SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OPENS FORTY-SECOND SESSION, WITH FOCUS ON IMPROVING PUBLIC SERVICES
| Press Release SOC/4637 |
Commission for Social Development
Forty-second Session
2nd & 3rd Meetings* (AM & PM)
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OPENS FORTY-SECOND SESSION,
WITH FOCUS ON IMPROVING PUBLIC SERVICES
Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Says Effective Delivery
Of Such Services Necessary for Equality, Indispensable for Economic Development
The forty-second session of the Commission on Social Development opened today with top United Nations officials, delegations, and public policy experts highlighting social justice, good governance, enhanced international cooperation and debt restructuring among the key ways in which State and local agencies could improve and sustain delivery of public services.
As the international community gears up for the tenth anniversary of the 1995 Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development -- where governments pledged to confront profound social challenges and to place people at the centre of development -- Jose Antonio Ocampo, Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs reminded the Commission that improving public sector effectiveness should be seen as a genuine effort to ensure that all people and societies benefited from major social objectives, notably social justice and participation.
“Improving the sector’s effectiveness should also be seen as the locus of policy making, where efforts to integrate social and economic objectives and measures must be truly realized”, he said. Integration in that instance did not mean the usual subordination of social and economic considerations, but rather striving to ensure broad commitment to the reduction of poverty, elimination of extreme poverty and the enhancement of equity. The ultimate objective was the overall improvement in people’s lives, particularly of the poor and weak he said, urging the Commission to remember that effective delivery of public services was not only necessary for equality, but also an indispensable condition for economic development.
When delegations took the floor to discuss the session’s main theme, they expressed a variety of concerns, but all agreed that achievement of significant advances in public sector effectiveness was crucial to the progress of social development, and that efforts to improve the sector had to go hand in hand with efforts to achieve good governance within public bodies and sustainable development in society at large. Effective public governance in developing countries must be a key component of policies and reforms for poverty reduction, equality, including gender equality, and the well-being of children, as well as for democratization and global security.
Delegations from developing and least developed countries stressed that while governments were indeed supposed to provide services, including health care, food security and infrastructure enhancement, it was clear that poor countries lacked the resources to effectively meet the social needs of their populations. With that in mind, they said there was a need for partnerships between governments and the private sector and non-governmental organizations in order to enhance the delivery of social services. Others said that there would be no growth and development if the rich countries did not open their markets, change their policies regarding subsidies and help in the resolution of external debt.
Several civil society groups offered their unique views on social development and the need to improve public sector effectiveness. They highlighted the human-centred approach and urged the Commission to hear in their statements the voices of many of the world’s vulnerable people who were often overlooked when intergovernmental organizations and financial institutions met to set out policy reforms. The situations of immigrants and migrant workers, persons suffering from HIV/AIDS, and women and children who were the tragic victims of traffickers were all highlighted as deserving of particularly urgent international attention.
During a panel discussion, several public policy experts addressed the Commission highlighting good governance reform, enhanced services and leadership as key to improving public sector effectiveness. They also drew attention to alternatives to privatization, namely, the emerging trend of resorting to workers cooperatives to ensure the provision of some public services. An expert also noted that, while the preferred model for public sector work was based on governance, the goal should really be transformation -- the sector’s effectiveness should be measured by the social protections it was able to provide to marginalized segments of society.
At the top of the meeting, the Commission elected its three vice-chairpersons: Mwelwa C. Musambachuime (Zambia), Prayono Atiyanto (Indonesia) and Carlos Enrique Garcia Gonzalez (El Salvador). Mr. Garcia Gonzalez will also serve as Rapporteur. The panel’s current Chair, Jean-Jacques Elmiger (Switzerland), along with Vice-Presidents Ivana Grollova (CzechRepublic) and Darmansjah Djumala (Indonesia), were elected last February.
The Commission also approved its provisional agenda and draft programme of work for this session, which is scheduled to conclude next Friday, 13 February.
Johan Scholvinck, Director, Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the reports before the Commission, including the Secretary-General’s report on the priority theme, improving public sector effectiveness. That report examined five means currently being considered to improve public sector effectiveness, including: levels and methods of financing; methods of delivery; privatization; social dialogue and participation; and service-oriented public officials.
Addressing the Commission during its general discussion were the representatives of Ireland (speaking on behalf of the European Union), Qatar (speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Cuba, Zambia, Argentina, Peru and Chile.
