The United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA) is an international award recognizing excellence in public service. Through an annual competition, UNPSA promotes the role of public service, and rewards effective and responsive public service institutions.
History and purpose In 2003, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/57/277, designated June 23 as the UN Public Service Day to "celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community". The UN Economic and Social Council established that the United Nations Public Service Awards be bestowed on Public Service Day for contributions made to the cause of enhancing the role, prestige and visibility of public service.
The United Nations Millennium Declaration emphasized the role of democratic and participatory governance in assuring the rights of men and women to "live their lives and raise their children in dignity, free from hunger and from the fear of violence, oppression, or injustice". It also noted that good governance within each country is a prerequisite to "making development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want".
The UNPSA program is managed by the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The overall purpose of UNPSA is to recognize the institutional contribution made by public servants to enhance the role, professionalism, image and visibility of the public service (Economic and Social Council decision 2000/231).
Who is eligible
All Public organizations/agencies at national and sub-national levels, as well as public/private partnerships and organizations performing outsourced public service functions, are eligible for nomination. The United Nations Public Service Awards take into consideration a geographical distribution of five regions. In order to level the playing field for nominations received from countries with varying levels of development and income, the following five regions have been established: (a) Africa (b) Asia and the Pacific (c) Europe and North America (d) Latin America and the Caribbean (e) Western Asia
Eligible nominators include: Government departments and agencies; universities, non-governmental organizations, professional associations, etc. Purely scientific innovations, e.g. in medical or environmental science, do not qualify for the United Nations Public Service Awards.
UNPSA categories and criteria For the 2021 round of nominations, the United Nations Public Service Awards categories are as follows: Category 1: Fostering innovation to deliver inclusive and equitable services for all including through digital transformation; Category 2: Enhancing the effectiveness of public institutions to reach the SDGs; Category 3: Promoting gender-responsive public services to achieve the SDGs; and Category 4: Institutional preparedness and response in times of crisis.
For a description of the categories and application criteria, see UN Public Service Awards
Application process The application process consists of two steps.
Step 1 An application form has to be completed online. Nominations are allowed to enter the competition in one of the six official United Nations languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish).
Step 2 Upon reception of the applications, the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) pre-selects nominations. Candidates are asked to submit additional information such as a cover letter, letters of reference, supporting documents (e.g., evaluation and audit reports, results of client surveys), etc during the application process. DPIDG then shortlists candidates on the basis of the documents provided. The short-listed are subsequently considered by the United Nations Committee of Experts in Public Administration. After due consideration, the Committee advises the UN Secretary-General concerning the winners of the Awards.
UN Public Service Awards ceremony UN Public Service Awards' winners are recognized during UN Public Service Day on 23 June of every year at a high-level event held in New York at UN Headquarters or in a host country as part of the United Nations Public Service Forum. 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.
Past award winners Year Category Region Country, Department / Project2003United Nations Public Services Award, Report of the First Awards Ceremony 2003 1Europe & North AmericaGreece Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization for "Call centre to apply for administrative documents" Asia & the PacificSingapore Infocom Development Authority of Singapore for "National Trust Council and TrustSg Programme" Western AsiaOman Muscat Municipality for "Cleanliness of Muscat" Latin AmericaBolivia Aduana Nacional de Bolivia "Un profundo proceso de reforma" 2Europe & North AmericaSpain Ayuntamiento de Alcobendas "ITACA Proyecto" AfricaEgypt Ministry of State for "Administrative Development Improvement of administrative machinery" Asia & The PacificSingapore Legal Policy Division, Ministry