The workshop, organized by DESA’s Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM), took place in Vienna on 11-13 July

At the workshop, forty-four experts, including members of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA), and practitioners concluded that innovative and more diversified understandings of civil society and grassroots formations must be compiled and examined towards defining the growing role of social accountability processes in the developmental sectors encompassed by the Millennium Development Goals. The workshop aimed to enhance knowledge and build a shared understanding of what participatory approaches and mechanisms work better than others and under what conditions.

For more information:
http://www.unpan.org/DPADM/Home/tabid/420/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Enhancing service delivery

Expert Group Meeting on “Citizens Engagement to Enhance Public Service Delivery” was arranged in Vienna on 7-8 July

Recommendations were made for the undertaking of a comprehensive analysis focusing on the newly emerging collaboration models among states, citizens, non-governmental organizations and the private sector during the meeting organized by DPADM.

These recommendations were reached as a result of the lack of empirically grounded comparative research and evaluations on the relationship between citizen engagement and service delivery, particularly on the tangible steps of transparency and accountability initiatives towards improving effective and citizen- centered public service delivery.

The objective of the meeting was to take stock of the diverse and innovative participatory approaches implemented across the world to strengthen public sector accountability and prevent corruption in public service delivery towards the achievement of the MDGs. It was attended by forty experts, including members of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA), from twenty countries and eight international organizations.

For more information: http://www.unpan.org/2011EGM-CE

UN/INTOSAI 21st Interregional Symposium on “Effective practices of cooperation between SAIs and citizens to enhance public accountability” was held on 13-15 July in Vienna

The event was organized by DESA’s Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) and the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and concluded with a reaffirmation of the importance of the independence of SAIs.

The symposium examined concrete criteria of audit processes and institutions such as the publication of audit reports in the media, participation of citizens in inter-institutional advisory bodies or councils, and procedural steps to citizen-initiated audits. Representatives of SAIs from eighteen countries in the developed and developing world as well as of INTOSAI and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) participated.

For more information: http://www.unpan.org/2011UN-INTOSAI-Symposium