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  2. Blog on SDG16

Blog on SDG16

The Predictable Piece in a Crisis

For most of this year, the coronavirus outbreak has continued to upend the world we live in. It has shaken our foundations to the core, displayed the fragility of the modern world, and put countries and citizens to the test. What started out as an invisible enemy, 5 million times smaller than a human, has torn away our reality and forced us to accept a new unpredictable normal. From Serbia, we watched carefully as the virus moved across continents and as leaders around the world struggled to… Read More

Public procurement as the source of resources to cope with future socio-economic crisis

Most experts are predicting that COVID-19 pandemic will not only cause hundreds of thousands of deaths, but also lead to deep socio-economic crises, with declining economic performance and millions of people in new needs for help. The domestic mobilisation of resources seems to be the most effective tool to cope with decreased revenues and increased expenditure needs in the coming period. According to unofficial estimates, in less developed countries better functioning of the national public… Read More

5 YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE RESEARCH: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

The Bureaucracy Lab, part of the World Bank, has been researching public and civil services across the globe, for the past five years. We use micro-data on the characteristics of public officials and their organizations to inform and improve the public sector. Too often, we think, reforms and changes are not based on hard data. We seek to change that, by using rigorous survey data, micro-data (at the individual level), and field experiments (RCTs). Here are some of the things we have asked… Read More

Covid-19 budgeting for SDGs note Postscript

The Budgeting for SDGs Note was written, when we could not know how extraordinary important, probably more than ever, both the achievement of SDGs and the budgeting for this achievement would soon become. For the governments, the pandemics suddenly means decreased budget revenues and increased budget expenditures. For the citizens, it might mean life or death, i.e. drastic changes in access to health, jobs, education, welfare, security and numerous other public services.  Governments are… Read More

The importance of subnational governments

In most countries around the world, subnational governments (SNGs) are on the front lines in implementing programs to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The subnational governments are the primary level of government responsible for delivering education, clean water, sanitation, basic health care, sustainable cities, basic infrastructure and many other aspects of the SDGs. Across the world, SNGs are responsible for ensuring their population’s public health, safety, and social… Read More

Africa, SDG budgeting and Covid-19: to suspend the ongoing reforms is not the best decision

Prior to Covid-19, the SDGs were gaining traction among African governments as a framework to focus policy on inclusion, equity, economic growth, and sustainability. Some African countries have presented their progress reports on the SDGs in Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). From 2016-2020, the African Group has conducted or planned for 2020 44 VNRs. Then came the current crisis causing a shift in the focus of policymaking from the SDG long-term agenda to the Covid-19 short term emergency.  … Read More

Post-conflict environments and Covid-19

The establishment of a viable public administration is a key part of State-building in the aftermath of conflict and of supporting long-term peacebuilding. In previous sessions CEPA has discussed issues facing many governments and groups who exist within a precarious state of post-conflict where threats of insecurity and violence and legacies of injustice and mistrust make government extremely difficult. To these issues we can now add Covid-19 and the potentially devastating effects on already… Read More

COVID-19 Makes Effective Governance for Sustainable Development More Urgent Than Ever

The full realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends on a common understanding of the basic principles of effective governance for sustainable development. Adherence to these tenets of governance underpins progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the manner in which we deal with the global COVID-19 pandemic.   Achieving SDG 16 would reduce the chances that future situations turn into crises, and when such crises do occur, that… Read More

Public-Sector Workforce of the Future: Observation Drawn from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated over the past months the crucial need on the part of governments to accelerate innovative breakthroughs and digitalisation to respond to the crisis, it has also revealed the vital importance of the public-sector workforce in essential fields. In all countries, this pandemic has brought back into the limelight the public-sector personnel that remain indispensable to save lives and provide basic services to the confined population, i.e. nurses and… Read More

How could COVID-19 shape institutional reforms and creation of a public-sector workforce of the…

On 13 May 2020, the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) starts its 19th session with a virtual meeting that combines two topical agenda items: Promoting effective governance and institutional reform to accelerate delivery of the SDGs [item 4], and Government and public sector workforce of the future [item 7]. Both themes are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and action on them will play a key role in the recovery.  What lessons can be drawn with respect to building… Read More

Budgeting for the Sustainable Development Goals

As government budgets significantly influence people’s lives and well-being while also providing opportunities to address societies’ most pressing needs, transparent, inclusive and credible budgets become key policy objectives. Moreover, the achievement of the SDGs depends on the ability of governments to execute budgets as intended and in line with national development objectives and needs. That said, opaque budget-making practices and unbalanced budget compositions, with underspending in… Read More

Public administration, state-building and peacebuilding in post-conflict situations

There is a large and growing gap in levels of development between countries that have experienced conflict and those that have not. Conflicts reduce GDP by an average of 2 per cent per year and affected populations are less likely to be educated, have access to basic services and enjoy sustainable livelihoods. The 10 countries with lowest scores for maternal mortality and gender-based exclusion and violence are all conflict-affected2.    The importance of effective public administration in… Read More