Israel’s Civil Service Commissioner also spoke, as did the representatives of Franciscans International, ATD Fourth World, International Federation of Social Workers, and the International Council on Social Welfare.
Making presentations at this afternoon’s panel discussion were Mary Jo Bane, Professor of Public Policy and Management, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, United States; Peter Humphreys, Director of Research, Irish National Institute of Public Administration; and Uma Devi Sambasivan, Professor, Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Bergen, Norway.
Representatives from Ireland (on behalf of the European Union), Jamaica, Chile and Zambia participated in the interactive dialogue that followed.
The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Thursday, 5 February, to continue its general discussion on follow-up to the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development: improving public sector effectiveness.
Background
The Commission for Social Development met this morning to begin its forty-second session. [For background information on the session, see Press Release SOC/4636 of 3 February 2004.]
Introduction of Reports
JOHAN SCHÖLVINCK, Director, Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the Secretary-General’s reports, including the report on the priority theme, improving public sector effectiveness. The subject “improving public sector effectiveness” sent a somewhat mixed message. On the positive side, it clearly indicated that the existence of the public sector was not in question and that getting rid of bureaucracy was not a serious option. Also on the positive side was the notion of “improving”. The public sector was not seen as beyond repair. The word “effectiveness”, however, injected a negative connotation, implying that it lacked effectiveness.
The report stated that since the issue of economic and social development in developing countries was central to the United Nations mandate, the role of the public sector continued to be one of the important items on its agenda, he said. As a result, debates were increasingly about ways and means to improve the effectiveness of public institutions and public activities, and to increase their contribution to the realization of national and international goals. The report examined five means currently being considered to improve public sector effectiveness, including: levels and methods of financing; methods of delivery; privatization; social dialogue and participation; and service-oriented public officials.
Concluding, he recalled his insistence on the need to overcome the artificial divide in the United Nations treatment of social and economic issues. In that regard, he was encouraged that the General Assembly had adopted a resolution last fall in which it emphasized the importance of integrating economic and social policies in promoting human resources development and enhancing the process of development.
Statements
RICHARD RYAN (Ireland), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said the achievement of significant advances in public sector effectiveness was crucial to the progress of social development. There was an obvious continuum between the public and the private sector, as contractual relationships had progressively been put in place among public authorities, the private business sector and the non-governmental and non-profit sector. Efforts to improve public sector effectiveness had to go hand in hand with efforts to achieve good governance within public bodies and sustainable development in society at large. Effective public governance in developing countries must be a key component of policies and reforms for poverty reduction, equality, including gender equality, and the well-being of children, as well as for democratization and global security.
The achievement of public sector effectiveness was critical, due to its impact on the delivery of social services and its potential for promoting poverty reduction, and as a tool for addressing all inequalities, he said. Efforts to improve public sector effectiveness should be constantly monitored and assessed to ensure progress and quality services. Given the importance of public sector effectiveness, significant shifts in governmental policy in the past 20 years were not surprising. Across the European Union, concerns about the effective functioning of the public sector had led to calls for reform through: reinventing and re-engineering government, using the power of the entrepreneurial process and the force of the free markets; new public management to instil greater management culture in public agencies and enterprises; and e-government, or the greater use of information and communication technology. Some of the underlying drivers of public sector reform included the need to control governmental expenditure, the need to improve the quality of services, and calls for new forms of governance that were more responsive and flexible.
Public sector reform efforts had highlighted strategies to improve the performance of public institutions, guarantee widespread public access and ensure minimum standards for services, he said. Good governance had become an essential ingredient of development cooperation and was now an integral part of national poverty reduction strategies and plans. While different national approaches had been adopted, a number of common themes could be identified, including rationalization and restructuring to ensure a unified, integrated and leaner public service; institution building and management reform to promote greater transparency; the promotion of internal democracy and external accountability; and improved employment conditions and labour relations.
He said the role of public financial management was integral to effective public sector reform, through fiscal discipline, setting priorities and delivering value for money. Public sector reform should, therefore, include improvements in public financial management and accountability. Reform also needed to be implemented in a realistic manner, so as to avoid reform overload. Public bodies should set clear objectives. The promotion of dialogue through democratization, both in internal structures of power and in relations with external stakeholders, was also needed. Good governance was an essential ingredient of effective development cooperation. Without good governance, the ability of public sector bodies to improve the standard of living of all people living in poverty, ensure their access to public services and guarantee their rights and security was greatly inhibited.
