also substantive cost reduction associated with ICT implementation.

14 4 The ability of governments to fulfil its development target will depend on their capability to achieve and enhance collaboration in coordinating government agencies through ICT, to ensure more integrated and effective public policies. E- Governance can enable governments to develop more effective, efficient, and transparent delivery of public sector services to citizens. In addition to increasing efficiency and creating more streamlined services, ICT integration can provide ways in which governments can promote social inclusion, increase transparency, and accountability. There is substantive cost reduction associated with ICT implementation which has a positive effect on the environmental footprint of the government. However, in order for ICT to be fully utilized, there are key issues which must be addressed: primarily lack of affordable ICT infrastructure and the need for bridging the digital divide and the digital literacy gap. In this regard, cooperation between private and public institutions is crucial to drive forward the process of implementing ICT led government activities for the achievement of the post-2015 Development Agenda. Knowledge-sharing and capacity-development, as well as closing the digital divide, do not only require investment in technology, but also in human and social resources. It was noted that ICT, especially social media provides opportunities for enhanced citizens participation. The governance challenge related to this mainly concerns how governments and other governance actors can harness the positive aspects of social media, while mitigating the potential negative effects that it can bring to the domain of public governance. Social media is a powerful tool for engaging citizens. It facilitates asking questions and collecting opinions at local levels on issues that matter to citizens. It was concluded that Governments will become more open regardless, and that therefore governments should ensure active participation in the process of adopting social media to adapt to changing governance communication media. However, it was also observed that in some countries the challenge does not concern only governments willingness and readiness to open up, but also citizens ability, readiness and willingness to positively and meaningfully engage in governance and development management processes using information and communications technologies. The experts also discussed issues related to promoting knowledge sharing through e-learning and e-training as part of the human resource capacity development. It was recalled that the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) recognized the power of ICTs, including

15 5 connecting technologies and their innovative applications, to promote knowledge exchange, technical cooperation and capacity-building for sustainable development. It is important to put in place conditions that allow individuals to build and enhance knowledge and skills. It is equally important to focus on understanding the obstacles and challenges that stand in the way of realizing developmental goals and enhancement of the abilities of people and organizations. E-learning and e-training can be a new way to develop human resources capacity and improve the performance of individuals, groups, and organizations. The application of e-learning to enhance knowledge and information sharing was illustrated using the e-learning activities of the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN). Experts appreciated that a change has taken place moving from a more formal, towards a more informal, e-learning. It was also noted that the organizational systems have been changing from strongly "centralist" towards more decentralized systems, implying a new distribution of network "nodes". There has been a change from one-size-fits-all, content-centric models towards a user-centric model that puts the learner/knowledge worker at the centre and gives him/her more control. Furthermore, individual learning has been shifting towards a more collaborative learning and the trainer is now seen as a coach that stimulates and supports collaborative team relationships, while emphasizing the role of the individual. Experts and practitioners of e-learning were challenged to sustain the search for addressing the critical issues including: how to continue to promote and incentivise e-learning, determining the extent to which e- learning can improve skills, and how the e-learning courses can be given value to encourage public servants to build up/develop their knowledge continuously.

16 6 Innovating government for gender equality and inclusiveness The important steps taken by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family of the Republic of Korea toward empowering women were highlighted and they served as a launching pad for the discussion on gender equality and inclusiveness. Despite the slowdown of economic growth in the Republic of Korea, there is a strong commitment by the Government to further increase women s employment rates. It was noted that it is important to further raise women s economic participation by strengthening the (i) recruitment through gender-equal job training, (ii) retaining through childcare facilities, flexible work system, childcare leave system, etc. (iii) post-maternity leave reemployment through a support centre and (iv) representation through the improvement of women s participation and building women workers database. Hence, working for gender equality includes interconnecting policy analysis, gender responsive budgeting and gender impact assessment. Implementing good policies by incorporating gender sensitive perspectives and enhancing gender equality aims to achieve good governance. The need of promoting gender equality at the senior level managerial positions in the central government was strongly expressed and so was the importance of providing comprehensive statics and evidence-based data to fully understand the situation of women in the Republic of Korea and in the rest of the countries. It was observed that for the time being, data are rather fragmented and therefore do not necessarily provide the wider picture of the actual situation of women in the Republic of Korea. With respect to gender equality, it was observed that no country, at this point in time, can confirm that gender equality is fully mainstreamed and implemented. It is not possible to have an effective and successful governance system that does not include all citizens. Therefore any public service has to take into account the participation of women. Given the shortfalls in the achievement of gender equality, it is important that it be reflected in the post-2015 Development Agenda. It was acknowledged that gender equality cannot be solved solely by political commitment. Additional resources must be mobilized, including financial, statistical, and other capacities. Gender equality is based on the need to include all citizens in all aspects of society, a requisite which is emphasized through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which most member states have committed. There is need for an efficient public service that deals with health,

