UN presents annual awards for innovative public services

A mobile community health clinic in Zambia and an electronic service that enables Seoul’s citizens to access information on the quality of water supplied to their homes are among a dozen innovative programmes honoured today with the United Nations Public Service Awards.

The 2009 Awards also recognized projects in Canada, Egypt, India, Oman, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden and Thailand for using novel approaches to improve the delivery of services, transparency, accountability and responsiveness in public service.

“This year’s winners and finalists show that public services can be delivered more efficiently, effectively and equitably all over the world,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the awards ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York.

“The ingredients are simple: commitment, hard work, innovation, talent and technological know-how,” he said. “Combined, they make a powerful recipe. And together, these women and men make vital contributions to our efforts to build a better world for all.”

The Secretary-General added that the UN has long recognized that effective governance and efficient public administration are central to the global development agenda, and particularly in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the set of anti-poverty targets world leaders have pledged to try to achieve by 2015.

In addition to the 12 winners, the Centre for Public Service Innovation in South Africa, the Shanghai-based Regional Cooperation Office for City Informatization and the Institute of Public Administration in Central America were recognized with a special award that celebrates achievements in advancing knowledge sharing through the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to advance the MDGs and other development goals.

The UN Public Service Awards programme was established in 2003 to reward excellence and promote professionalism in the public sector around the world, and is open to public organizations and agencies at national or sub-national levels, as well as public-private partnerships.

Initiatives are divided into four categories: improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public service; improving the delivery of services; fostering participation in policymaking decisions through innovative mechanisms; and advancing knowledge management in government.