ABDULLA EID SALMAN AL-SULAITI (Qatar), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said that at a time when developing countries were making significant strides -– despite enormous constraints -- to achieve economic and social reforms, particularly in the public sector, it was up to developed nations to meet those efforts in kind, by committing to their own obligations towards development. Indeed, based on the principles of solidarity, partnership and shared but differentiated responsibility, the developed countries, should fully contribute to those efforts through increasing official development assistance (ODA), the reduction of foreign debt, the promotion of foreign direct investment in developing countries and support to United Nations funds to combat major pandemics, such as HIV/AIDS.
He went on to say that, during a time of economic prosperity and technological advances, poverty remained one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. All knew the grim statistics and myriad complexities of that scourge, which sadly affected one fourth of the world’s population in one way or another. In that context, the public sector played a vital role in setting out national policies for social development, including poverty eradication. The “Group of 77” supported the Secretary-General’s general recommendations on the matter, but also recognized the importance of strengthening international cooperation, good governance at all levels, transparency and accountability in improving the public sector.
The Group, he said, considered deepening poverty the most pervasive violation of human rights. Mounting an effective and meaningful campaign against the scourge required the utmost attention, and initiatives to that end should be placed at the centre of national strategies and international cooperative efforts. He added that efforts to ensure successful national social policies needed to be supported by a conducive, enabling international environment. Indeed, the entire international community needed to implement concerted polices so that worldwide development goals and targets could be met. To that end, international financial institutions should recognize the importance of the public sector when making recommendations related to development and poverty eradication.
The challenges posed by globalization had a profound impact on the ability of developing countries to respond to the social needs of their populations. The obstacles that prevented smaller countries from participating in the global economy translated into increased poverty and marginalization, which left fewer resources for social programmes. Therefore, it was crucial for developing countries to be able to effectively address such problems as external debt. It was, likewise, essential for developed countries to fulfil their commitments to that end. And while the main responsibility for designing and implementing structural adjustment programmes fell to national governments of developing countries, the sustainability of such programmes required a favourable international environment, sufficient external finance and other effective measures by the wider international community.
Finally, he said the critical situation in which many older persons found themselves today throughout the developing world required urgent attention, in order to ensure the promotion and protection of their civil, political economic and social rights. He called on the development community to intensify international cooperation to ensure the effective and full implementation of the Madrid Plan of Action.
SHMUEL HOLLANDER, Israel’s Civil Service Commissioner, said that the basic principle in improving public sector effectiveness was understanding that the duty of public employees was to serve the community; to serve, not to rule, indeed, truly a “civil servant”. Following that was good governance. Outlining his country’s activities in that area, he said public servants were subject to a code of good behaviour and ethics, which should encompass restrictions on political activities, restrictions on fundraising and private work, as well as limitations after retirement. Israel handled those issues under its Civil Service Discipline Law, he added.
Along with highlighting Israel’s efforts to ensure that the best civil servants were chosen for that important sector, he noted that since 1993 activities had been carried out to strengthen awareness of quality management requirements for workers and managers in the public service sector. Israel also aimed to develop a system that would delegate more power and authority to ministries and agencies, while it also espoused the values of equal opportunity in civil service employment and actively sought to designate positions for women, minorities and disabled persons.
He went on to briefly draw attention to recent reforms initiated by Israel’s Finance Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, which called for shrinking the public sector and expanding private industry. Over time, those reforms would seek to cut government expenditure and reduce public sector wages. Israel also had succeeded in accomplishing a comprehensive reform to save pension funds. He said the end result of all those changes, and other changes, would soon lead to a better and more efficient civil service. The trend in Israel’s economy had changed dramatically and after two years of recession, the country was now in the process of economic growth.
ORLANDO REQUEIJO GUAL (Cuba) said the public sector accomplished a great variety of functions and operated within a wide number of fields. The public sector constituted a key element in the development of countries, particularly developing nations facing serious difficulties due to the current unjust economic, political and social order. The Commission’s analysis on how to improve the public sector was more than relevant, given the fact that the public sector in some third world countries was dismantled. Nobody doubted the unquestionable role and the responsibility that States should exercise to guarantee social services. Without comprehensive and effective international cooperation, however, it would be impossible to achieve such an objective.
