IN CONTINUING SEARCH FOR INNOVATIONS IN GOVERNMENT, United Nations

OPENS NOMINATIONS FOR 2009 PUBLIC SERVICE AWARDS

 

Public organizations and agencies at national or local levels, as well as public-private partnerships involved in public service delivery can now be nominated for the 2009 United Nations Public Service Awards.

Governments and civil society organizations are being invited to submit for consideration public service institutions that have distinguished themselves in either:  improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in public service; improving the delivery of services; fostering participation in policymaking decisions through innovative mechanisms; or advancing knowledge management in government.

Nominations are being received online at:  http://www.unpan.org/applyunpsa2009 until 15 January 2009.  Candidates cannot apply directly.

A special award -- the UNPAN Member Excellence Award on Knowledge Sharing -- will also be given to United Nations Network on Public Administration (UNPAN) members who have made a significant contribution to the network.

The United Nations Public Service Awards Programme is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service.  It rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.  Through an annual competition, the United Nations Public Service Awards Programme promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service.  It encourages exemplary public service and recognizes that democracy and successful governance are built on a competent civil service.

United Nations Public Service Award winners and finalists are recognized every year on 23 June during a high-level ceremony at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  On the occasion of this year’s ceremony, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Sha Zukang, stated:  “The awardees are an inspiration for all of us, in their ability -- with ingenuity, creativity and commitment -- to improve transparency, accountability and responsiveness in public services; to promote more efficient and better delivery of services; and to foster participation in policymaking decisions through innovative mechanisms.”

The Awards aim to:

-- Reward service to citizens and motivate public servants worldwide to sustain the momentum of innovation and the improvement of the delivery of public services;

-- Collect and disseminate successful practices and experiences in public administration in order to support efforts for improvements in country-level public service delivery;

-- Counterbalance through success stories, any negative image of public administration, raise the image and prestige of public servants and revitalize public administration as a noble discipline on which development greatly depends; and

-- Enhance professionalism in the public service by rewarding the successful experiences in innovations and excellence in the public service.

The 2008 United Nations Public Service Award winners and finalists were of diverse background:  from an innovative and unique judicial approach in California (United States) geared towards preventing domestic and family violence; to a development fund that allows villagers in Rwanda to contribute to assessing their own needs and establishing their development priorities; to a four decade private-public partnership that guarantees affordable housing to most Singaporeans.  These institutions were found to have improved transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public service.  They have also improved delivery of services, and fostered participation in policymaking decisions through innovative approaches.

For background information about the United Nations Public Service Awards and past winners, please visit:  http://www.unpan.org/unpsa2009.

Contact information:  Haiyan Qian, Acting Director, Division for Public Administration and Development Management, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, tel.:  212 963 3393, e-mail:  qianh@un.org; John-Mary Kauzya, Chief, Governance and Public Administration Branch, e-mail:  kauzya@un.org; Adriana Alberti, tel.:  212 963 2299, e-mail:  alberti@un.org; or Olivier Munyaneza, tel.:  212 963 8801, e-mail:  munyaneza@un.org, United Nations Public Service Awards Programme.

Media contact:  Franck Kuwonu, Department of Public Information, tel.:  212 963 8264, e-mail:  kuwonu@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record