The 9th SADC Regional United Nations Public Administration Network held in Mauritius

The 9th SADC Regional United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) workshop focusing on the future of public service, in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution, was held earlier this week at Le Meriden Hotel in Pointe aux Piments. The Minister of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms, Mr Eddy Boissézon, the Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Dr Chana Pilane-Majake, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mauritius, Ms Christine Umutoni, and other eminent personalities were present.

The two-day workshop is being organised by the Ministry of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms in collaboration with the Centre for Public Service Innovation of South Africa. It is bringing together some 50 delegates of the SADC countries with a view to reflect on the methods relating to the quality improvement of the public service sector.

In his address, Minister Boissézon highlighted that civil service officers are vested with the duty of contributing effectively to the delivery of timely and quality services to the citizens. To this end, he said that his Ministry is committed to providing more integrated, effective and qualitative civil service with an utmost priority being given to the training of staff.

He also underscored the importance of uplifting the quality of public service in addition to developing a modern and sustainable civil service, which, according to him, will act as an enabler and facilitator to spearhead the country’s development, in line with Government’s Vision 2030.  

The Minister pointed out that the workshop will serve as an excellent platform and enable SADC representatives to have better insights on innovation and digitalisation which, in turn, will help and contribute to empowering public service officers and professionalise the public service sector.

The Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Dr Chana Pilane-Majake, for her part, underlined the relevance of technology and innovation at the core of developmental progress for the African continent. Good governance, democracy and law are among the key elements vital for the transformation of the country into an “Africa we want,” she outlined.

On this score, she emphasised that it is high time to revolutionise the public service sector by incorporating innovation and technology so as to improve service delivery to the citizens. The role of public service officers remains central to the evolution of the sector with the emergence of a modern and technologically advanced administration, she added.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mauritius, Ms Christine Umutoni reiterated the commitment of the United Nations to support Mauritius in its endeavour to transform the public service sector by improving the conditions of civil service officers. She also underlined that the civil service officers are dynamic but they have to evolve so as to keep pace with technology and contribute to leveling the performance of the organisation.

The United Nations Public Administration Network

The UNPAN has been designed to help developing countries and countries in economic transition to respond to the challenges that Governments face in achieving their development goals.

Its main aim is to establish an internet-based network that links regional and national institutions devoted to public administration, thereby facilitating information exchange, experience sharing, and training in the area of public sector policy and management.

The UNPAN facilitates capacity building of the regional and national institutions so that they can access, process and disseminate relevant information by means of up-to-date information and communication technologies for the promotion of better public administration.