Collaboration in establishing national development strategies was not enough, he said. A better economic atmosphere was indispensable, so that developing countries could benefit from an international trade system with clear, just and equitable rules. External debt should be cancelled. Cuba had put into practice successful social development strategies under the basis of equity and social justice principles. Numerous initiatives to improve social development policy were being carried out, especially benefiting children, the disabled and the elderly. In 2004, the Government planned to devote some 59 per cent of the national budget to areas such as education, public health care, social security and assistance and housing and community services, despite suffering from the United States’ more than 40 year economic blockade.
International cooperation was a key element to the improvement of global social conditions, he said. The improvement of public sector effectiveness in third world nations required the understanding of priorities and the adequate implementation of national polices. At the same time, however, demands that developing countries make cuts in their public sector services should end.
MWELWA C. MUSAMBACHIME (Zambia) said that improving public sector effectiveness was essential for the promotion of social development, social justice and the well-being of all people and societies, particularly in the fields of health, education, welfare, housing and other community-related affairs. Zambia believed that the primary responsibility for providing those services rested with home governments, and would stress that that was the basis on which most politicians were usually elected.
But, while governments were indeed supposed to provide those and other services, including food security, infrastructure enhancement, and transportation and communications requirements, it was clear that developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, lacked both human and financial resources to effectively meet the social needs of their populations. With that in mind, there was a need for partnerships between governments and the private sector and non-governmental organizations in order to enhance the delivery of social services. Other issues such as accessibility, quality and productivity of such services could also be addressed by effective partnerships.
It was crucial to address the issue of adequate financing for social service sectors, he continued. While taxation remained the main source of public revenues, in practice that method had proved difficult to maintain in developing countries where unemployment was high, foreign investment was low and external debt was often unmanageable. Under such circumstances, the tax base was too narrow to generate enough funds to sustain public expenditures, let alone meet broader social service needs. There was a need, therefore, to explore all possible sources of finance to help identify the best way to deliver social services in developing countries. Although privatization brought in much-needed capital, it also had its disadvantages.
By example, he said that private schools and clinics provided excellent services, but high fees placed them beyond the reach of poor communities. He reiterated that the Government remained the primary provider of social services and he appealed to the international community to provide more technical assistance to developing countries, particularly least developed countries like his own, and to increase official development assistance.
NORBERTO IVANCICH (Argentina) said Argentina’s economy had suffered a loss of some 23 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) since the middle of 1998. Unemployment had risen from 12.4 per cent in October 1998 to 21.5 per cent in May 2002. In greater Buenos Aires, some 25.5 per cent lived under the poverty level. In 2003, Argentina’s Government had given priority to the reduction of poverty and unemployment, the strengthening of human capital and the promotion of a sustainable social development. The development of a decent employment policy that would accompany the economic growth implied not only the need to make it the centre of a growth model, but also its installation as an axis of economic and social policies.
There would be no growth and development if the rich countries did not open their markets, change their policies regarding subsidies and help in the resolution of external debt, he said. To redefine policies, a new model for the State must be designed. Argentina’s Government had stipulated three main points as part of its programme to modernize the public administration, namely transparency, strengthening the State’s responsibility regarding social services and the improvement of institutional qualities. In that regard, the introduction of a system of evaluation would be necessary. To generate a credible and responsible State, the policies and institutional capacity of the State must be strengthened.
MARCO BALAREZO (Peru) said the main goal of social development was improving the standard of living for all. The human being must be placed at the core of government policies and services. He agreed with most of the points made in the Secretary-General’s report. Modernizing the State was a key objective of Peru’s Government. Decentralization was one of the most important aspects of that process. Improving public sector effectiveness included the need to combat corruption. Effectiveness in the public sector would be difficult by any recipe if corruption were not directly combated. He also stressed the need to move from good governance to the concept of democratic governance. That concept was much clearer, as it incorporated elements of legitimacy and the pooling of government efforts to overcome poverty.
He stressed the need for immediate action for equal opportunities for peoples with disabilities. The commitment to people with disabilities should be addressed from a human rights standpoint and the preparation of an international convention would improve the situation. Regarding ageing, he noted that in the next 20 years the ageing population would double in Peru. The Government had set up a multisectoral commission to evaluate its national plan for older persons. At present, older persons were considered a high-risk social group in Peru. Also, governments must take measures to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of migrants, including adequate access to social services. He hailed the entry into force of the convention on immigration, which Peru hoped to accede to shortly. The Commission must tackle the issue of migration in greater depth and with greater continuity.
