NEED TO DEVELOP PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES RESPONSIVE TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL NEEDS OF CITIZENS EMPHASIZED IN ASSEMBLY
Press Release
GA/9058
NEED TO DEVELOP PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES RESPONSIVE TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL NEEDS OF CITIZENS EMPHASIZED IN ASSEMBLY
19960415 The need to develop public administrative structures that are responsive to the economic and social needs of citizens was among the themes stressed this afternoon, as the General Assembly continued its consideration of the role of public administration in development. The one-week resumed session represents the first time the Assembly has met specifically to consider that issue.During this afternoon's meeting, high-ranking officials from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Africa informed the Assembly of measures being taken by their governments to reform the public service and administration in the popular interest.
Poland's Secretary of State, Grzegorz Rydlewski, said his country had been developing legal, structural and functional measures to build an effective public administration that could implement democratic reforms, while creating conditions for well-balanced development. The unifying element of United Nations public administration ideas should be to strengthen openness, transparency, honesty and efficiency, while providing citizens with adequate information about public affairs.
The Director of Uruguay's National Civil Service stressed that reform was not synonymous with privatization. Reform should aim at increased efficiency and less bureaucracy, "with more muscles and less fat". The key to State reform lay in a new perception of the relationship between State and society.
The Director-General of Malaysia's Public Services Department said that with expansion came a need to improve the quality of the public sector. In his country, special institutions, such as the National Institute of Public Administration, had been set up, heralding a move towards administrative modernization and organizational efficiency. The objective of higher productivity and better quality services was still being pursued.
Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia, Hendrik Witbooi, said his country had inherited a dysfunctional public service devoted to the promotion of racial and ethnic stratification. His Government was committed to improved and
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enhanced public service. Accountability was central to efficiency in government, he said. The need for capacity-building could not be overemphasized.
The Permanent Representative of Austria stressed that public administration was of particular importance in post-conflict situations. It was important to recognize the importance of a holistic approach to peace- keeping operations, including civil components. The resumed session should recognize the need to reshape governments to better respond to the increasing complexity of development questions in an increasingly interdependent world.
Statements were also made by the Director for International Cooperation at the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic; Deputy Finance Minister of Colombia; Under-Secretary at the Office of the Comptroller-General and Administrative Development of Mexico; and the Permanent Representatives of Ghana and Jamaica.
The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 16 April, to continue its resumed session on the role of public administration in development.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this afternoon to continue its consideration of the role of public administration in development, particularly in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The current resumed session represents the first time the Assembly has met specifically to consider that issue. (For background information, see Press Release GA/9056, of 12 April.)
Statements
RUBEN CORREAS FREITAS, Director of the National Civil Service of Uruguay, said that it was necessary to ask whether the debate should focus on the reform of public administration, the reform of the State or the reform of society. Contemporary doctrine indicated that the fundamental question today was the reform of the State, specifically its organization and structure and the manner in which it functioned, not in an effort to "destroy" the State or State intervention, but rather to build a new State to redress social imbalances, protect human rights and the environment, and combat critical poverty.
State reform was not synonymous with privatization, he said. State reform should strive to achieve increased efficiency, less bureaucracy, something "with more muscles and less fat". The key to State reform lay in this new perception of the relationship between State and society. For Uruguay, the reform of the State was imperative; economic development and social justice depended on it. Without those two elements, the consolidation of democracy as a political system was unthinkable.
FRANTISEK PAULINY, Director for International Cooperation at the Interior Ministry of the Slovak Republic, read out a statement by Interior Minister L'udovit Hudek. He said that, in his country, the first significant reform steps in public service were made in 1990. Since then, municipalities had become the basic regional units and had acquired legal status, with elected bodies and self-government. Last month, the Government and National Council passed a new law on regional and administrative structures, by which the district would become the basic units of the State administration. The most pressing tasks associated with the reform of the public service was to be completed by the end of May.
