NISPAcee – UNDESA Seminar
"Developing Leadership Competencies for Well-being, Growth and the Achievement of SDGs: Training Public Servants for SDGs"
Joint capacity-development initiative of United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in cooperation with the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee) to be held in the conjuction of the NISPAcee 26th Annual Conference www.nispa/conference2018
Term: May 23 – 26, 2018
Venue: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
1.Objective
To enhance the knowledge and capacities of senior educators, such as directors of programmes and managers of specialised training courses from the institutes and schools of public administration in Eastern and Central Europe and the CIS, to support the implementation of the SDGs in order for them to develop and update the curriculums of their respective institutions by reflecting the SDGs and the key principles and objectives of the 2030 Agenda, specifically the critical role of transformative leadership.
2.Background
Many countries are quite advanced in implementing the2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by world leaders at the United Nations in September 2015, along with the 17 ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)that are at its heart. Public service has a key role in all those areas. It is also at the centre of delivering public services, which are key for realizing the SDGs.It is the bedrock for ensuring the rule of law, justice and security. More generally it is at the heart of efforts to make institutions effective, accountable and inclusive, as elaborated by SDGs.
It is therefore important to mobilize and equip public servants to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. They need to understand the SDGs and the key principles of the 2030 Agenda – which have implications for the skills and knowledge they need for the way they work.
To this end, last year UNDESA/DPADM has launched an initiative to work with public sector training institutions and develop SDG oriented training curriculum to build specific knowledge, skills and competencies that will help public servants internalize the aspirational Agenda 2030 and implement the sustainable development goals.
Seizing the opportunity of the 26th Annual Conference of NISPAcee with the main theme of "Public Administration for Well-being and Growth”, DPADM/UNDESA will organise a capacity-development Seminar for the developing countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS Region entitled: "Developing Leadership Competencies for Well-being, Growth and the Achievement of SDGs: Training Public Servants for SDGs”.
The Seminar, which targets public policy and public administration educators as well as other stakeholders, will specifically explore, in congruence with the main theme of the NISPAcee Conference, what are the requisite human resource capacities within the national public administrations in countries of the region, especially in terms of knowledge about transformative leadership and how these capacities can be developed for implementing the 2030 Agenda and achieving sustainable development goals.
It is anticipated that, informed by the deliberations at the Seminar, the participants will understand the need for complementary capacity-building and will establish a regional taskforce comprising of public administration institutes and schools, along with a few government SDGs focal points and human resource managers from the public service, in order to develop and update the curriculums to reflect the SDGs and the key principles and objectives of the 2030 Agenda.
3.Discussion Themes
Transforming the mindset of public administration leaders and servants is necessary for the successful implementation of SDGs. Public servants must be mobilized and inspired by the SDGs. They need to be prepared and equipped to work in innovative ways based on consultation and cooperation. The principle to leave no one behind bears direct implications for public administrators. They must know who is at risk of being left behind, understand their needs and elaborate adequate measures.
By drawing on its experience in public sector human resources capacity building, DPADM/DESA will contribute to NISPAcee’s 26th Annual Conference by focusing on:
(i)How can we promote the kind of visionary leadership that is needed for building consensus in society on various policies and for mobilizing public servants around the SDGs?
(ii)How can we build and sustain public trust, effectiveness, integrity, impartiality, equity, transparency, ethical standards, values and selflessness along with accountability?
(iii)How integrity in public service is correlated to corruption and what must be done to assure transparency, accountability and responsibility in the public sector as a critical factor for sustained economic growth, equitable distribution of development benefits and service delivery and environmental sustainability?
(iv) How can public servants at different levels of the government be mobilized and equipped for supporting the realization of the SDGs?
(vi) How can we bring back people at the centre of public administrators’ attention through participatory decision making and a focus on the poorest and most vulnerable?
(vi) What training should institutes of public administration implement to equip public servants with the requisite competencies for achieving SDGs?
4.ORGANIZATION and FORMAT
The Seminar will be organised one day prior to the inception of the 26th Annual NISPAcee Conference and continue during the three days of the Conference. Participants will take part both in plenary sessions and deliberations in working group on Education and will benefit also from being exposed to selected plenary sessions of the umbrella Conference. The approach will be participative starting with brief introductory presentations leading to group work and discussions. This will provide opportunity to participants to explore and discuss the challenges the regional countries are likely to face in introducing "SDG friendly” training for their national public administrations, the strategies that may be put in place to address such challenges, the capacities that are required from all actors in the public sector, and how such capacities can be developed. The proceedings of the Seminar as well as its conclusions and recommendations will be summarised in the ensuing report and will be disseminated through the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN), NISPAcee and other relevant organizations.
All the participants of the seminar are kindly requested to register for the Conference via the online registration portal:
http://www.nispa.org/conf_registration_prenote26.php?cid=26
4.1 Participants
The target group of the Seminar is primarily programme managers of institutes and schools of governance and public administration who are well-positioned to make decisions regarding training methodologies and content. The countries to be invited to participate comprise countries of the NISPAcee region excluding the EU countries. The Seminar will be open to public servants, representatives of academia and representatives of civil society groups attending the 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference. The composition of the Seminar should strive for gender balance. Including both experts and practitioners into the Seminar will enhance the likelihood of acceptance and implementation of the recommendations stemming from its deliberations.
4.2 Leading experts and programme
The seminar will be led by UNDESA resource persons and selected NISPAcee experts in the field. Names and profiles of the leading experts will be announced together with the program of the seminar to registered participants due time.
4.3 Official language: The Seminar will be conducted in English.
5.CONTACTS
Juraj Sklenar, Senior Manager, NISPAcee, sklenar@nispa.org
Garegin Manukyan, Senior Governance & Public Administration Officer, UNDESA 1-212-963-5410, manukyan@un.org
Alexandra Bettencourt, Associate Public Administration Officer, UNDESA, 1-212-963-3463, bettencourt@un.org
Tiblet Kelemwork, Technical Cooperation Assistant, UNDESA, 1-212-963-1945,
6. HOW TO APPLY
Confirm your interest and participation to Juraj Sklenar by February 15, 2018.