Implementing a Multi-Pronged Strategy for Digital Transformation: Lessons from Asia
UN DESA/DPIDG, in collaboration with China National Academy of Governance (CNAG) and Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS), is organizing a capacity building webinar on strengthening digital transformation through investing in digital infrastructure, fostering a digital workforce, improving digital government services, building a dynamic digital economy, and developing national digital data policies and strategies for ensuring data quality, access, security, privacy and usage. The webinar, drawing from experience in several countries in Asia, is supported by the 2030 Agenda Sub-Fund of the UN Peace and Security Fund. The objective of the 2-hour webinar is to discuss challenges and share lessons learned at the country and municipal levels on how to accelerate digital transformation by developing a funding partnership for investing in digital infrastructure, by improving digital government services and digital economy, and by strengthening data governance. Several Asian countries with recent progress in these areas will be invited to highlight national and local experiences, share lessons learned and identify ways forward. The webinar will be held on 7 July 2022, 8am EDT. More information and registration is available here.
2022 UN Public Service Awards recognize 10 innovations to help world recover better from COVID-19
Ten initiatives have been recognized for their innovative public service delivery with the prestigious UN Public Service Awards at a virtual celebration organized by the UN DESA today. The UN Public Service Awards recognize excellence in public service delivery that promotes effectiveness, transparency, and inclusiveness to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2022 UN Public Service Award winners were announced by Mr. Liu Zhenmin, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, during a virtual event to commemorate the United Nations Public Service Day. The 2022 UN Public Service Award Winners are: Community Peace Center (COMPAZ), City Hall of Recife – Brazil; Mise en oeuvre de la Loi sur l'équité salariale au Québec, Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail – Québec, Canada ; Mo Bus, Capital Region Urban Transport – India ; The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), Department of Rural and Community Development – Ireland ; Sistema de Informacion de Vacunacion Contra la Covid-19 / Panavac19, Autoridad Nacional para la Innovacion Gubernamental de Panama – Panama ; Science for Change Program (S4CP), Department of Science and Technology – Philippines; The System of Records of the State Sanitary Inspection (“SEPIS”), Chief Sanitary Inspectorate – Poland; Tawakkalna Application, Saudi Data and AI Authority – Saudi Arabia; Koh Libong Community: Digital Transformation for Smart Environment, Digital Economy Promotion Agency – Thailand; and Prozorro.Sale – world’s most transparent e-auction system for public assets management, State-owned enterprise Prozorro – Sale, Ukraine. More information on the UNPSA Winners is available here.
2022 United Nations Public Service Day Virtual Celebration
To celebrate the 2022 United Nations Public Service Day, a virtual event will be held on the theme of “Building back better from COVID-19: Enhancing innovative partnerships to meet the Sustainable Development Goals”. Taking its lead from the 2022 theme of the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF), the main body for reviewing implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2022 UN Public Service Day commemoration will focus on the role of public institutions and public servants in building back better from COVID-19 as they work to meet the 2030 deadline for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. It will bring together key stakeholders, public servants and United Nations officials. The virtual event will be held on the 22 June, 9:00 - 10:30 AM (EDT). You can follow it live at UN WebTV. More information is available here.
Webinar on Promoting Independent External Audits on Credibility of Government Budgets: How Supreme Audit Institutions assess and address budget credibility
UN DESA/DPIDG and the International Budget Partnership will hold a webinar on “Promoting Independent External Audits on Credibility of Government Budgets: How Supreme Audit Institutions assess and address budget credibility” on 16 June (8.30-9.30 am EDT). The interactive event will invite discussion of the results of a survey distributed to the members of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) to learn about their experiences in auditing budget credibility. As we strive to build back better from global crises, strong oversight of government spending is more important than ever. External audits have a critical role in ensuring a government’s budget is credible, meaning that the government collects and spends funds according to the approved budget. More information and the registration link are available here.
