UNITED NATIONS MEETING RECOMMENDS WIDE-RANGING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORMS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES IN TRANSITION
Press Release
DEV/2090
UNITED NATIONS MEETING RECOMMENDS WIDE-RANGING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORMS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES IN TRANSITION
19960126 (Received from a UN Information Officer.)BERLIN, 26 January -- With the adoption of practical recommendations in the areas of policy planning and management, legal and institutional changes, civil service reform and training, and resource mobilization and public expenditure management, a United Nations conference aimed at promoting administrative reforms in Central and Eastern Europe concluded its work here this afternoon.
Jointly organized and co-sponsored by the Department for Development Support and Management Services, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the German Foundation for International Development, the three-day "Regional Conference on the Role of Public Administration in Promoting Economic Reform" brought together senior government officials and public administration experts from Eastern, Central and Western European nations to exchange experiences and formulate proposals for public sector reforms in post-socialist countries.
The Berlin gathering was the first of four United Nations meetings in preparation for the resumed fiftieth session of the General Assembly, from 15 to 19 April, which will review the issue of public administration and development.
In the presentations and deliberations, modernizing and reforming the administrative system was viewed as an essential component of the transformation taking place in Eastern and Central Europe. Public administration reform was seen as essential for smoothing and facilitating the transition from a centrally planned to a free-market economy.
A particularly important element of this endeavour was the challenge of redefining the role of the State to redirect its direct involvement in the production of goods and services to the functions of developing, regulating and maintaining an enabling framework in which such goods and services could be produced more efficiently to the satisfaction of customers. This shift required considerable changes in State machinery. It was agreed that what was needed was not less government, but better and different government; that the respective areas of the State and non-State actors, including the private sector and non-governmental organizations, needed to be redefined and that
mechanisms for better interaction, interface and cooperation between them should be built; and that both better management and appropriate legislative frameworks were needed.
Recommendations Adopted
The meeting endorsed a number of recommendations on four categories of issues -- policy planning and management; legal and institutional changes; civil service reform; and public finance. Recommendations for improving the linkage between policy and action included better training of civil servants, particularly through United Nations programmes enlisting experts from other countries, as a way of offsetting the ongoing brain-drain from the public to the private sector, as well as the involvement of United Nations experts in designing public relations strategies.
Regarding requirements for establishing workable legal systems in post- socialist States, the general view was that a functioning market economy required a strong government geared towards supporting the legal and regulatory framework. A proper regulatory framework was seen as indispensable for maintaining a good investment climate, as well as valuable in forecasting and planning in both the public and private sectors. The rule of law was seen as essential for both political democracy and the enforceability of contracts.
In connection with lawmaking, the Conference recommended United Nations support for exchanges of national experience among countries in transition, as well as for cooperation among experts in fostering economic reform.
On the topic of resource mobilization and public expenditure management, it was noted that while most transitional-economy countries have enacted laws covering such areas as new taxes, property rights, patents, investment promotion and competition, the development of structures for their enforcement is lagging. In some cases, it was observed, civil servants -- particularly where they were poorly paid in an atmosphere of financial crisis -- were resisting reform. Their morale was down and the level of corruption was up. Another problem was that foreign direct investment -- the major expected source of external resources -- had been disappointingly low in most of the countries concerned. In addressing these concerns, the Conference recommended, among others, that governments promote exports by forming trade information centres along the lines of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) "Trade Points", that would compile information on overseas markets and standards.
Participation
Participants included senior government officials and representatives of chambers of commerce, private-sector associations, academia and non- governmental organizations from Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Belarus, Estonia,
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Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Ukraine. Senior public administration experts from France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States also attended. The UNDP, the World Bank, the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) were also represented.
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