After 1996, the focus would be on local self-government bodies, he said. Such bodies represented a first point of contact. The functioning of local public service bodies depended on the level of knowledge, professional capacity and activities of their staff. The Slovak Republic, therefore, paid attention to education and training in public service, as well as on the implementation of information technologies. Raising the professional level of State administration workers and improving the use of information technologies formed part of a comprehensive system of reform.
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Reform must also provide for a stable legal environment, clear legal formulations, and good conditions for implementation of the laws, he said. Sufficient financial means and their efficient use was also important. In addition, mass media represented a decisive criterion in the implementation of public service reform. In a democratic society, public service had a basic obligation to inform citizens on measures being advanced, so the citizens might take part in making decisions on development issues.
SANTIAGO HERRERA, Deputy Finance Minister of Colombia, said the closed, protectionist, interventionist and centralist model of government adopted by Colombia had not worked and shown profound political, economic and social limitations. The transformation of Colombia included the internationalization of its economy. Reforms were carried out in different areas, such as finances, customs, international trade, taxation and transport. The strengthening of public institutions, such as an autonomous central bank, managed to reduce inflation substantially. The new Constitution authorized the Colombian Government to introduce more general reforms, such as decentralization and other structural reforms. Colombia, he said, was now developing a programme with two main focuses: an integral and dynamic administration with the participation of Colombia's citizens; and institutional capability of government institutions. The modernization of the State was not only possible but urgent for the country's progress and development.
MAZLAN AHMAD, Director-General of the Public Services Department of Malaysia, said in 1957 the nascent Malaysian civil service was to serve a multiracial, multi-religious, developing and democratic country. The primary concern of Malaysian public administration policies was to ensure the maintenance of law and order, political stability and the establishment of democratic process of government. In the 1960s, emphasis was placed on development administration and institution building, which meant the introduction of information-based and implementation-conscious "Red Book System", to monitor and coordinate development projects at all levels. That phase was followed, in the 1970s, by the new economic policy, which focused on distributive social justice through an expansion of the economy.
Along with the expansion, he said, came the need to improve the quality of the public sector; special institutions, including the National Institute of Public Administration, were set up, heralding the movement towards administrative modernization and organizational efficiency. The objective of higher productivity and better quality services was still being pursued.
The development programmes recommended by the Secretary-General for the developing countries imply a heavy outlay of funds, and it was critical that transparent financial control mechanisms were installed to ensure that the funds were channelled strictly for that purpose. Public administrators, while promoting development, should not be overzealous and compromise environmental
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standards. No country could pursue the important if the urgent, such as political stability and industrial peace, were not present.
GRZEGORZ RYDLEWSKI, Secretary of State of Poland, said his country had been developing legal, structural and functional measures to build an effective public administration. The aim was to create an administration that could implement democratic reforms, while creating conditions for well- balanced development. The unifying element of the United Nations public administration ideas should be to strengthen openness, transparency, honesty, efficiency and effectiveness, while aiming to provide citizens with adequate information about public affairs. Any government decision which might restrict citizens' initiative should be eliminated.
Drawing attention to a proposed programme which was currently being debated in Poland's Parliament, he said that programme was based on comprehensive reform of the administrative and economic centres of government; establishment of a modern civil service; and decentralization of public administration. In that process, account must be taken of the need to create a strong government centre focusing on development programmes; to clearly define decision-making powers within the administration; to improve the laws; and to harmonize Polish legislation with that of the European Union.
In addition to a reform of structures, the qualifications of administrative staff must be upgraded, he said. There must also be a redefinition of functions. While public administration systems must have adequate authority and responsibility, the administrative legal framework could not be too rigid. Only then could the administration be responsive to needs and to ongoing changes; only then could it contribute to social development.
HENDRIK WITBOOI, Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia, said his country was only six years old and, therefore, "our experience is only as old as that". Namibia inherited a public service which was constituted to promote racial and ethnic stratification; the administrative machinery was not representative of the population, and it was not focused on output; in short, it was dysfunctional. Since independence, the Government of Namibia had introduced a number of initiatives. Different offices, ministries and agencies based on the discriminatory apartheid system were integrated; others were created to perform functions which did not previously exist. The public service was created as a matter of urgency.
