Deadline: 30 November 2018
Nominations are open for 2019 United Nations Public Service Awards to recognize excellence in public service at the global level.
The UNPSA is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. It rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide. Through an annual competition, the UN Public Service Awards promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service.
The purpose of the UNPSA is to promote and reward innovation and excellence in public services in support of the realization of the SDGs and the principle to leave no one behind, which is at the core of the 2030 Agenda. It takes into account the various levels of development of countries while reflecting the universal nature of the SDGs.
The UN Public Service Day intends to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community; highlight the contribution of public service in the development process; recognize the work of public servants, and encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector. Since the first Awards Ceremony in 2003, the United Nations has received an increasing number of submissions from all around the world.
Aims
Through a global competition that promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service, the UNPSA aims to:
- Highlight innovations in governance;
- Reward excellence in the public sector;
- Motivate public servants to further promote innovation;
- Enhance professionalism in the public service;
- Raise the image of public service; and
- Collect and disseminate successful practices for possible replication.
Categories
The 2019 UNPSA will be given to those public institutions that have distinguished themselves in one of the following categories:
- Delivering inclusive and equitable services to leave no one behind
- Ensuring integrated approaches in the public-sector institutions
- Developing effective and accountable public institutions
- Promoting digital transformation in public sector institutions
- Promoting gender responsive public services to achieve the SDGs
Eligibility Criteria
- The Award is open to all public-sector institutions at the national, state and local levels from all UN member states. In the case of innovative partnerships (including civil society, private sector, academia etc.), the nominee must be a public-sector institution;
- Both self-nominations and nominations by third parties are accepted. Nominations should be made by an organization;
- The initiative must be innovative and relevant to one of the UN Public Service Awards categories3 ;
- The initiative must have been implemented for a minimum of two years, with demonstrated and documented impact;
- The application must be duly filled out;
- The submission must include all the required supporting documents;
- The initiative must not have already received a UNPS Award;
- To avoid conflict of interest, the initiative must not be implemented by the United Nations System.
Selection Criteria
- Alignment with the 2030 Agenda: The initiative should aim to improve people’s lives and respond to their needs and rights. It should enhance the contribution of public service to the realization of the SDGs.
- Significance: The initiative must impact positively a group of the population and address a significant issue of public concern within the context of a given country or region. Innovation. The initiative must present an innovative idea, a distinctively new approach, or a unique policy implemented in order to realize the SDGs or solve a problem of public concern, in the context of a given country or region.
- Transferability: The initiative appears to be adaptable to other contexts (e.g. cities, countries or regions). There should ideally be evidence that it has inspired similar innovations in other public-sector institutions within a given country, region or at the global level.
- Sustainability: The initiative should be able to be sustained and have positive impact on the future generations.
- Impact: The initiative has had a formal evaluation, showing some evidence of impact on improving people’s lives.
- Stakeholders: The initiative must demonstrate that it has engaged stakeholders.
How to Apply
Nominations must be submitted online via given website.
For more information, please visit UN Public Service Awards.