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  1. Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA)
  2. CEPA 4th Session
  3. Report and Summary
  4. Report and Summary

4th Session Report and Summary

The Committee of Experts on Public Administration held its fourth session at the United Nations in New York from 4 to 8 April 2005. 

Report
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Subtopics

Major recommendations/conclusions

Revitalizing public administration

The Secretariat to the United Nations should deepen its analytical, advisory and technical cooperation capacities to ensure that viable options of public administration practices are identified and that the pre-conditions for their successful adaptation are clearly set out, in support of the Millennium Development Goals.

The new challenge is one of finding how to work with acknowledged diverse models and traditions of organization and management of public affairs, and looking for successful policy options. This implies shared knowledge, public administration education and training, trans-border cooperation and support for international organizations.

Searching for a bottom-up approach and methodologies for developing foundations and principles of sound public administration

Member States should opt for bottom-up approaches, which ensure that citizens themselves have the last word on the underlying principles, foundations, quality and effectiveness of their own public administration, and which lead to the due recognition of the diversity of national management systems.

It is important to promote participation in public affairs and to find a sound method of assessing and alleviating the declining trust in government.

The Secretariat should prepare a questionnaire to elicit views from the recipients of public services on what constitutes a well-performing, efficient and quality oriented public administration. This questionnaire should be prepared with due attention to public service indicators that apply to achieving the MDGs.

Promoting and rewarding innovation and excellence for revitalizing public administration and service delivery

The United Nations Public Service Awards have been established to recognize and reward innovation, motivate an initiative-taking and selfless public service, and promote dissemination and replication of public administration knowledge and good practices.

The Secretariat should improve the process of granting awards and the content of the awards by:

  • decentralizing, or localizing the process of nomination, evaluation and verification of submissions to regional or national levels;

  • focusing on and encouraging partnerships, teamwork and participation;

  • becoming more cognizant of: situations of selflessness in the public service, significant risks taken by public servants, the strength and resilience required in certain circumstances which go above and beyond the call of duty, as well as the innovativeness or excellence of a particular public administration practice;

  • compiling case studies to share the practices with public administration professionals and national counterparts;

  • seeking a number of additional ways to enhance the publicity and visibility of the winning practices as well as the awards themselves.