Africa Regional Forum on Governance Innovation: Advancing Agile, Inclusive and People-Centered Services for All

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG), is organizing a Regional Forum on Public Service Innovation within the framework of the Continental Celebration of the 2025 African Public Service Day entitled “Enhancing the Agility and Resilience of Public Institutions to Achieve Equitable Governance and Rapidly Address Historical Service Delivery Gaps". The Africa Public Service Day is being organized by the African Union and the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development of Ethiopia.

The Regional Forum will be held from 21 to 23 June 2025 at the African Union's Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The forum is directed to Ministers, Senior Public Officers at the level of Permanent Secretaries, Directors, Director Generals, Heads of Agencies and Authorities and Chairman of Boards/Board of Directors in charge of public policy implementation.

The forum is being organized within the framework of the project on “Innovating Public Service Delivery to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the Transfer and Adaptation of Omnichannel Approaches”, which is being implemented by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, through its Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government, thanks to the generous contribution of the Government of Azerbaijan. The project aims to enhance the capacities of government officials in selected countries of Africa, Asia as well as Latin America and the Caribbean to promote effective and inclusive public service delivery, leaving no one behind. It will do so by enhancing their capacities to promote innovation and design action plans for omnichannel service delivery systems (online, brick-and-mortar, mobile and other channels), through one-stop-shop (OSS) mechanisms.

Complete Booklet

Agenda

Useful Readings and References

Handbook on “How to design and implement One-stop-Shops to promote better service delivery and implement the Sustainable Development Goals

Principles of Effective Governance for Sustainable Development

Report on Changing Mindsets to Realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Curriculum on Governance for the Sustainable Development Goals

UN E-Government Survey 2024

Digital Government Capability Assessment Handbook

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015: Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Presentations:

Challenges, Opportunities and New Trends in Governance Innovation across Africa - Ms. Zuzana Schwidrowski, Director, Macroeconomics, Finance & Governance Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA)

Toward Public-Centered Public Policies for Enhanced Service Delivery - Dr. Younes Abouyoub, Chief of Governance and State-Building, Governance and Conflict Prevention Division for the Arab Region, UN ESCWA

The Case of Huduma Kenya - Hon. Dr. Benjamin Kai Chilumo, CEO, Huduma Kenya

The Case of ASAN, Azerbaijan - Mr. Mahammadali Khudaverdiyev, Director General for International Affairs, State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan (SAPSSI), Azerbaijan

Challenges and Strategies to Strengthen Competencies and Skills for Agile, Inclusive and People-centered Public Service Delivery - Dr. Azeb Assefa Mersha, Dean of the Training Institute, Ethiopian Civil Service University

AI in Public Service Delivery - Mr. Gregory McGann, DPIDG, UN DESA

Building Blocks of Omnichannel Service Delivery - Ms. Naomi George-Edward, DPIDG, UN DESA

The Critical Role of Political Commitment, Transformational Leadership, and Human Resources in Governance Innovation - Dr. Jide Balogun, Former Special Advisor to the UN General Assembly, Director, DRM Associates

Voices of African Civil Servants on Training and Leadership Needs for Agile Service Delivery - Ms. Sara Hamouda, Continental Governance Officer, African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), African Union, South Africa

The Importance of Changing Mindsets for Innovative and Inclusive Public Service Delivery - Dr. Adriana Alberti, Chief, Programme Management and Capacity Development Unit, DPIDG, UN DESA

Systems Thinking and Policy Development - Dr. Cristina Rodriguez-Acosta, Interregional Advisor, DPIDG, UN DESA

Coherence between National and Local/ Regional Levels in Public Service Delivery - Dr. Najat Zarrouk, President of IASIA, Director of Capacity Building and ALGA Academy, United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), Morocco

Whole-of-government and Whole-of-society Approaches to Public Service Delivery - Mr. Alphonse Mekolo, CEO & Founding Director, MEKALFONE Group, Expert in Governance Systems and Public Sector Institutions

Digital Technology and Data Governance for Public Service Delivery - Mr. Armando Guio, Executive Director of the Global Network of Internet and Society Centers, Harvard University

Financing for Public Service Delivery - Mr. Ali Zafar, Economic Adviser and Head Development Policy Research Hub, UNDP Ethiopia

Collective Poetic Vision Statement, Ms. Katherine Bourlakas, DPIDG, UN DESA