2014 United Nations Public Service Forum Day and Awards Ceremony OVERALL AIDE-MEMOIRE

Transcription

1 2014 United Nations Public Service Forum Day and Awards Ceremony Innovating Governance for Sustainable Development and Well-being of the People OVERALL AIDE-MEMOIRE June, 2014 Seoul, Republic of Korea

2 1. Background and Context The 2014 United Nations Public Service Forum, Day and Awards Ceremony will take place in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 23 to 26 June 2014 on the theme of Innovating Governance for Sustainable Development and Well-being of the People. It is organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) through its Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) collaborating with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and hosted by the Government of the Republic of Korea. In its Resolution 57/277, the United Nations General Assembly designated 23 June as the United Nations Public Service Day and reiterated that particular emphasis should be given to the exchange of experiences related to the role of public administration in the implementation of internationally agreed goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration. Consequently, the United Nations Public Service Awards Programme (UNPSA) was established in 2003 to inculcate a culture of innovation and exemplary public service through rewarding public institutions for their pursuit for excellence and creativity in public governance. It is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service and is held annually. Since its inception, the UNPSA has been a valuable vehicle for facilitating the collection and adaptation of innovative practices in public governance. Innovating and improving governance is a critical enabler for sustainable development. Adaptation and replication of innovations provides concrete solutions to governance challenges and can save governments significant resources and time. The Awards Ceremony takes place during the United Nations Public Service Forum, which was established to promote global attention and discussions on the importance of governance and public administration for the implementation of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The challenges that the governments are facing at the beginning of the 21 st Century require a holistic approach to transformation and innovation in public governance. This requires that governments become: change agents, enablers and facilitators of networked and integrated shared governance, empowering communities to engage in finding solutions to the obstacles and challenges to sustainable development. Governments need to be entrepreneurial in foreseeing the needed development strategies and trajectories for their countries, driven by the public interest, responsive and committed to developing the capacities of governance at all levels through the sharing of knowledge. As 2015, the deadline for achieving the MDGs approaches, the work ahead for every country and international community is to take stock of the extent to which MDGs have been achieved, the obstacles and challenges faced and how efforts can be consolidated to achieve efficient and equitable service delivery for better living standards of their citizens. The well-being of the people is taking centre-stage as key actors and stakeholders seek ways to achieve a more effective balance and integration among the policies guiding the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development and conclude the 2

3 design of the post-2015 development agenda. It is thus appropriate that the theme of the 2014 United Nations Public Service Forum is Innovating Governance for Sustainable Development and Well Being of the People. 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 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 are 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. In this respect, governments need to be innovative in the way they operate to adapt to new ways of engaging citizens and delivering services for increased ownership of public initiatives and more inclusive development. It is recognized that there are no one-size fits all recipes to innovation, and dialogue is imperative to customize public governance solutions on the basis of lessons learnt. The 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also referred to as Rio+20, recognized the power of ICTs, including connection technologies and their innovative applications, to promote knowledge exchange, technical cooperation and capacity-building for sustainable development. Already, in many countries, technological advancement and public resource constraints have forced governments to re-think the way in which the public sector works. Information and Communications Technology, by facilitating the flow of information between government and citizens, has become a powerful enabler of social equity, increasing access to services for vulnerable groups, including the youth, disabled, the elderly, women, and indigenous people. The recent report by the UN Task Team on Post-2015 Development Agenda underscored that ICTs have expanded opportunities for the creation, transmission and dissemination of information. The Forum will, therefore, look at how to build the capacities of government leaders at all levels to develop appropriate e-government strategies for development; how to engage citizens in service design and delivery; and how to make sure that public administration and public service delivery are inclusive and responsive to the needs of women, and other vulnerable groups, for a more equitable society. 2. Purpose and Objective The Forum will be conducted in plenary sessions and parallel capacity development workshops, and other events including an Expert Group meeting, exhibitions and study visits. The ultimate goal of the Forum is to build the capacity of governments, particularly in developing countries and especially the Least Developed Countries, to anticipate and respond, innovative ways, to the many challenges posed by the 3

