Publication reveals national experiences of public sector reforms

17 August 2016
News

Drawing on the experiences of senior public servants from Trinidad and Tobago to Tonga, this study looks at how governments have achieved success and sought to overcome policy and management failures.

Drawing on the experiences of senior public servants from Trinidad and Tobago to Tonga, the book looks at how governments have achieved success and sought to overcome policy and management failures.

Entitled,

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Key Principles of Public Sector Reforms: Case Studies and Frameworks, the publication was launched on Wednesday 17 August at the Commonwealth Ministers for Public Service Forum in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

It was hailed by Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland as an "exemplar" which would help governments to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals by learning from example.

It’s hoped that examples, such as the coalition government in Trinidad and Tobago, e-government in Seychelles, internal auditing in Botswana, and skills in Tonga, will help other Commonwealth countries respond more effectively to the needs of their people.

“The road to development is well trodden and replete with many examples of what works and what doesn’t work. In both scenarios there’s something for us to learn,” the Secretary-General said.

“That’s the philosophy that underpins our knowledge sharing approach. This is the spirit in which this publication has been put together.”

The country case studies are expected to be “replicated, adapted or customised” by other countries according to local needs and circumstances, the Secretary-General said.

The Commonwealth Secretariat publication was presented to the chair of the forum, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Datuk Joseph Entulu anak Belaun, as well as special guest the President of Nauru, Baron Waqa.

As she handed over the publication, Secretary-General Scotland thanked all the public servants that contributed to the study for their “frankness, openness and kindness”.

Profiled countries include Botswana, Cameroon, Fiji, Ghana, India, Kenya, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The case studies align to a set of nine Commonwealth principles on public sector reform developed in 2014 by the Commonwealth Working Group on Public Administration, composed of officials from eight Commonwealth countries.

The principles stress the need for results-oriented planning, skills development, experimentation and innovation.

The Commonwealth’s key principles of public sector reform are:

  1. A new pragmatic and results-oriented framework
  2. Clarification of objectives and administrative structures
  3. Intelligent political strategies and engagement
  4. Goal-oriented competencies and skills development
  5. Experimentation and innovation
  6. Professionalisation and improved morale
  7. A code of conduct for public sector ethics
  8. Effective and pragmatic anti-corruption strategies
  9. Effective public financial management

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Key Principles of Public Sector Reforms: Case Studies and Frameworks