Strategy and improvement of public administration

About

Achieving good standards and outcomes in the functioning of public administration requires strong leadership, effective central planning, and co-ordination of various reform measures across many areas of public administration. When planned and implemented on a fragmented and ad hoc basis, reforms may not transform the governance system and overall functioning of public administration as expected. Public administration reform (PAR) is also considered fundamental to the accession process by the EU - it is one of three key reform pillars, along with rule of law and economic governance. Additionally, it is important to ensure that the planned reforms have clear objectives that also enable and promote innovation and innovative approaches across public administration to support its continuous improvement.

Key elements

Well-managed PAR requires:

A comprehensive and credible agenda, established through a formal government planning document(s) that enables successful planning and implementation of realistic, prioritised reforms.
Acknowledgement as a political priority and sufficient political leadership and support.
Effectively co-ordinated implementation at both the political and administrative levels.
Financial sustainability of reforms.
A holistic perspective in the management of reforms that determines accountability for implementation and ensures the necessary implementation capacity.

What SIGMA does

SIGMA assists governments in:

Designing and implementing PAR policy and planning documents, including identifying underlying problems, setting priorities, involving key stakeholders, sequencing actions and costing reforms, in line with the Strategy Toolkit (add link to toolkit]
Establishing the institutions and strengthening the capacities required to oversee, execute and monitor and report on progress of reforms and identify policy changes, if needed.
Reviewing existing strategic co-ordination and management arrangements, identifying the main challenges and providing guidance in scoping and prioritising PAR.

Data portal

Public administration reform (PAR) requires strong central leadership and management, clear division of responsibilities, effective co-ordination and collaboration between government institutions and internal and external stakeholders.

Explore data on strategy