4 implementation of the MDGs objectives and the search for sustainable development. The Forum also provides an opportunity to promote international and regional cooperation, while facilitating exchange of good practices, experiences and lessons learned between government officials and other stakeholders through networking opportunities. Specifically, the Forum plenary sessions, capacity development workshops, the Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting and Ministerial Round Table will provide a platform to: Discuss emerging issues, trends and major challenges governments and other governance actors are facing and their vision for the future, especially in light of the drive to achieve the MDGs, post-2015 agenda and sustainable development; Explore innovative practices in governance and public administration that are being spearheaded in different parts of the world; Capacity development strategies, approaches and tools available to move forward in enabling governments and other actors to achieve sustainable development; Present and discuss challenges and innovative trends in public governance in the specific thematic area; Share successful experiences in strengthening public administration capacity in the specific thematic areas; Discuss what tools are available to strengthen public administration capacity in the area of innovation and e-government, with a particular focus not only on what policy options are available, but also on how to enable countries to build such capacity; Strengthen North-South and South-South cooperation to enhance public sector capacity building for sustainable development. 3. Expected Results The following results are expected from the Forum: Enhanced knowledge of challenges and trends, best practices and tools on innovating governance and public administration, which will be further shared with all UN Member States through the United Nations Public Administration Country Studies portal (UNPACS); The shared possibilities and plans of adapting good practices through peer-to-peer learning and transfer of innovations; 4

5 Shared innovative capacity development tools and approaches, manuals, and guidelines to build national and local capacity of governance and public administration for sustainable development; Network with government officials, experts, academics and practitioners from around the world during and beyond the event; Renewed public sector leadership commitment and inspiration engage in promoting innovations in public sector institutions for sustainable development. 4. Thematic Focus In addition to the overall theme of the Forum Innovating Governance for Sustainable Development and Well-being of the People, five parallel capacity development workshops and an Expert Group Meeting will be conducted, focusing on various aspects of strengthening governance and public administration capacity for innovative delivery of public service. Each meeting s thematic area is described as follows: 4.1. Innovating Governance for Sustainable Development As acknowledged by the General Assembly Resolution (A/RES/66/288 of 11 September 2012), the role of effective governance is important to the achievement of the sustainable development. For good governance and public administration to be effective enablers of sustainable development, it is important to have innovations and transformations to make governance and public administration an effective instrument. The Expert Group Meeting will explore and make proposals and recommendations on how to promote innovation and transformation in the public sector and strengthen governance and public administration capacities for sustainable development Innovation and e-governance for Sustainable Development This workshop aims to uncover emerging trends, policies, strategies, practices and lessons learned in e-government development and service delivery. It also aims to build a shared understanding among all governance actors of what e-government policies and strategies, practices and tools the Member States can adopt to make public administration more effective, transparent, accountable, participatory and citizen-centric with a view to promoting greater social, economic and environmental development. It will provide participants with an opportunity to: (a) present, discuss and raise awareness of global and regional trends, with a particular focus on Small Island Developing States (SIDS); (b) discuss emerging issues including collaborative leadership for whole-of-government; (c) share successful experiences in e-government development and service delivery through the presentation of innovative practices by the UNPSA winners and the 2014 United Nations e-government Survey Special Award winners; (d) explore e-government policies and strategies targeted for SIDS; and, (e) strengthen North-South and South- South cooperation to enhance public sector capacity-building through networks, and transfer and adaptation of good practices and tools. 5

6 4.3. Innovation in Public Accountability: The Role of Supreme Audit Institutions and Citizens At the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the international community identified critical factors to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs by 2015, and those for sustainable development for the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Among these factors, empowering people by increasing their participation in development policies and programmes and strengthening accountability were highlighted. Participatory governance through citizen engagement allows giving people more voice in making choices that affect the quality of their lives and exercise their civic rights. Democratic governance gives Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) a critical role in holding governments to account and enabling legislative oversight. This workshop will look at innovations for assisting SAIs to assess their readiness to engage with citizens and fight corruption. It is planned to be co-organized with the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the World Bank Institute Social Accountability Practice (WBISG) and draw upon resource persons from the audit and citizen engagement communities What women get: transforming public service delivery to respond to women and girls During this workshop, representatives of national and local governments and civil society organizations will examine good practice, gaps and challenges in women s access to public services. The issue of financing for gender equality and its impact on the implementation of commitments towards gender equality and women s rights will be discussed throughout the meeting. Participants are encouraged to think about how best to integrate a gender perspective in governments plans and budgets with a view to improving women and girls access to public services and achieving equitable development results. Specifically, the workshop will aim to achieve the following objectives: a) Discuss measures and initiatives improving women s access to public services (at national, sectorial and local level) in stable and post-conflict countries and how they can be replicated; b) Share knowledge about capacity development and accountability measures that strengthens financing for gender equality and women s access to public services (gender-sensitive costing, planning, budgeting and public expenditures tracking); c) Build practical skills for gender responsive planning, budgeting and performance monitoring; and d) Identify a set of recommendations for transforming public service delivery at policy level and technical level and positioning this issue in the post-2015 development agenda Transformative Initiative Towards Open Competent and Service Oriented Government The new environment characterized by various social problems and rapid changes demands new approaches and paradigms in public administration. Governments need be more efficient in decision-making and use of limited resources, through utilizing the latest technologies and organizational innovation. They also need to be able to provide 6

