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Fifth Pan African Conference of Ministers for Public or Civil Service: Press statement
25 October 2007
Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
The fourth meeting of the Ministerial Bureau of the fifth Pan-African Conference was held in Windhoek, Namibia on 24 to 25 October 2007. Honourable Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, the Chairperson of the fifth Pan African Conference of Ministers for Public or Civil Service chaired the meeting which was hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia, Honourable Dr Libertina Amathila and included participation by the Commissioner of Political Affairs in the African Union Commission, Honourable Julia Dolly Joiner.
The meeting reviewed progress made in the collective work of the Ministers of Public Service, under the auspices of the African Union Commission (AUC). In addition to a detailed reflection on the progress made in a number of areas, the meeting solidified the collective actions that will be taken to strengthen the state of Governance and Public Administration on the African continent.
Thematic areas that were covered included: a report on the Africa Public Service Charter championed by Algeria, a presentation on E-Government and Free Open Source Software, a report on the African Management Development Institutes' Network (AMDIN) and a report on the All Africa Public Sector Innovation Awards championed by Mauritius.
The Pan African Ministers' Conference has decided to review the African Public Service Charter with a view to its formal adoption by the African Union. Algeria is championing this aspect of the Ministers' programme and will host a seminar on 3 December 2007 in Algiers. Most African countries have their own codes and rules relating to public service that overlap with the Public Service Charter.
The meeting resolved that the Charter be used as a basis to evaluate the efficacy of the codes established and to ensure alignment between their codes and the Charter.
The Bureau noted the potential of Free and Open Software (FOSS) to improve service delivery access, efficiency and effectiveness. FOSS has the potential to cut costs and also facilitates open communication between governments and its citizenry.
In taking forward the usage of FOSS, it was noted that there needs to be recognition of the importance of the coexistence of different software platforms and applications within public sector organisations. The movement towards FOSS usage in government is growing and a number of governments have made decisions on the full utilisation of FOSS for the delivery of services.
The AMDIN report noted positive developments. AMDIN was formally incorporated at its first biennial AGM and conference at the end of August 2007. The new AMDIN Executive now has representation from all five African regions. The second training programme was delivered and benefited from participation from all African regions. AMDIN has acknowledged that its initial emphasis and take up had been with national MDIs, but has now undertaken to include all relevant regional and continental entities and networks in its prospective membership campaigning.
The All Africa Public Service Innovation Awards championed by Mauritius is an initiative to promote and reward innovation in the public services across Africa. The first awards will be made during the sixth Pan African Conference of Ministers for Public or Civil Service to be held in April 2008 in Addis Abba, Ethiopia. Bureau members were encouraged to assist in marketing the awards in their own countries and regions, as well as to continue strengthening innovation. The closing date for the submissions of entries in the Awards is 30 November 2007.
Among the other issues discussed was the work on Anti-Corruption championed by Nigeria and the need for the mobilisation of resources to ensure the actualisation of the Ministers' work. The meeting agreed to assist Burundi to source funding to host a workshop on Post Conflict Public Service Reconstruction. The Ministers also discussed preparations for the sixth Pan African Conference of Ministers for Public or Civil Service to be held in April 2008 and agreed that the work of the various champions would be thoroughly documented in preparation for the event. Another issue remaining on the Ministers' agenda is capacity development on the continent.
In closing the meeting, the Chairperson and members of the Bureau thanked Namibia for hosting the meeting and looked forward to the Africa Public Service Day Celebration event. The Chairperson and the members of the Bureau also restated their commitment to the further development of the collective efforts to support Governance and Public Administration transformation and development across all member states of the African Union Commission (AUC). They further committed themselves to ensuring that the programme grows from strength to strength and that it is adequately resourced and that the required capacity is in place for implementation the level of the AUC and within member states.
Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
20 October 2007
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