Note to Correspondents

COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, 22 - 26 JULY,

HEADQUARTERS, CONFERENCE ROOM 1

The first meeting of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration will take place from 22 to 26 July 2002 in Conference Room 1 of the United Nations Secretariat.  Established by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 2001/45 of 20 December 2001, and serviced by the Division for Public Economics  and Public Administration of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DPEPA/DESA), the Committee will be responsible for supporting the work of the Economic and Social Council concerning the promotion and development of public administration and governance among Member States.  The Committee is comprised of 24 members, including high-level governmental officials and well known experts in the interrelated fields of public economics, public administration, and public finance.

Efficient, effective and transparent public administration has a pivotal role to play in the implementation of the key objectives of the United Nations Millennium Declaration.  The development goals proclaimed in the Declaration cannot be implemented unless developing countries reinforce their democratic governance institutions; improve public sector human resources capacities; increase the efficiency and effectiveness of resource mobilization and financial administration; and foster information technology capacity-building in the public sector.  It is increasingly being recognized that most of the problems that developing countries and countries with economies in transition face today are also the result of State-capacity deficit, weak democratic institutions, and an inefficient and poorly run public administration.  Governance systems and institutions in many developing nations are inadequate, and in countries that have emerged from violent conflict, State-capacity deficit is even more acute.

In response to the goals of the Declaration, the Committee will review critical issues concerning capacity-building in the areas of policy development, institution strengthening, human resources development, financial resources management, and application of information technology to the public sector, and will advise the Council on new trends and strategies to address these issues.

For more information on the Committee, please visit the UNPAN Web site at:

http://www.unpan.org/conf_groupexperts.asp, or contact Guido Bertucci, Director, DPEPA/DESA, telephone (212) 963-5761; e-mail: bertucci@un.org.

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