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Introduction Improving public administration for more effective, efficient and equitable public governance Tim Newman The adoption by member governments earlier this year of a new, more results-focused strategic plan for the Commonwealth Secretariat for 2013–17 marked a significant shift in gear for the organisation. One of the key changes has been the adoption of a more narrowly focused work programme, as mandated at the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, in order to sharpen the impact of the Secretariat’s work. As such, the Secretariat’s overall focus under the new strategic plan will be to work toward the realisation of three key, interlinked goals: • Strong democracy, rule of law, promotion and protection of human rights and respect for diversity • Inclusive growth and sustainable development • A well-connected and networked Commonwealth These goals are naturally aligned with the two pillars on which the Secretariat’s work programme has historically been built – the promotion of democracy and development within its member countries. These two pillars, recognised by heads at the 2003 Abuja CHOGM ‘are goals each in its own right, they must be mutually reinforcing, with a clear “democratic dividend” in terms of delivering tangible benefits to people’. However, as the Commonwealth has consistently argued, neither democracy nor development is sustainable in the absence of good governance, underpinned by effective and well-led public administration. With this in mind, the Secretariat has renewed its focus on ‘more effective, efficient and equitable public governance’, bringing the Secretariat’s historical programmes in the areas of human rights, rule of law and public administration together under the umbrella of a single ‘governance’ programme. This new programme is grounded upon the recognition that well-performing public institutions are critical for establishing and sustaining democracy, good governance and development. The programme will build upon the Secretariat’s track record of strengthening key public institutions for rule of law, human rights and public administration through context-sensitive technical and peerto peer support. In this regard, within the context of the new governance programme, the Commonwealth will direct its focus on public administration toward achieving the following four outcomes: • Member countries with more effective institutions at the centre of government • Anti-corruption and public procurement agencies functioning effectively through networks • Member countries strengthening democratic oversight of public financial management standards • Small states applying comparative experience to develop more effective public administration Implications for the Secretariat The development of the new strategic plan provided considerable opportunity for reflection within the Secretariat on what its main priorities and modes of delivery in the area of public administration should be. With total global aid flows on governance exceeding US$10 billion a year it is clear that, in financial terms, the Secretariat is a very small player. Accordingly, in order to deliver both the value for money and impact that our member governments expect, the Secretariat will need to focus on low-cost high impact niche areas, making the maximum possible use of our comparative advantages. The Secretariat has identified its comparative advantages in the area of public administration as follows: • Trusted partner status. The Commonwealth has no vested personal or organisational interests: our development work is paid for by a mutual fund to which all recipients contribute and all have a say in how it is disbursed. This promotes genuine country ‘ownership’ and gives us a strong convening power. Accordingly, the Commonwealth can more easily address politically sensitive issues than traditional donors or development agencies. Used widely, this can help facilitate key sustainable reform • Fostering communities of practice and South-South learning through networks between member countries on priority areas such as anti-corruption. This co-operation Commonwealth Governance 8 Handbook 2013/14


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