Engaging Citizens in Development Management to Achieve the MDGs

The Socio-Economic Governance and Management Branch (SGMB) of the United Nations’ Department of Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM/DESA) organized an international workshop on “Engaging Citizens in Development Management and Public Governance for the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals”. I was invited with my fellow member Ledule Bosch to represent the community.

The workshop served as a platform for an international and multidisciplinary group of experts (public officials, academia, civil society and private sector representatives) to share their experiences and best practices on engaging citizens to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The 3-day event was held in Barcelona, Spain, from 21 to 23 June 2010 and brought together over 100 participants, including Ministers and senior government officials from seven African countries.

Panel discussions with key experts from different regions around the world, as well as group discussions, were organized on innovative approaches, methodologies and tools, including information and communication technology tools.

Dr. Roberto Villarreal, Chief of the Development Management Branch (DMB) of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) delivered a keynote address on the theme “Citizens’ Engagement and Development Management: a Perspective from the United Nations”. Dr. Villarreal underlined the need for African countries to take urgent measures to speed up the implementation of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He invited Communities of Practice to deliver more on the “promotion of citizens’ engagement for development”.

Participants were then divided into groups as there were two parallel capacity development workshops and an Expert Group Meeting which were run concurrently. The AfCoP was well represented at a workshop on “Engaging Citizens in Development Management and Public Governance for the Achievement of the MDGs”.

In addition to the workshops, presentations were also made by four winners of the UN Public Service Awards on New Management Approach to Parliamentary Elections in Lebanon, the Programme for sustainable development of Brazil’s Environment Protection Areas, Youth in the Law Hall in Italy and on Collaboration Testing in Japan.

Following the workshop sessions, recommendations were made and included as part of the Final Declaration, available here: Barcelona Declaration. This “Barcelona Declaration on “The Critical Role of Public Service in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals” was adopted by the Open Ministerial Roundtable on 23 June 2010.

Overall, the workshop provided opportunities for participants to:

• learn about new tools, (including ICT tools), methodologies and innovative approaches to promote the engagement of citizens in development management and public governance;
• establish new contacts and forge new partnerships with other learning/research organizations involved in capacity building and capacity development, knowledge management;
• share and exchange country-level experiences with other fellow practitioners and experts in their own areas of interest;
• brief all the participants on the African Community of Practice on Managing for Development Results and its strategy to build effective and inclusive partnerships with regional organizations with a view to moving the MfDR agenda forward.

Devendra Parsad Ruhee, Mauritius
AfCoP Co-Chairman
Chairman of the Public Officers Welfare Council