UN DESA’s Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) provides capacity building and policy advice to countries, upon their request, to strengthen governments’ capacities to translate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other internationally agreed goals into institutional arrangements, strategies and programmes for effective service delivery and participatory, accountable and inclusive decision-making processes. It does so through several modalities, including the implementation of development cooperation projects listed below.

Past Projects

INT/02/X32: Programme for Promotion of Exchange of Innovative

Main Expectations: This programme aimed at devising a set of strategies to promote the effective exchange of innovative experiences in public administration among the partner countries with a view to promoting improved public sector performance.

Objective/Purpose of Project: The goal of the project was to contribute, through the exchange of innovative ideas and experiences in public administration, to the improvement of governance systems in the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean area with a view to enhancing prosperity, peace and stability in the region.

Key Accomplishments: InnovMed has promoted policy dialogue, and shared relevant knowledge on good practices to improve public sector performance. It helped bridge the theory and practice of innovation in governance through publications highlighting administrative challenges, priorities and achievements; the establishment of a network of innovators made up of practitioners and experts in governance within the region; and a series of relevant forums and meetings.

Cooperation Partners: The formal partner of this project was Formez through the Centre for Administrative Innovation in the Mediterranean Region – CAIMED. Other institutions that have been involved in InnovMed meetings and other activities include the World Bank Institute, the Federal University of Technology (Nigeria), the Higher Population Council (Jordan), the Croatian Association for Public Administration, the Institut Superieur de l’Administration (Morocco), and others.
Time Frame: January 2002 – December 2008
Funding: XBTC
Proposed Budget: US$2,174,526
Division: PACB

CHD/02/012: Assistance préparatoire au processus de décentralisation

Main Expectations: 4.1. Providing national institutions and establishments responsible for decentralization process with technical support from high caliber international and local polyvalent experts so as to strengthen and improve national staff’s skills at work.
4.2. Hands-on and in-house Training
4.3. Making the Ministry in charge of decentralization fully functional and capable to fulfill its mandate.
4.4. Setting an operational mechanism integrating local and regional groups for studies and mobilization (GREM, GLEM) that are to enhance the people engagement to decentralization process.

Objective/Purpose of Project: 3.1. Strengthening Capacities of the Ministry in charge of Decentralization
3.2. Making available studies as well as guidelines related to decentralization in Chad Republic

Key Accomplishments (to-date): 5.1. Institutional Capacities strengthened Technical Committee for decentralization oriented activities Higher Committee for Decentralization (HCD) institutionalized through a Decree
Ministry in charge of decentralization strengthened
5.2. Workshops organized and effectively held Workshop for validation of decentralization guiding process in Chad, organized at CEFOD center in 2002. Retreat for information sharing among the partners (Government, GTZ, PROADEL, French Cooperation, UNDP), organized at Al-Mouna Center in November 2003.
5.3. Training of high rank public servants Formation des cadres Training of two officials from Training Department and Studies Department at the Higher African Institute for Business Development (ISADE), on decentralization and urban development policy July/August 2003

Cooperation Partners: UNDP – UNDESA – Chad Government
Time Frame: January 2002 - December 2008

Funding: XBTC
Proposed Budget: US$80,831
Division: PACB

RAF/01/X02: Africa Governance Inventory (AGI) - Phase II

Main Expectations: The AGI Portal is expected to assist participating governments and their development partners to:

• share information on governance in Africa through the World Wide Web;
• promote regional partnerships
• improve programming, coordination, monitoring, evaluation, mobilization of resources and relevance of governance initiatives to MDGs.

The AGI can also affect the ability of donors, specialized agencies and multilateral organizations to respond to government priorities in different areas of governance.

Objective/Purpose of Project: Enhancing sustainable development in Africa through the provision of reliable and accountable governance related information. Specific objectives:

1. Upgrade and maintain software, approaches and tools for storing, retrieving, managing and analyzing financial and descriptive information on governance initiatives, implemented at local, national and regional levels, in Africa
2. Strengthen the capacity of governance focal points to provide data and information that can enable governments and stakeholders to programme, monitor and evaluate governance initiatives and to better coordinate and mobilize external resources allocated or to be allocated to governance at national level.
3. Strengthen linkages among focal points in view to enhancing information flow, promoting coordination of resources allocated to governance and stronger partnerships at regional level.
4. Strengthen linkages between AGI and governance initiatives in Africa including NEPAD and Africa Governance Forum.

Key Accomplishments: • More than half of the continent’s countries participated in the AGI initiative since 1999.

• Internet portal - with English and French interfaces - containing a regional database on governance programmes in Africa (quantitative and qualitative data on 2,693 governance initiatives since the 1990s for a total budget of over US$18 billion).
• National electronic databases on governance programmes and projects available on the Internet.
• English and French Guidelines on database management, methods, tools and approaches for programming, monitoring, evaluating and coordinating governance initiatives utilizing the AGI.
• Enhanced capacity of the national units to manage national knowledge databases, including tracking performance in various areas of governance and monitoring/evaluating governance initiatives.
• Enhanced information flow on governance priorities in Africa and enriched discussion on governance thematic subjects in the context of regional initiat

Cooperation Partners: UNDP, Government focal points in Africa
Time Frame: December 2000 – December 2009
Funding: XBTC
Proposed Budget: US$890,970
Division: PACB

For more information about this project, please see here.