Namibia remained committed to an improved and enhanced public service, in which there was a common set of challenges, as noted at the March regional meeting hosted by Namibia. The meeting identified various constraints to public sector reform in Africa, and concluded that accountability was central to efficiency in government. "While there has been increased respect for the rule of law in many countries in recent years, the need to strengthen legal
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institutions throughout the continent still remains", he said, adding that the need for capacity-building could not be overemphasized.
ERNST SUCHARIPA (Austria) said the Assembly, at the current resumed session, should seize the opportunity to underline the universal character of questions concerning governance. Attention should focus on country-specific conditions. In his country, the main aims of public administration reform included tightening management structures, determining what areas could be cut back or abolished, and introducing cost accounting to improve cost- consciousness.
Recent conflicts had demonstrated the importance of public administration in post-conflict situations, he said. Post-conflict peace- building helped prevent a relapse into conflict. The United Nations played an important role in those efforts. The importance of a holistic approach to peace-keeping operations must be recognized. Such operations should include civil components.
The resumed session should promote the understanding which had emerged from the recent cycle of international conferences on development, he said. It should recognize the need to reshape governments to better respond to the increasing complexity of development questions in an increasingly interdependent world. Access of people to public services must be ensured.
JOSÉ OCTAVIO LOPEZ PRESA, Under-Secretary at the Office of the Comptroller-General and Administrative Development of Mexico, said Mexico was in favour of all reform procedures for public administration containing the following elements: citizen participation, decentralization, measurement and integral evaluation of public performance; professionalization of public civil service; and the improvement and simplification of its legal framework.
The current Government was carrying out reform of Mexican governmental structures based on those principles, he said. Achieving those ideals required cooperation between countries which could offer either resources or their own experiences. Mexico already went through the process of transforming its development programme and was currently undergoing a reform of its public administration; it was ready to share its experience.
JACK WILMOT (Ghana) said Ghana recognized the vital role of public administration in development, particularly its role in the effectiveness and sustainability of development. There was an urgent need for an agreed redefinition of the role of government, and Ghana agreed with the core functions of government given by the Group of Experts. "We share the important view that public administration is government in action, while development is seen as being the objective or purpose of all government action", he said.
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Ghana had initiated a major administrative reform, including a civil service reform undertaken with the support of the World Bank and bilateral donors. Objectives included labour rationalization; a new staff performance appraisal system; replacement of the "old, defective" salary structure, which had bred disparities and inequities; identification of excess labour and reduction of staff; and subsequent retraining and resettling of redeployed staff. The Government also began its privatization programme, providing support and incentives for the private sector. "Our Government believes that business is best left to businessmen", and the role of government was to create an enabling environment and let the private sector thrive as an engine of growth.
The Government of Ghana launched a new programme in 1994 to overcome previous weaknesses and the transfer, when necessary, of service delivery to the private sector, non-governmental organizations or communities. Ghana would like to receive increased technical assistance to develop the required skills in policy analyses, plan formulation, performance management systems, donor funding and data collection and analysis. He urged the continuation and intensification of the activities of the United Nations and other agencies in the area of public administration and development.
PATRICIA DURRANT (Jamaica) said the recommendations for national governments that emanated from the meeting of the Group of Experts at Headquarters were particularly useful since they spanned a wide range of areas. Jamaica had long recognized the importance of a well-organized career civil service and had, in recent years, undertaken a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening its system of public administration. For example, all ministries used programme budgeting; the financial reporting system had been rationalized; the accounting system was computerized; and the human resource management system had been strengthened.
Those and other initiatives had been undertaken so that Jamaica might compete more effectively in the changing global environment, she said. The Government of Jamaica believed that sound public administrative systems should rest on the concept of partnerships among relevant sectors. Towards that end, the Government had launched a social partnership -- government, private sector, trade unions, community and non-governmental organizations -- in which all sectors were expected to play an important role.
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