JOSE ANTONIO OCAMPO, Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that while global social issues had changed dramatically since Copenhagen, the problems of today were no less serious than those the international community had tackled in 1995. The Commission was in a unique position to address complex social issues in a global context, and should, therefore, stimulate and strengthen international cooperation on such issues as the persistence of poverty, widening gaps in economies and access to services, and the problems of social cohesion and social integration. The Commission was also one of the intergovernmental bodies that had the ability, if not the duty, to promote the coherence of the links between economic and social policies.
Turning to the priority theme of this year’s session, “Improving public sector effectiveness”, he said all efforts to that end should be seen within the framework of implementing major international objectives and goals, particularly those that would ensure social justice and participation. Improving the sector’s effectiveness should also be seen as the locus of policy-making, where efforts to integrate social and economic objectives and measures must be truly realized. Integration in this instance did not mean the usual subordination of social and economic considerations, he said. Rather, it meant striving to ensure broad commitment to the reduction of poverty, elimination of extreme poverty and the enhancement of equity, all of which required efforts to reconcile economic growth, employment generation and active social policy-making initiatives. Integrating social objectives into economic policy-making was key to achieving inclusive development, he added.
Public sector activities, notably the delivery of public social services, should be geared towards reaching every individual in a given society, including the poor and weak, he continued. “One should never lose sight of this when seeking to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of such services”, he said, urging the Commission to also remember that effective delivery of public services was not only necessary for equality, equity and strengthening the social fabric, but also an indispensable condition for economic development. Unfortunately, for many, the provision of social services was regarded as a “luxury” or expenditure, rather than as an investment in the human condition.
He said the ultimate objective of improving public sector effectiveness was the overall improvement in people’s lives. A well-functioning public sector would play an important role in attaining the goals and objectives set out in the major United Nations meetings and conferences and the Millennium Declaration. Economic growth would not be enough, he said, stressing that it was the content of that growth which was important. Here, the public sector would have an important role to play. He went on to say that the respective roles and responsibilities of the public and private sectors in delivery of social services needed to be reviewed. Further, improvement of the public sector was not only a national task, but an obligation. It also required strengthening international cooperation, through, among other things, cooperation among countries, regions and United Nations agencies and funds.
After briefly touching on the importance of the Commission’s work on such social issues as the family and disabled persons, he said ensuring the full implementation of the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing was also vital to the body’s work. The time had come to start translating the commitments made at Madrid into action, he said, stressing that it was also important to decide on a format for the review of the work achieved in the area of ageing since that important meeting. Madrid had emphasized that ageing was a silent revolution, with monumental consequences that would emerge over decades. It was up to the Commission, therefore, to break that silence.
CRISTIÁN MAQUIEIRA (Chile) said challenges facing developing countries included the effects of the technological revolution, the growth of market economies and institutional decline. Those challenges required the strengthening of the State for the common good of all. Political reform to consolidate the rule of law was essential and the role of civil society must be considered a legitimate right. The establishment of effective institutions was the first step in that regard. It was also essential to further build on respect for law. The link between the provision of quality services and the nature of the modern State must be addressed. Part of the reform process was internal. State officials required training and the resources available to them must be enhanced.
Another relevant issue, he said, was the extent to which the State listened to the people and encouraged citizen participation. That included enabling organizations to improve their performance, addressing the needs of users and the strengthening of civil society participation. Transparency and good governance were among the priority issues. All such ideas were central elements on which to focus the Commission’s action in the light of the priority issues selected by the Bureau. Throughout the United Nations system, all had a role to play in promoting policies to enable greater public sector effectiveness.
The representative of Franciscans International urged the Commission to try to integrate the myriad issues associated with international migration into its agenda. She said that it was most important to ensure stable macroeconomic foundations so that people had the option of staying in their home countries in the first instance. She added that increased debt relief and tariff reductions were also important for improving public sector effectiveness and called for urgent attention to those tragic world citizens not usually seen as migrants -– women and children who had been kidnapped for cheap labour or work in the sex trade.
Franciscans International and its associated organizations believed that an efficient public sector working towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals was important for eradicating the scourge of trafficking, and could help educate women and children about the risks of being taken in by recruiters. She recommended that women who were trafficked be given full protection under international and home-country laws and that procurers be punished. She also said that labour legislation should be strengthened and that employers should be required to provide low-fee passport replacements, particularly in instances where they withheld work documents in order to entrap or enslave immigrant workers. All migrants must have access to basic health services, she added. Further, women must not be forgotten and must be consulted at all levels in order for services to be successful and effective.