17 7 services, and finance to address issues of gender mainstreaming to enable women to be fully integrated in society. Political commitment, as well as adequate means of implementation including finance, data, and capacity-development will need to be availed as part of the universal 2015 development agenda for gender equality to be mainstreamed and fully realised. It was noted that some studies on the issue of gender equality had concluded that the best long-term strategies were those that created job opportunities for women to provide them with the means of supporting their children s education, in order to earn more and extract themselves out of poverty. In this perspective gender equality is not just a gender issue but an issue of much wider social policy. The disconnection between commitments to gender equality and women s rights and actual improvement in those areas is an accountability deficit to women and girls. Persistent gender inequality is a governance failure and it is fundamental to have in place system-level change that is crucial to developing and implementing models for gender-responsive governance including the delivery of public services that are gender sensitive. It is important to work on gender responsive governance in terms of human rights, engagement, access, and inclusion that can most accelerate progress towards gender equality. This also requires efforts to bridge the gap between policy and practice, increase the capacities of public officials to integrate gender equality measures in plans and budgets, and select performance indicators for oversight. Indeed, the budget is the grounding for all governance and the bridge between commitments and delivery. Gender Responsive Budget is a key strategy for achieving gender-responsive governance. To achieve gender equality, empowering women and girls everywhere it is fundamental to: i) increase financial resources across all sectors dedicated to this goal, ii) institutionalize gender-sensitive approaches to public financial management, iii) monitor and evaluate the impact of policymaking on gender equality and take corrective action, iv) prioritize and mainstream gender equality in all social, economic and environmental policies and programmes, v) ensure collection, dissemination, analysis and use of gender statistics and gender-disaggregated data and vi) ensure the full and effective participation of women.

18 8 The best long-term strategies were those that created job opportunities for women to provide them with the means of supporting their children s education, in order to earn more, and extract themselves out of poverty. In this perspective gender equality is not just a gender issue but an issue of much wider social policy. The disconnection between commitments to gender equality and women s rights and actual improvement for women and girls is an accountability deficit to women and girls. Persistent gender inequality is a governance failure and it is fundamental to have in place system level change that is crucial to develop and implement models for gender-responsive governance including the delivery of public services that are gender sensitive.

19 9 Transformative Leadership for Inspiring Innovation Discussing the topic of Transformative Public Sector Leadership for Sustainable Development it was noted that transformative leadership is key in inspiring and influencing fundamental positive change and that innovative governance requires leaders that can understand and influence innovation from a political and managerial angle. Three pillars stand out in transformative leadership: the economic pillar that works for sustainable growth, the social pillar which seeks to achieve a clean and secure environment, and the political pillar which aims at having an accountable, democratic system in place to enable the social and economic pillars to work in unison to achieve sustainable development. Transformative leadership is necessary for initiating and driving the implementation of policies in priority sectors considered to be critical in driving sustainable development. A terminology which is pervasive in daily language, leadership remains enigmatic with a number of contradictory references including: transformative leadership versus transformational leadership; public sector leadership versus private sector leadership; and leadership for sustainable development versus leadership for economic development. It was observed that conventional leadership is experiencing a crisis and giving way to different leadership modes including transactional and transformational leadership (which had been typical during the late 1970s) and the currently advocated for transformative leadership. Transformative leadership is necessary for initiating and driving the implementation of policies in priority sectors considered critical in driving sustainable development. An example was given of Kenya where transformative leadership prioritized areas of health, education, and poverty eradication and provided constituency development funds which made it possible for citizens to express their local level priorities. At the same time, the introduction of performance contracts in the country made public managers more accountable for both the funds and the delivery of public services in the identified priority areas. Transformative leadership is more focused on reforming social realities and disparities outside the organization; the goals are social justice and development while values are focused on democracy, equity, justice, and social development. The power is positional/hegemonic and the role of leaders emphasises criticism, tension and challenge, and requires moral courage/activism. Transformative public

20 10 sector leadership for sustainable development is about three things: transforming individuals, transforming organizations and transforming societies. These are different in their scope, context, value and results. Transformative leadership is paramount in creating momentum to pursue excellence in all aspects of public governance; especially in the quality of public services as well as in the way the services are delivered. Transformative leadership will devise the means to scan the future to forecast the coming problems and challenges and find solutions to them before they emerge. Transformative leadership is critical to achieving sustainable development, not only because of its goals and drive for innovation but also given what it should value: moral courage and human dignity of individuals, collective goals and values of organizations, and social justice and democracy of society. It was stressed that transformative leadership also emphasizes capacity development because many countries, especially the developing ones, face various challenges in ensuring integrated policies and strategies covering these pillars, the biggest challenges being in the area of inadequate public sector capacity including human, institutional, and financial capacities. As in the case of ICT-led innovation and gender mainstreaming, the need to emphasise human, institutional, and financial capacity development to achieve the post-2015 was highlighted. Transformative leadership is paramount in creating momentum to pursue excellence in all aspects of public governance; especially in the quality of public services as well as in the way the services are delivered. In this regards, transformative leadership that seeks excellence in governance and public administration, will devise the means to scan the future to forecast the coming problems and challenges and find solution to them before they emerge. Innovation has to do with finding solutions to the problems of the future today. Transformative leadership is critical to achieving sustainable development, not only because of its goals and drive for innovation, but also given what it should value. Transformational leaders should value three critical things: moral courage and human dignity of individuals, collective goals and values of organizations, and social justice and democracy of society.

