UNITED NATION PRESS RELEASE

United Nations Calls for Nominations for Global
Public Service Awards for 2013

New York, 12 November-The United Nations is calling for nominations for the UN
Public Service Awards 2013, an international programme designed to promote and
support innovations in public service delivery worldwide. The awards are open to public
organizations of all kinds, including governments and public-private partnerships
involved in delivering services to citizens.
At an annual United Nations event, the Public Service Awards are bestowed on those
public institutions that have distinguished themselves in the following categories:
preventing and combating corruption in the public service; improving the delivery of
services; fostering participation in policymaking decisions through innovative
mechanisms; promoting whole-of-government approaches in the information age; and
promoting gender-responsive delivery of public services.
“The winners of the United Nations Public Service Awards set an example in improving
delivery, promoting accountability and combating corruption,” UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon noted. “Through the search for innovative approaches to public governance
challenges, they are building a better future for us all.”
United Nations Public Service Day was established by the Economic and Social Council
in 2003 to promote better delivery of services by governments and to encourage
excellence in the public service through the collection, transfer and adaptation of
innovative public service initiatives. Learning from other countries’ experiences in
reinventing government can inspire new reforms, and in some cases help countries to
leapfrog stages of development. “Such successful innovations and initiatives are concrete
evidence proving that in order to find solutions to challenges of our times we need to
learn from each other and think outside the box,” stressed Mr. Wu Hongbo Under-
Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
The UN Public Service Awards winners, selected by the United Nations Committee of
Experts on Public Administration, receive a trophy and a certificate of recognition during
the UN Public Service Awards Ceremony and Day held annually on 23 June. The global
event is organized by the Division of Public Administration and Development
Management of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), in
partnership with UN Women and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC).
While candidates cannot nominate themselves, interested institutions deemed to have
very good performance in any one of the categories can have their name put forward by
governments or civil society organizations. Nominations for 2013 are being accepted
online at: http://www.unpan.org/applyunpsa2013 from 24 September until 7 December
2012.
For background information about the UN Public Service Awards and past winners,
please visit: http://www.unpan.org/unpsa. All winning cases of the UN Public Service
Awards from 2003 to 2011 are available as iPad and iPhone applications at:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/un-innovations-in-publicgovernance/
id443218537?mt=8#. It can be downloaded for free and as an eBook at:
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan046119.pdf.
Contact Information: Haiyan Qian, Director, Division for Public Administration and
Development Management (DPADM), UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UNDESA), qianh@un.org ; John-Mary Kauzya, Chief, Public Administration Capacity
Building, DPADM, UNDESA, kauzya@un.org or Sirkka Nghilundilua, Coordinator of
the UNPSA Programme, DPADM, UNDESA, + 1 212 963 3927, nghilundilua@un.org
Media contact: Newton Kanhema, Department of Public Information, +1 212 963 5602,
kanhema@un.org or Mohsin Mohi-Ud-Din, mohi-ud-din@un.org