A representative of the non-governmental organization, ATD Fourth World, said that even in countries where the government had limited means, the government, working in close cooperation with non-governmental organizations, could more effectively address the needs of the people. New private initiatives cropped up all the time with no public standard to evaluate their competence, resulting in growing disillusionment. Just a generation ago, extended families were better able to help children. Today, families were battered and children were often required to leave the home. Focusing on the hidden strength of the family would allow the family to thrive once again. The Commission must be strengthened and remain a forum for constructive dialogue.
A representative of the International Federation of Social Workers said the principle of human rights was fundamental to social work. The process of social transformation had to be embodied in the principles of social development and human rights. Citizen participation in the development process had to be an integral part of social development. Participation was a rightful goal for the development process. He urged leaders to understand the connection between democratic decision-making, self-determination and empowerment. People in low-wealth communities should determine, drive and control the entire development process. Marginalized people best understood the problems they faced.
The representative of the International Council on Social Welfare said that the provision of effective social services included the attainment of universal and equitable access to education, health care and sanitation. An efficient tax system was required for the achievement of those ends. He said that the Economic and Social Council should promote the harmonization of domestic taxation systems, and other United Nations bodies should work with the wider international community to cut down on corruption.
He also stressed that, while public/private partnerships and privatization schemes indeed helped with the delivery of services, they often provided an “out” for some governments to sidestep their ultimate responsibilities to provide adequate services for their citizens. A lack of transparency by some government resource bases, budgetary processes and priorities also hindered efforts to efficiently provide public services. There was also a need to ensure that an appropriate fail-safe was in place before an essential social service was outsourced.
Panel Discussion
MARY JO BANE, Professor of Public Policy and Management, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, United States, said no single model of reform worked in all countries. She agreed with the World Bank -- “eight sizes fit all” -- and described three approaches. First, traditional good government reform focused on traditional methods for ensuring transparency and accountability, such as promotion and pay, clear distinctions between politics and administration, specification of tasks and financial and budgetary reforms. Reform could not be avoided by moving immediately to privatization. Some tasks were inherently governmental. Even when government was a contract-monitoring body, the basic methods of accountability must be in place.
In the “new public management” or market-based reforms approach, the reform prescription was to privatize as much as possible, she continued. The advantage of that approach was that it focused on performance and recognized that non-profit agencies were sometimes more experienced in delivering services. The key to successful contracting out was ability to monitor performance. Privatization, however, was not a cure for corruption; rather, it could exacerbate it. A third approach recognized the importance of worker motivation and responsiveness. Worker performance was enhanced by job enlargement, worker autonomy and greater trust between workers and manager.
PETER HUMPHREYS, Director of Research, Irish National Institute of Public Administration, noted that until recently Ireland had had high unemployment rates and migration trends. Ireland’s transformation in social and economic terms was quite recent and public servants had played a great role in that change. He stressed the importance of appropriate research that drew upon good –- not best -– practice. In the Irish context, public servants had always played a major role in the Irish society and economy. Recently, economic imperatives, rising citizen expectation, and the development of information and communication technologies had contributed to Ireland’s reform, which had been led not by a strong political drive, but by public servants themselves.
Excellent service was the primary objective of the reform programme, he said. Accountability had been introduced in 1997 by requiring all heads of departments to draft strategic statements and report to the National Parliament. He also stressed the importance of partnership. Management, trade unions and staff representatives had to work together. Another issue was leadership, as distinct from management, within the public service and the recognition that it was necessary not only to improve services to citizens, but also to improve cooperation among public servants.
UMA DEVI SAMBASIVAN, Professor in the Centre for Women’s Gender Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway, focused her statement on privatization and its effectiveness within the social sector. She also examined the trend of workers’ cooperatives, which were now emerging as an alternative to privatization. She stressed that efforts to improve the effectiveness of the public social sector generally focused on increasing its efficiency, often forgetting that, historically, the sector had emerged as a means to protect people from the exigencies of fluctuating markets.
She said there was a need to redistribute power and wealth. The sector’s effectiveness should be measured by the social protections it was able to provide to marginalized segments of society. She preferred to use the term “social protection”, rather than “social development”. The goal should not just be governance, but transformation, she added. The success of privatization initiatives should be measured by how they enhanced the lives of people. She noted that, in Latin America and Africa, resorting to privatization had actually reduced general access to social services and widened the gap between rich and poor.
