EXPERT MEETING ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE CONCLUDES

Press Release
DEV/2162

EXPERT MEETING ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE CONCLUDES

NEW YORK, 5 May (DDSMS) -- Thirty-nine public administration experts from developing and developed countries and those with economies in transition set out recommendations for promoting sound governance, at the thirteenth Meeting of Experts on the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance, which met at Headquarters from 27 May to 4 June.

Under the overall theme of redesigning the State for socio-economic development and change, the experts formulated recommendations which addressed professionalism and ethical values of the public service, social development, private sector development, accountability of financial management, and the United Nations functions in strengthening public administration.

The meeting was opened by Jin Yongjian, former United Nations Under- Secretary-General for Development Support and Management Services, who emphasized that strong markets and strong States were "truly complementary and necessary conditions for progress and prosperity". However, without appropriate structures and socially sensitive policies, markets could degenerate into the instrumentalities of social exclusion, corruption, abuse and exploitation.

The need to redesign the State emerged as a recurring theme of the meeting. Experts emphasized the overarching need for democracy, transparency and accountability in all public and private, national and international institutions. Plenary and group sessions also stressed the advantages of "building social capital". It was agreed that returns on investments in human resources were frequently much higher than those on "physical capital". That made a healthy, educated and democratic citizenry the most important factor in economic development.

A State which promoted social justice and ensured universal access to quality services and productive assets could not be passive or reduced to a minimal role, the experts said. On the contrary, a strong, proactive State was necessary, one that intervened strategically but did not involve "big government". All experts agreed on the need for high ethical values in public administration and civil service. Corruption violated public trust, vitiated the purpose of public policy, helped wasted scarce financial resources and undermined the credibility and legitimacy of government.

The experts addressed the facilitating role of the State in private sector development, endorsing the view that the creation of conditions for sustainable economic growth was necessary to attract investments and to make beneficial use of private resources. There was a consensus on the need for government policies that ensured price stability, fiscal responsibility, economic openness, competition on a level playing field, and safety nets for the social impacts of economic restructuring, as well as low-rate, broad-based and neutral taxation.

They considered that such policies must also ensure public-private collaboration in the promotion of business and access to credit, information and technology, along with adequate human resources and physical infrastructure, and a clear, consistent and enforceable set of laws protecting property and contracts. They agreed that monetary and fiscal policy should provide a stable and predictable climate for investments.

The experts' recommendations for the United Nations 1998-1999 work programme underlined that the Organization should continue to play a major role in assisting governments to develop appropriate public sector policies. The information clearing-house for the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance should disseminate cutting-edge information in the field of public administration and finance, and provide advisory services and technical assistance to Member States. The facility, to be managed by the United Nations Division for Governance, Public Administration and Finance, should make use of such information technologies and resources as the Internet and the World Wide Web.

A pilot project -- the first international on-line meeting on the theme, "Weakened systems of public financial management: Solution for enhancing transparency and accountability" -- would run from 23 to 30 June.

In closing remarks on 4 June, Under-Secretary-General Nitin Desai, who heads the consolidated Secretariat activities in the economic and social fields, said he anticipated advantages to accrue from integrating United Nations development policies with the specific requirements of public administration systems. In particular, the implementation of development imperatives adopted by Member States at recent major conferences would have to be translated into concrete government actions. Those included public-sector objectives on sustainable development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), human rights (Vienna, 1993), population policies (Cairo, 1994), social development (Copenhagen, 1995), promoting the status of women (Beijing, 1995), and human settlements and cities (Istanbul, 1996).

The results and recommendations of the Meeting of Experts are contained in a comprehensive report of eight chapters. They address, specifically: (1) the group's mandates and framework; (2) promoting an enabling environment for sound governance; (3) enhancing the professionalism, ethical values and

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image of the public service; (4) redesigning the State for social development; (5) creating an enabling environment for private-sector development; (6) strengthening governmental capacity for mobilization, management and accountability of financial resources; (7) overarching new concerns and global needs; and (8) a review of the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance.

Participants, Officers

The participants in the Expert Group Meeting, serving in their individual capacities, came from the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Also participating were representatives from United Nations programmes and agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

The officers for the meeting were: Imre Verebelyi (Hungary), Chairperson; Rais Abdul Karim (Malaysia), Robert Dodoo (Ghana) and Professor Gerard Timsit (France), Vice-Chairpersons; and Clyde Applewhite (Trinidad and Tobago), Rapporteur. The Fourteenth Expert Group Meeting is planned for the second quarter of 1998.

For more information, contact Guido Bertucci, Director of the Division for Governance, Public Administration and Finance (tel: 212/963-5859 or 963- 8410, fax: 212/963-2916); or Susanne Tinkl, Development and Human Rights Section, Department of Public Information (tel: 212/963-2233, fax: 212/963- 1186, e-mail: vasic@un.org).

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