DESA News

Volume 15, No.3 - March 2011

Capacity development


Focusing on development goals in Africa

Workshop on “Managing Economic and Social Councils (ESCs) as a Driving Force of the National Dialogue on Economic and Social Policies” will be held in Nairobi from 7 – 8 March

On the basis of their partnership, DESA and the International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions (AICESIS) have organized several actions that have been undertaken to strengthen the role of ESCs in Africa (survey; conference on ICTs, Paris, December 17-18 2009; conference on ESCs for inclusive development, Ouagadougou, June 1-3 2010).

During the last AICESIS Board meeting (Tunis, December 2-3, 2010), it was agreed that a capacity building workshop for staff of 4 Economic and Social Councils in Africa will be organized. DESA, AICESIS, National Economic Social Council of Kenya and UNDP have partnered to organize the capacity building workshop in Nairobi. The workshop will focus on management development in face of the challenge to achieve Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. Participants will come from Benin, Guinea, Kenya and South Africa.

For more information: http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/

Promoting professionalism in Africa’s public service

Workshop on “Promoting Professionalism in the Public Service: Strengthening the Role of Human Resource Managers in the Public Sector for the implementation of the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Public Service and the Administration” will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 14-18 March

The capacity building workshop will be organized by DESA’s Division for Public Administration and Development Management, in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Ministry of Civil Service of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

This is a follow-up to the two previous capacity building workshops on human resource management in the public sector in Africa that were organized by the Division.  The Africa Public Sector Human Resource Managers’ Network (APS-HRMnet) was launched during the first workshop on “Capacity Building for Human Resource Development Policy and Strategy in the Public Service in Africa”, which was held at Arusha, Tanzania, from 23 to 27 February 2009.

The second workshop on “Strengthening Human Resource Capacities for the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and Africa’s Development” was held in Cotonou, Republic of Benin from 12 to 16 April 2010 followed by an Expert Group Meeting on “Human Resource Management Policy in the Public Sector in Africa” held in Durban, South Africa, from 15-19 November 2010.

The main objective of the current workshop is to contribute to the development of capacity for professionalism in Africa’s public services and more specifically to: (a) provide a platform for African Ministers responsible for public service, human resource managers in the public sector, and experts in human resource management, to discuss how professionalism can be promoted and sustained in the public service on the continent. (b) bring to the attention of human resource managers the challenges and obstacles in the implementation of the “African Charter on the Values and Principles of Public Service and the Administration”; and (c) discuss strategies for the domestication of the key provisions of the Charter in the codes, standards and regulations at the national level in order to promote professionalism in the public service.

For more information: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un-dpadm/unpan044035.pdf

Analysis and dissemination of census data

Seminar on the in-depth analysis of Ethiopia’s 2007 population and housing census will take place in Addis Ababa from 14-18 March 2011

In many countries, the voluminous data collected through censuses is only partially analysed and disseminated, and often late, resulting in its underutilization. To address this challenge, DESA’s Statistics Division in collaboration with the Italian Government has initiated a project to strengthen national capacity to analyse, present and disseminate census data in selected developing countries, Ethiopia being one.

Based on a needs assessment mission launched by the Statistics Division, the Central Statistical Authority (CSA) of Ethiopia has identified four areas for in-depth analysis: Fertility, mortality, housing, and the situation of the elderly. The national seminar is preparatory work for the preparation of monographs on the identified topics and in the process build capacity among CSA’s census analyses teams tasked with the preparation of analytical reports through on-the-job knowledge transfer. The final outputs are expected to be useful for effective development planning and monitoring population and socio-economic trends.

For more information: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/newsletter/globalstat_unsd_calendar.htm

Students to collect data for the e-Government Survey

Partnership between DESA’s Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) and the Cornell University

A partnership between DPADM and the Cornell Institute on Public Affairs (CIPA), Cornell University (United States), was finally established to engage CIPA graduate students in the data collection for the new edition of the UN e-Government Survey. Beginning in February 2011, CIPA students, based on a for-credit, project-based agreement, will assist in carrying out survey of national e-government facilities and capacities of the 192 Member States, including translation services, literature reviews, best practices research and other related quantitative and qualitative research.

The next edition of the UN e-Government Survey is due to be completed by the end of 2011. This legal agreement was made possible through the assistance of the Executive Office of DESA and the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA).

For more information: http://www.unpan.org/egovkb/global_reports/08report.htm

Recognition of DESA’s e-government work

DESA’s Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) presented its e-government work at the Fullbright Academy on 24-25 January in Washington DC

DPADM was invited to attend a workshop organized by the Fulbright Academy, an international educational exchange programme for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, artists and others interested in science and technology innovation.

During this workshop on digitalization of libraries, DPADM presented its work on e-government including the UN E-Government Survey, Compendium of Innovative E-Government Practices, Knowledge Base on E-Government Survey and the United Nations Public Administration Country Studies. The participants expressed interest in contributing case studies of their own countries to DPADM for inclusion in the upcoming new edition of the Compendium of Innovative E-Government Practices.

The High-Level Regional Meeting brought together regional practitioners and experts to identify integrated approaches and concrete policy measures that the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) can promote in the context of the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR), and more particularly on the role education can play in contributing to the realization of all the MDGs. The key policy recommendations put forward during the discussions will be reflected in a summary report to be presented at the AMR ECOSOC session next July.

The objective of the AMR is to assess progress made on different aspects of the United Nations Development Agenda, including the Millennium Development Goals. The AMR was mandated by the 2005 World Summit and has been held during the Council’s High-level Segment since 2007. In 2011, the AMR will focus on Education.

For more information: http://www.unpan.org/egovkb/global_reports/08report.htm