of Law "Polygon of Good Laws" Latin AmericaMexico Victoria, Tamaulipas "Family system in Tamaulipas" 3Europe & North AmericaItaly Public Administration Department for Efficiency in the Administrations for "Coordination Centre for Innovations in Administrations" AfricaZambia Patents and Companies Registration Office Commercialization Asia & The PacificRepublic of Korea Public Procurement Service for "Reform of procurement operations" Western AsiaLebanon Education Center for "Research and Development Research, training and continuous education" Latin AmericaChile Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) for "El sitio web del servicio"2004United Nations Public Services Award, Report of the Public Services Awards Ceremony 2004 1AfricaMorocco, Secretariat d'Etat Charge de l'eau, Morocco Europe & North AmericaCanada, Network of Canada Business Service Centres Latin AmericaBrazil, General Board for Development of Public Services and Public 2Europe & North AmericaAustria, District Administrative Authority Zell am See Summary of the Project AfricaCameroon, Ministere de la Fonction Publique et de la Reforme Asia & The PacificAustralia, Australian Public Service Commission Latin AmericaBrazil, City Hall of Belo Horizonte Summary of the Project 3AfricaSouth Africa, South African Police Service Asia & The PacificMalaysia, National Productivity Corporation Asia & The PacificPhilippines, City of Naga20051Asia & The PacificIndia, Bhagidari Cell, Office of the Chief Minister, Government of NCT of Delhi for "Citizen-Government Partnership: Bhagidari in New Delhi" Europe & North AmericaCanada, Vancouver Agreement for "Innovative Partnerships between Government Agencies, and with Community Groups and Business" 2AfricaMorocco, Etablissement Autonome de Contrôle et de Coordination des Exportations (EACCE) for "Decentralization and expansion of the quality monitoring process of fruits and vegetables for exportation". Europe & North AmericaSpain, Public Employment Service of Castile and León (Ecyl) for "Modernization Program 2004" Latin AmericaMexico, Secretaria de Agua, Obra Publica e Infrastructura para el Desarrollo for "El Programa Hidraulico Integral del Estado de Mexico" 3Asia & The PacificSingapore, Ministry of Trade and Industry for Online Application System for Integrated Services (OASIS) Europe & North AmericaCanada, Industry Canada, Office of Consumer Affairs for "the Canadian Consumer Affairs Gateway (CCIG)" Latin AmericaMexico, Secretaría de la Función Pública - Unidad de Gobierno Electrónico y Política de Tecnologías de la Información (UGEPTI) for "La Estrategia de Gobierno Digital"20061AfricaRwanda, National Examinations Council for "Assessment and Evaluation for Reconciliation" Asia & The PacificSingapore, Ministry of Manpower, Work Pass Division for "Integrated Work Permit Online Services" Europe & North AmericaThe Netherlands, District Water Board for "Rijnland Internet Election System" 2AfricaZambia, District Health Management Board for "Masaiti" Asia & The PacificIndia, Government of Karnataka, Revenue Department for "Online delivery of land records" Europe & North AmericaCanada, the Provincial Court of Manitoba for "The Domestic Violence Front-End Project" Latin AmericaBrazil, Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Urbano do Estado da Bahia, Brazil for "Implementation of the Self-Sustainable Sanitation Systems Programme," 3Asia & The PacificAustralia, Australian Government Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources for "Business Entry Point" Europe & North AmericaBelgium, Crossroads Bank for Social Security for "e-Government Program of the Belgian Social Security" Western AsiaUnited Arab Emirates, Dubai Municipality for "e-Government Municipal Services"20071Africa Kenya, Performance Contracts Steering Committee Secretariat for "Performance Contracts" AsiaSingapore, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Manpower and Central Provident Fund Board, Singapore for "Progress Package" (1. place)
India, Information Technology and Communications Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh for "e-Procurement Project" (1. place) EuropeAustria, Federal Chancellery of Austria for "Electronic law making processes (eLaw)" Latin America and the CaribbeanChile, Dirección de Compras y Contratación Publica Western AsiaAzerbaijan, The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan for "Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative" North America and the PacificAustralia, Australian Public Service Commission for "State of the Service Report" 2AfricaSouth Africa, e'Thekwini Municipality for "e'Thekwini Water & Sanitation Debt Relief Programme" (1. place)
Morocco, Arrondissement Agdal, Fez, Morocco for "Fez eGovernment project" (1. place) AsiaRepublic of Korea, Ministry of Justice for "Korea Immigration Smart Service (KISS)" Western AsiaUAE, Dubai Government Excellence Department for "Dubai Government Excellence Program" (1. place)