CEPA 21st session findings and recommendations move forward
The report of the 21st session of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA), held in April 2022, is now available in the six official UN languages. A key message of the session was that to build forward from the COVID-19 pandemic and advance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, governments should strengthen their public institutions and their social, physical, and technological infrastructure, while making their economies more resilient and agile to be better prepared to manage potential future economic, social, and environmental shocks. Another key message was that climate change mitigation and adaptation called for technical and programmatic shifts as well as reform of institutional structures, cultures, and capacities. The Committee stressed that building strong institutions for sustainable development remained a crucial challenge in conflict-affected settings. These and other matters are reflected in a resolution adopted by the Economic and Social Council at its Management Segment on 8 June 2022, as well as in the Committee’s input to the 2022 high-level political forum. More information is available here.
The 21st Session of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration
The Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) will hold its twenty-first session at UN Headquarters in New York from 4 to 8 April 2022. The overall theme of the session is “Transforming institutions and governance to build forward better towards 2030”. Topics discussed in this year’s session include governance and public administration aspects of the theme of the 2022 ECOSOC session and the 2022 High-level political forum on sustainable development; building strong institutions to combat climate change and its impacts and for the sustainable management, protection and restoration of natural resources; governance and institution-building in conflict-affected countries; the application of the Principles of effective governance for sustainable development at the subnational level; public financial management and budgeting for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); public sector workforce; and digital government. There will also be a dialogue with voluntary national review countries on institutional aspects of SDG 16 and a dedicated observer consultation will allow for an in-depth exchange with different observers, including youth organizations. The Committee will adopt an input to the HLPF and a draft resolution for ECOSOC. More information and live webcast of the session is available here
Innovation, Digital Government and Changing Mindset for Public Sector Transformation in Guyana to Achieve the SDGs
UN DESA/DPIDG, the Ministry of Public Service of Guyana, the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with the support of the Resident Coordinator Office, are co-organizing a Training Workshop on Innovation, Digital Government and Changing Mindset for Public Sector Transformation in Guyana to Achieve the SDGs. The course will be attended by Permanent and Deputy Permanent Secretaries, Regional Executive Officers, Chief Executive Officers of Guyana. The Training Workshop will take place from 22 to 31 March 2022. More information is available here
Peer-to-Peer Learning International Workshop on Public Service Training Assessment Framework for Strengthening Capacities of Public Servants to Support SDG Implementation
The Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) of the Government of Bhutan, in collaboration with UN DESA/DPIDG and its Project Office on Governance (UNPOG), and with the support of the UN Resident Coordinator Office in Bhutan, is organizing a virtual peer-to-peer learning international workshop on public service training assessment framework for strengthening capacities of public servants to support the implementation of the SDGs. The workshop is a follow-up activity to UN DESA’s Development Account Project on Institutional arrangements for policy integration, coordination and stakeholder engagement in SDG implementation and reviews in Asia & the Pacific. The workshop aims to promote a learning journey of peers that would help strengthen civil service capacity building in Bhutan and develop a partnership among the Workshop participating countries, leading to the development of a framework for learning outcome assessment for the Royal Government of Bhutan. The Workshop will provide a platform for practitioners and decision-makers of the RCSC, Bhutan and its affiliated institutes to learn lessons from international good practices. Panelists will share knowledge about various frameworks and approaches to enhance training effectiveness through assessment of learning outcomes while focusing on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The workshop will take place from 16 to 17 March 2022. More information is available here
Proceedings of the 25th UN/INTOSAI Symposium
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the General Secretariat of INTOSAI are pleased to announce the publication of the proceedings of the 25th UN/INTOSAI Symposium. This compilation contains valuable insights on SAIs' approaches to tackling the challenges imposed by the pandemic as well as lessons learned for the future. The report can be accessed here