21 11 The Importance of Transparency Accountability and Civic Engagement It was noted that transparency and civic engagement are important in helping shape government programs and ensuring that they are effectively integrated and mutually supported. Experts in collaboration and engagement often speak of a continuum of stages of engagement that runs from the basic, which is providing information to the public, consultation, collaboration, and ultimately to coproduction. Four big drivers confronting the governance environment were discussed. The first one was referred to as Wicked issues, which include complex matters such as climate change, sustainable development, public health emergencies, gender equality, amongst others. Such issues do not have a straightforward technical solution and must be addressed in a dynamic manner, from very different angles and actors, all working together. A whole-ofgovernment approach or a whole society prospective must be adopted where all voices are heard and not only those with technological, financial or organizational resources. The second one is comprised of complexity issues related to the indirect ways in which the states delivers services through coordinated arrangements with national and international civil society organizations, grants to regional and sub local levels of government, contracts with the private sector and other mechanisms. Collaboration and networking management across levels of government and actors as well as different sectors are essential to ensure that these efforts are successfully integrated. The third one is about citizens demand for openness and transparency as well as open data which are very important in shaping good governance. Government leadership gets real power when capable leaders are coupled with strategies to actively involve citizens in decision making and priority setting. The final driver is the flat or declining public budget. Despite the differences around the world, public budgets have faced increased pressure under public scrutiny. A way forward is to open up public budgeting process, by building a broad, society-wide agreement in understanding how results would be achieved, performance measured, and resources allocated among competing priorities. It was stressed that active citizen engagement will be central to promoting transparency and accountability and in realising the future we want.

22 12 Active citizens engagement will be central to promoting transparency and accountability and in realising the future we all want. The importance of good governance in the post-2015 development agenda, better government policies, fair and accountable public institutions are vital for sustainable development. Based on the insights derived from UNDP s Global Anti-Corruption Initiative (GAIN), experts discussed promoting and strengthening professionalism, ethics, integrity, transparency, and accountability in public sector institutions for sustainable development. It was noted that the public sector has for some time been undergoing reforms. Two different generations of public service reforms have occurred over the last years. The first generation focused on a good management approach emphasising efficiency and effectiveness to deliver public services with the key drivers being management guidance and organizational restructuring. The second generation focused on good governance approaches emphasizing ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability with key drivers being cultural and behavioural change. The importance of good governance in the post-2015 Development Agenda, better government policies, fair and accountable public institutions were highlighted as vital for sustainable development. It was underlined that fighting corruption is a major development issue and that there is a need to include transparency, accountability and anti-corruption in the post-2015 Development Agenda. However, it was observed that strengthening transparency, accountability and citizen engagement required successful promotion of ethics, professionalism and integrity in public service. This issue was discussed based on the example of the Initiative for Promoting ethics, professionalism and integrity in public service of CIS countries. It was noted that there are many ingredients that are needed to get to the point where public sector could be truly professional, efficient and effective and to be a foundation of good governance in a nation. One of those ingredients is the values and principles that guide civil servants to do their daily job. Codes of conduct could be regarded as an integral part of public sector reform representing the nucleus of the public administration function; they also address the fundamental relationship between governments and their citizens by representing a commitment to public service and enabling citizens to determine what they can expect as beneficiaries, providers, recipients and users of public services. It was pointed out that based on the study done it became clear that seven out of twelve CIS countries have some form of code of conduct. Eleven of the countries have

23 13 one or more pieces of legislation related to the public service or civil service. Other countries, which have not yet ratified a code of conduct, appear willing to do so in the near future according to official sources. It was concluded however, that any change to the functioning of public services will not be automatic upon ratification of the code of conduct or any other legislative act or document. Reducing corruption and increasing the efficiency of public service delivery is part of an overall change of culture and a code of conduct will serve as only one (albeit important) element contributing toward these goals.

