DESA and UNDP team up to support national preparations for the UN Conference for Sustainable Development (UNCSD – Rio+20)

The main objective of the project is to assist selected developing countries to prepare for and contribute effectively to the UNCSD process based on their expression of demand and their particular needs.

The project should enable developing countries to participate effectively in formal and informal preparatory meetings of the UNCSD, including preparatory committees, intersessionals, regional meetings, and expert meetings, with preparation of technical inputs, responses to questionnaires, mobilization of national stakeholders, and identification of opportunities for national action.

At the same time, the project will include a more in-depth analysis and synthesis of experiences in up to 10 countries where green economy concepts and institutional reform for sustainable development are beginning to take root.

For more information: http://tinyurl.com/4ps8e6b

Supporting developing countries to prepare for Rio+20

Cooperation between DESA’s Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) initiated for 2011

DPADM will produce by the end of 2011 a publication on innovative practices for Governments to enhance accountability (including social accountability) in order to better advance towards the Millennium Development Goals. The publication will also address how improved accountability helps prevent corruption.

To prepare this publication, DPADM will carry out several meetings, some of these in cooperation with UNODC, which acts as Secretariat to the UN Convention against Corruption. To kick-start cooperation, a representative from DPADM attended the first meeting of the interim open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the Prevention of Corruption in Vienna, from 13 to 15 December 2010 and made two presentations: one on citizen engagement and e-government in the fight against corruption, and another on the United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) in the category of fighting corruption.

Moreover, in bilateral conversations with UNODC, it was agreed that DPADM will organize a meeting of experts and practitioners on accountability and prevention of corruption, back-to-back with the global conference UNODC will host in Morocco in October 2011, namely, the Fourth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

For more information: http://www.unpan.org/unpsa

Partnering for expanding e-governance

DPADM welcomes the World e-Governments Organizations of Cities and Local Governments (WeGO) as its newest United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) Partner Organization

In order to further expand UNPAN and strengthen the Division’s work in the area of local e-government, DPADM welcomed the World e-Governments Organizations of Cities and Local Governments (WeGO) as its 32nd UNPAN Partner Organization. Based in Seoul, Republic of Korea, WeGO is a worldwide association of e-governments that aims to share the practices of world e-governments, develop joint projects on e-governments, and bridge the digital divide between and among cities.

For more information: http://www.unpan.org/

DESA’s Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination (OESC) will commence implementation of the Development Account project “Strengthening Regional Knowledge Networks to Promote the Effective Implementation of the United Nations Development Agenda and to Assess Progress”

The project aims to contribute strengthening the capacity of government officials/experts responsible for the formulation of national development strategies (NDS) and to increase knowledge sharing among policy-makers, development experts, and DESA divisions on development strategies that work. The project highlights the importance of coordinating efforts of DESA divisions in supporting NDS and making available the knowledge generated by the Department to policy makers.

The project will be implemented with similar projects managed by other DESA divisions that support NDS. With this in view, representatives of those projects will participate in the Steering Committee that will guide the implementation of the Regional Knowledge Networks (RKNs). The RKNs will be established in conjunction with four Regional Commissions that will be the main partners in executing the project.

For more information: http://www.un.org/esa/devaccount/projects/proposed_projects.html