New approaches to e-government for SDG implementation
UN DESA/DPIDG in collaboration with the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, is organizing a capacity building workshop on new approaches to e-government for SDG implementation. The objective of the workshop is to raise awareness on innovative approaches in e-government policies and implementation strategies and increase participants' capacities on how to use them for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Innovation and continuous transformation in the area of ICTs are critical for improving efficiency and effectiveness of public sector interventions and achieving the SDGs. During the workshop, a training toolkit on Innovation and Digital Government for Public Service Delivery will be presented. The training toolkit is part of the Curriculum on Governance of the Sustainable Development recently launched by UN DESA/DPIDG. The workshop will be held from 15 to 16 March 2022. More information is available here
SDG 16 Conference 2022 - People-centred governance in a post-pandemic world
UN DESA, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), and the Government of Italy are organizing the SDG 16 Conference 2022. Building on the outcomes of the 2019 and 2021 editions and drawing on the insights of participants from government, international organizations, civil society, academia and youth, the Conference will explore how a people-centred approach to governance can help rebuild trust, accelerate progress towards sustainable development and tackle the challenges facing a post-COVID world. The Conference will examine how COVID-19 has contributed to the root causes and drivers of conflict and instability, challenged the delivery of public services, threatened the rule of law and increased inequality and exclusion. It will highlight innovations made in response to the pandemic, including approaches to build and sustain development in conflict-affected contexts, strengthen institutional resilience, promote people-centred justice, and address inequalities while leaving no one behind. The Conference will be held from 21 to 22 April in a hybrid format. More information is available here.
Promotion of Intergenerational Equity for Sustainable Development
UN DESA/DPIDG is organizing a virtual workshop on the promotion of intergenerational equity for sustainable development. The workshop forms part of a series to launch the Strategy Guidance Notes to operationalize the principles of effective governance for sustainable development which were developed by the Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) and endorsed by the Economic and Social Council. One of the principles is on intergenerational equity to ensure inclusiveness. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the principle of intergenerational equity requires countries to be engaged with and aware of the various dimensions of impact assessment, long-term public debt management, long-term territorial planning and spatial development and ecosystem management. The virtual workshop will discuss these strategies for pursuing intergenerational equity and will attempt to share knowledge, raise awareness and provide a platform to connect participants with partners in other countries, the UN system and other organizations to take further concrete action-oriented activities. It will be held on 8 March 2022. More information is available here.
Institutional Arrangements for Coherent Policy Formulation in the Areas of Climate, Land, Energy and Water System (CLEWS) in Namibia
UN DESA/DPIDG and EAPD, the Namibia Resident Coordinator’s Office, UNECA, UNDP, FAO and the Namibian National Planning Commission will hold a hybrid capacity development workshop on Institutional Arrangements for Coherent Policy Formulation in the Areas of Climate, Land, Energy and Water System (CLEWS) in Namibia. Participants will discuss how to develop, transfer and apply the Climate, Land, Energy and Water systems (CLEWs) framework and how to strengthen the institutional arrangements to support integrated approaches to policy formulation and coherence. The workshop will take place from 7-9 February 2022 in Swakopmund, Namibia. More information is available here
Changing Mindsets in Public Institutions to Realize the 2030 Agenda in Pakistan
UN DESA/DPIDG and the National School of Public Policy (NSPP) of Pakistan, in collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator Office in Pakistan, are co-organizing a five-days Capacity Development Training Workshop on Changing Mindsets in Public Institutions to Realize the 2030 Agenda in Pakistan. The Training Workshop is being organized as a segment of the NSPP - National Management Course (NMC) for the senior ranking government officials. The objective of the present workshop is to equip public servants with innovative mindsets and behaviors to better address current and future challenges. The Workshop is based on the Curriculum on Governance for the SDGs - Training of Trainers Toolkit on Changing Mindsets in Public Institutions to Implement the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development which was developed by UN DESA/DPIDG. The Workshop will be held from 24 to 28 January 2022 from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. (Pakistan Standard Time). More information is available here.