7 more sustainable and customer-oriented public services. In an effort to identify solutions to these myriad challenges, this workshop will seek to discuss: a) latest trends of public administration to respond to the environmental changes; b) necessities for new paradigm in public administration; c) best practices in key areas and ways of sharing them with other countries; d) open Government Partnership and experiences from OGP member countries; e) approaches of enhancing transparency and access to data without compromising the privacy of citizens; f) role of civil society and private sector engagement for the effective usage of open data; g) how to address cross-cutting issues and deliver services in an integrated manner; h) linkage of ICT systems and sharing information among agencies; i) how to foster administrative culture for sustainable collaboration among government agencies and civil society; and j) how to attract and retaining competent human resources to the public service e-government in the Smart Society; The Way Forward: One day workshop (only 24th of June) E-Government has a key role to play in effective and responsive public service delivery. Strategic use of e-government and ICT can result in a more inclusive, effective, efficient, transparent and accountable public administration. Unique conditions, with regard to financial and human resources and availability of infrastructure among other important variables need to be taken into account for developing countries to successfully implement e-government initiatives. This workshop will discuss: i) best practices in e- Governance systems and success factors; ii) strategies to overcome the obstacles and difficulties in building e-governance systems; iii) latest technologies in e-government and effective strategies for e-government in developing countries; iv) policy trends in governments for new technologies; v) recent cases and trends of cyber terrors and cyberattacks; vi) introduction of the system of the Korean government to handle cyber terrors; vii) sharing techniques and know-how s to prevent cyber terrorism; and viii) how an international cooperation system can be developed to address the threats of cyber terror and attacks. 5. Organization 5.1. Participants Over 1000 participants are expected to attend the Forum, including high-level United Nations officials and representatives of the Republic of Korea, as well as world leaders, ministers, senior government officials, mayors, civil society representatives, the academia, the private sector, and representatives from international and regional organizations Official languages The official languages of the meeting will be English, French and Spanish during the plenary sessions (23 th and 26 th of June). Workshops and the Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting will be conducted in English only. Information on the languages will be made available by 7

8 each workshop/expert Group Meeting. Simultaneous translation will be available in all official languages of the United Nations (English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish) during the Awards Ceremony. 5.3 Electronic Resources All the documents of the meeting will be posted on the online at the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) at and the website of the UNPS Forum host country at Format of the Forum The Forum will be conducted evolving around five major components: 1) Plenary sessions to discuss emerging issues challenges and trends related to innovations in governance and public administration for sustainable development; 2) Parallel capacity development workshops/expert Group Meeting to analyze and allow for in-depth discussions about trends, innovative practices and lessons learned in key areas of governance and public administration as enabler of sustainable development; 3) Ministerial Roundtable, CIO Roundtable, and presentation of the Forum (with inputs from all workshops and the Expert Group Meeting); 4) United Nations Public Service Ceremony and Awards; 5) Public Service Day Exhibition, organized alongside the Forum. 6. Venue The United Nations Public Service Forum, Day and Awards Ceremony, which was traditionally held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, is now held every year in a different region of the world to provide a unique opportunity to countries and regions to bring together their best initiatives and share their knowledge with the world at large. The event took place in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain in 2013, Dar-es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania in 2011 and Barcelona, Spain in 2010 for the first time in those continents and hosting it in Seoul, Republic of Korea is highly symbolic as it will take place in the Asia region for the first time. The 2014 Forum is supported and hosted by the Government of the Republic of Korea represented by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration (MOSPA). The Government of the Republic of Korea has been very successful in the area of innovations in governance in general and e-government in particular. This is especially symbolic for a country which has been a member of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD 8

9 since 2010, and was once one of the poorest countries in the world after the Korean War until 1960 s. This unique case of success in rapid development and transformation has been possible with the support of a well systemized governance and public administration in the Republic of Korea, which managed to devise and apply the most effective and efficient ways of focusing resources to the development of the country. In this regard, participants in this year s Forum will have much to learn from Korea s experiences apart from exchanging innovative ideas with participants from all over the world. Contact Information For overall substantive and organizational enquiries, please contact: UNDESA Mr. John-Mary Kauzya Chief, Public Administration Capacity Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management, UNDESA mailto:kauzya@un.org Phone: Ms. Sirkka Nghilundilua, Associate Governance and Public Administration Officer UNPSA Coordinator Public Administration Capacity Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management, UNDESA nghilundilua@un.org Phone: