World Public Sector Report

This report examines the role that national institutional and governance innovations and changes that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic can play in advancing progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The consequences of the pandemic threaten to derail progress and make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) more difficult to achieve. Yet the pandemic also sparked rapid innovation in government institutions and public administration that could be capitalized on. Against this backdrop, the report focuses on how governments can reshape their relationship with people and other actors to enhance trust and promote the changes required for more sustainable and peaceful societies. How they can assess competing priorities and address difficult policy trade-offs that have emerged since 2020. And what assets and innovations they can mobilize to transform the public sector and achieve the SDGs.

The World Public Sector Report will be published every two years with the intention of reviewing major trends and issues concerning public administration and governance. This inaugural issue of the report considers the process of globalisation and the challenges and opportunities it offers for the role of the public sector in countries around the world. It is increasingly being acknowledged that the State is a key actor in the development process and has a major role to play in making globalisation work for all, for example in alleviating poverty and income inequality, advancing human rights, promoting sustainable development and combating international crime. Issues discussed in the report include: the many facets of globalisation; its impact on the State; reinforcing state institutions and social policies; defining and measuring the size of the State.

This report examines the role that national institutional and governance innovations and changes that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic can play in advancing progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The consequences of the pandemic threaten to derail progress and make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) more difficult to achieve. Yet the pandemic also sparked rapid innovation in government institutions and public administration that could be capitalized on. Against this backdrop, the report focuses on how governments can reshape their relationship with people and other actors to enhance trust and promote the changes required for more sustainable and peaceful societies. How they can assess competing priorities and address difficult policy trade-offs that have emerged since 2020. And what assets and innovations they can mobilize to transform the public sector and achieve the SDGs.

This report looks at national-level developments in relation to several concepts highlighted in the targets of Goal 16, which are viewed as institutional principles: access to information, transparency, accountability, anti-corruption, inclusiveness of decision-making processes, and non-discrimination. The report surveys global trends in these areas, documenting both the availability of information on those trends and the status of knowledge about the effectiveness of related policies and institutional arrangements in different national contexts.

It is increasingly being acknowledged that the State is a key actor in the development process. It has a major role to play in making globalization work for all; in alleviating poverty and income inequality; in advancing human rights and democracy; in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development; and in managing violent conflict and combating international crime. This new report will be published every two years and intends to review major trends and issues concerning public administration and governance. It will analyze the challenges faced by governments in reforming particular areas of their public sector, and highlight best practices in public administration and/or national reforms, which may serve as a useful reference to other countries modernizing their public administration systems. This publication will provide policy makers, scholars, and the civil society with relevant information, data and research findings on issues related to the public sector.

The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prominently feature institutions, both as a cross-cutting issue in many of the goals and as a standalone goal (SDG 16). The World Public Sector Report 2019 looks at national-level developments in relation to several concepts highlighted in the targets of Goal 16, which are viewed as institutional principles: access to information, transparency, accountability, anti-corruption, inclusiveness of decision-making processes, and non-discrimination. The report surveys global trends in these areas, documenting both the availability of information on those trends and the status of knowledge about the effectiveness of related policies and institutional arrangements in different national contexts. It also demonstrates how the institutional principles of SDG 16 have been informing the development of institutions in various areas, including gender equality and women's empowerment (SDG 5). The report further examines two critical instruments that can support effective public institutions and public administration for the SDGs, namely national budget processes and risk management. The World Public Sector Report 2019 aims to inform the first review of SDG 16 at the United Nations high-level political forum on sustainable development in July 2019, and to contribute to future efforts to monitor progress on SDG 16. By reviewing key challenges and opportunities for public institutions in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the national level, the report also aims to inform efforts by all countries to create effective institutions to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals.

Five years after the start of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), governance issues remain at the forefront.Ba

This publication is based on highlights of the discussion held during the 12th Session of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA), in 2013, on “The Role of Responsive and Accountable Public Governance in achieving the MDGs and the Post-2015 Development Agenda,” which observed that responsive and accountable governance, including effective, responsive and accountable public administration, is key in accelerating the progress on the MDGs and in the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. It also encompasses research and analysis of the United Nations Public Administration Country Studies (UNPACS) on themes such as codes of conduct, citizen engagement (in terms of its oversight role), ICTs in the work of e-government, and citizen engagement for public policy definition and development management planning.