She went on to highlight the unique situation of “workers’ cooperatives”. She said that trend was a noble aim, but, at the same time, workers were being disempowered by privatization, and trade unions were being forced to take over “sick” or money-losing agencies or public works organizations. The workers cooperative movement would have to face many challenges, she said, particularly under-capitalization, which made banks reluctant to provide loans. She said that while workers cooperatives were not the ultimate answer to the problems of enhancing public sector effectiveness, international financial institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO) should be urged to find ways of supporting such groups, as the trend was growing.
Dialogue with Panellists
When the floor was opened for discussion, several delegations asked the panel to identify the critical factors for improving public sector effectiveness and for ensuring good governance reform and enforcing the rule of law. Others stressed their national experience, particularly regarding workers’ cooperatives, which they considered generally inefficient, and asked the experts to elaborate. One delegation drew attention to the need to address the often inherent inequities between public and private sector pay scales.
Responding to the questions, Ms. BANE said that real public involvement, leadership from leadership, respect for workers and adequate management and information tools were all critical for improving public sector efficiency. Focusing on the Irish experience, Mr. HUMPHREYS said that the pay scale issue had been critical, and there had been a move to raise public wages to keep them competitive. On improving the public sector, he said that in Ireland the focus had been on enhancing public service and cooperation. Ms. SAMBASIVAN, however, stressed that more than monetary incentives be considered for public sector workers, because public agencies could never compete with the private sector.
In a second round of questions, delegates questioned the role of the State in public sector reform. Addressing the issue of trade unions, several delegates asked about the role of trade unions in the management of reform and modernization of services. Trade unions existed for the protection of workers and reform was often seen as a threat. In the case of Zambia, “right-sizing” was a code work for retrenchment. Trade unions were very important in the political process. Trade unions were able to undertake strikes, acts of resistance, such as sabotage, and threats to management. How had the United States and Ireland managed to make trade unions not regard reform as a threat?
Responding, Ms. BANE said the United States’ experience in regard to trade unions had been mixed. There had been situations in which public sector unions had not wanted to engage in the change process. In the case of health care and teacher unions, however, there had been productive negotiations. Most trade union workers really cared about the people they served. She advocated a cooperative approach to working with unions that recognized the motivation of trade union workers, as well as their fears.
Also addressing the role of trade unions in public sector reform,
Mr. HUMPHREYS said Irish trade unions had been involved in establishing national pay agreements. In Ireland, the loss of a partnership approach was seen as extremely threatening to economic progress. Civil service trade unions had been instrumental in the creation of his organization. The size of public sector employment was crucial in terms of the national budget and the number of households that had one or two wage earners.
Ms. SAMBASIVAN noted her concern about the large number of workers entering the unorganized sector of the economy. Trade unions would try to protect their workers to the detriment of those in the informal sector. She could foresee a struggle between those two groups.
In the final round of questions, one speaker wondered about the provision of resources and lack of capacity of the public sectors in smaller countries to put those funds to use. Another asked how public sector effectiveness could be measured and whether the panel thought efforts to improve the public sector enhanced or inhibited efforts to promote social development.
Ms. SAMBASIVAN said that perhaps the two ideas should not be pitted against each other, as situations differed from one country to the next. In some cases, she said, making resources available to improve public sector effectiveness was just as important as enhancing the capacity of public agencies to provide adequate services. Mr HUMPHREYS added that it was also an issue of putting available capacities to better use. Ms. BANE urged the Commission to remember that a minimum level of resources needed to be made available for development, but there was no hard and fast rule about the size of the public sector.
On benchmarks, Ms. BANE said that a sector-specific approach was necessary, with, for instance, specific criteria being set for monitoring garbage collection or other public service. A “citizen based” approach might also be used, merely asking people whether they were getting their money’s worth, based on the amount of taxes they paid. She said that public sector reform could increase participation, while at the same time ensuring protection of vulnerable groups. Mr. HUMPHREYS said that it was important for public sector bodies to identify objectives and give some notion of how those objectives would be achieved. But, he noted that dangers arose when political elements came into play, since often ministries were more concerned with quantitative achievements instead of qualitative ones.
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* The first meeting was held after the last meeting of the 41st Session.