Call for Entries: United Nations Public Service Awards

It seeks initiatives that inspire, innovate and deliver high-quality public services to ensure no one is left behind.

Categories

• Submitted initiatives must be relevant to one of the categories below:
  • Delivering inclusive and equitable services to leave no one behind
    • Providing inclusive and equitable public services to all is crucial for the well-being of the population and is required to promote inclusive and sustainable development and accelerate the realization of the SDGs, including in areas such as education, healthcare, public utilities and social services.
  • Gender-responsive public services
    • Gender-responsive public services are crucial for promoting equality and ensuring that the unique needs of women and girls are addressed. Ensuring that public services are gender-responsive is not only a matter of fairness but is also essential for achieving sustainable and inclusive development. By considering gender-specific challenges in areas such as healthcare, education, safety, and employment, public services can be enhanced to better support women’s empowerment and reduce gender-based disparities.
  • Transparent and accountable public institutions to achieve the SDGs
    • Promoting transparent and accountable public institutions is essential for fostering trust and ensuring effective governance. Transparency allows access to information on how public resources are used and how decisions are made. Accountability ensures that public institutions operate in accordance with the law and that public officials are held responsible for their actions. It provides mechanisms for people and oversight institutions to observe and analyze government decisions, policies and service delivery.
  • Participation and public engagement for inclusive decision-making.
    • Participation and public engagement are vital for inclusive decision-making, as they ensure that diverse voices and perspectives are heard and considered in policy and governance processes. Public engagement promotes transparency, builds trust in institutions, and empowers individuals to contribute to shaping the policies that affect their lives.

Eligibility Criteria

• The UNPSA is open to all public institutions at the national, sub-national and local levels from all UN member states. In the case of partnerships, the application must include the public institution in charge of the initiative. The UNPSA is awarded to the implementing public institution, not to a country or an individual.
• The initiative must have been implemented for a minimum of two years.
• To avoid conflicts of interest, the initiative must not be implemented by the United Nations System.

Evaluation Criteria

• The initiative should present an innovative idea, policy, new approach, or an improved mechanism that supports the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It could be improving the delivery of public services, solving a problem of public concern, or strengthening public institutions. Initiatives will be evaluated according to three main criteria: innovation, impact and adaptability.
• Innovation
  • Innovation is broadly defined as adopting new approaches to problem-solving, exploring alternative methods, enhancing existing systems, and taking risks to create something original. It extends beyond technological advancements and the use of digital technologies.
• Impact
  • The initiative should make a positive impact and catalyze change.
• Adaptability
  • The initiative should be applicable and adaptable to other contexts for possible upscaling or replication.

Application Requirements

• The UNPSA programme will continue to accept applications in all six UN official languages. However, applicants are strongly encouraged to apply in English and French, the working languages of the Secretariat.
• Applications submitted in other than the six official languages will not be accepted. For supporting documents or materials in non-official languages, a brief summary in one of the official languages must be provided.
• While the programme will strive to engage evaluators fluent in official languages, limited resources may require the use of translation tools for evaluation.

For more information, visit Department of Economic and Social Affairs.