24 14 Public Policy-Making, Risk Analysis, and Disaster Prevention for Sustainable Development In many countries, there are too many losses emanating from disasters natural, as well as man-made - some of which are preventable. The AEGM, facilitated by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Global Education and Training Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction (GETI), discussed issues related to public policy making, risk analysis, and disaster prevention for sustainable development. Some data and in particular the total economic losses between 1981 and 2011 in millions of US$ for selected countries were presented to draw the attention to the critical need for exhaustive risk analysis in the process of policy making and implementation as one of the ways of disaster prevention. It was underlined that there is an escalation of losses and, therefore, investing in disaster risk reduction is fundamental. Participants noted that disasters are not always natural and even when they are, their adverse impact can be mitigated through risk analysis and disaster prevention measures. The involvement and participation of local governments and communities in the design and implementation of disaster risk management programmes is another important requirement. Indeed, a culture of planning and regulation based on partnerships and joint ownership between local and central governments and communities will represent the most cost-effective and sustainable mechanism for reducing risks. Safeguarding the delivery of public services in times of disaster is critical for all the three pillars of sustainable development. Governments must develop coordinated and coherent actions on disaster risk reduction and between central and local governments. Institutional arrangements, legislation and policy for disaster risk reduction need to be put in place not only as disaster response but as disaster prevention and mitigation infrastructure The risk depends on the hazard, the exposure to the hazard, and the conditions of vulnerability of people and assets. Disaster factors are not static. They can be modified by impacting on the institutional and individual capacity to analyse them and devise measures to intervene in their cause and effect and limit their impact. A risk-management approach can reduce and transfer disaster risks through appropriate development policies and sector-specific risk reduction measures. It was affirmed that preventive risk reduction can generate a benefit-cost ratio of 4:1, highlighting the beneficial impact that the public investment in this might have. According to the UNISDR GETI, there are major opportunities to reduce disaster risk by having in place good national public investment planning systems, social

25 15 protection mechanisms, and national and local infrastructure investments. In terms of good governance, there are five common challenges to be addressed including: local ownership/leadership of disaster prevention measures, participation and citizen involvement in risk analysis and disaster prevention, effective communication of risk analysis outcomes and prevention interventions, developing the requisite capacities and human resource, institutions, and citizens levels capacity, and, finally, ensuring accountability. Governments must develop coordinated and coherent actions on disaster risk reduction and between central and local governments. Institutional arrangements, legislation and policy for disaster risk reduction need to be put in place not only as disaster response but as disaster prevention and mitigation infrastructure. Therefore, there is a need of a culture of accountability measures which can improve the effectiveness of governance and service delivery. The involvement and participation of local governments and communities in the design and implementation of disaster risk management programmes is another important requirement. Indeed, a culture of planning and regulation based on partnerships and joint ownership between local and central governments and communities will represent the most cost-effective and sustainable mechanism for reducing risks. Safeguarding the delivery of public services in times of disaster is critical for all the three pillars of sustainable development. However, more important is the ability and effectiveness in assessing risk and preventing disaster so as to safeguard and sustain the delivery of services.

26 16 Developing Technical Cooperation and Partnerships in Innovating Public Administration for Sustainable Development The AEGM underlined that cooperation and partnerships carry high potential in introducing and fostering governance and public administration innovations but it is not a panacea for all problems. Government is the only one actor in the system that has a special responsibility in terms of providing collective goods and services as well as framework conditions for cooperation and partnerships to grow and be effective. It was, moreover, affirmed that only societally embedded innovations supported by effective, responsive government, which work by and for the people in their contexts, can be sustainable. Administration can be affected by technocratic, ineffective, static, and lack-ofintegration shortcomings. In such cases, it may be unsustainable in achieving undesirable outcomes. Furthermore, within the transition from government to governance, where the principles imply new forms of coordination, shared responsibility, alliances, learning, cooperation and partnerships it is only logical for governments to seek willing partners in the search for innovations in governance and public administration. Government is the only one actor in the system that has a special responsibility in terms of providing collective goods and services as well as framework conditions for cooperation and partnerships to grow and be effective. Only societally embedded innovations supported by effective, responsive governments, which work by and for the people in their contexts, can be sustainable. Technical cooperation offers opportunity for government to supplement its capacities for innovation. Technical cooperation, therefore, offers opportunity for governance to supplement its capacities for innovation. It was underlined that technical cooperation and partnerships present a form of a self-organized network with non-hierarchical coordination mechanisms and a public-private or private-private orientation. But it had to be acknowledged that innovation is more than just extra smart problem-solving. There is a problem of uncertainty which implies functional promises towards non-linear and unpredictable outcomes. There can also be problems related to autonomous innovations which may be unsustainable in a context of heterogeneity of actors/interests involved, strategies for action. It was affirmed that what is needed is responsible innovation resulting from a transparent and interactive process by which societal actors and innovators become mutually responsive to each other taking into account issues such as ethical acceptability, sustainability and societal desirability of the innovation process and its products.