Note to Correspondents

United Nations Presents 23 Institutions with Awards

 

at Public Service Day Ceremony in Barcelona

 

On Public Service Day, 23 June, the United Nations will present awards to 23 public institutions from around the world in recognition of their excellence in public service, as well as their creative achievements in developing more effective and responsive public administrations.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message for the Day, stated that “through this year’s United Nations Public Service Awards competition, we can see that innovation is thriving throughout the world”.  Among the winners are an Indian initiative allowing citizens to air their grievances directly to the Chief Minister and to get timely answers regarding the provision of public services at the state level, and a programme enabling Italian secondary students and their teachers to be actively involved in the law and decision-making processes in the local assembly.

This year, for the first time, the United Nations Public Service Day and Awards Ceremony will be held away from United Nations Headquarters, in Barcelona, Spain, co-organized by the government of Catalonia.  The Directorate General for Civic Participation of the government of Catalonia, Spain, won the United Nations Public Service Award in 2008.

The Awards are to be presented at the end of a three-day international meeting on the role of public service in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  The meeting, which will be followed by a ministerial round table, is expected to make recommendations on how to promote innovation in government.  Participants will also share best practices, including how technologies and innovations are being applied around the world to help meet internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

In total 23 winners — from Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, India, Italy, Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and Tunisia — will receive a Public Service Award.  They are distinguished by their creativity and innovation in improving delivery, transparency, accountability and responsiveness in public service and for advancing citizens’ participation in policymaking decisions.  They are also being honoured for knowledge management in government.

“The winners have shown great dedication to upholding the values and virtues of excellent public service,” said Sha Zukang, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.  “They have provided examples of efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability.”

Special Awards for e-Government

In addition to the Public Service Awards, United Nations e-Government Special Awards will be bestowed on the Governments of the Republic of Korea, United States and Canada.  These are the three top countries that, according to the biennial United Nations e‑Government Survey, have ensured the continued availability of robust telecommunications infrastructure, excellent human capital capacity, e‑services and e‑content.

Also honoured by the e-Government Special Awards are 3 of the top 20 countries that have made significant progress in improving their e-service delivery and strengthening their citizens engagement through e-participation.  The three countries are Singapore, Spain and Bahrain.

The e-Government Special Awards will recognize the success of each world region by distinguishing the top-ranked countries from Africa (Tunisia), the Americas (United States), Asia (Republic of Korea), Europe (United Kingdom) and Oceania (Australia).

The United Nations e-Government Survey presents rankings on a national and regional basis in two major categories: e-readiness — provision of government services and products online, combined with the extent of telecommunications infrastructure and public education in the country — and e-participation, or the degree to which government opens itself to interaction with its citizens through the Internet.

Background

The Public Service Awards programme, established in 2003, aims to reward excellence and promote professionalism in the public sector around the world.  It is the most prestigious recognition of excellence in public service.  Public organizations and agencies at national or subnational levels, as well as public-private partnerships, can enter the Awards competition.  There are four categories: improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public service; improving the delivery of services; fostering participation in policy-making decisions through innovative mechanisms; and advancing knowledge management in government.

For background information on Public Service Day and the Awards, please visit http://www.unpan.org/2010unpsa, or contact Haiyan Qian, Director, Division for Public Administration and Development Management, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, at e-mail: qianh@un.org; Adriana Alberti, United Nations Public Service Awards Coordinator, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, tel.: + 1 212 963 2299, e-mail: alberti@un.org; or Lois Warner, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, tel.: +1 212 963 3153, Fax: +1 212 963 2292, e-mail: warnerl@un.org.

Media contact in New York is Franck Kuwonu, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel: +1 212 963 8264, e-mail: kuwonu@un.org.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record