The Government of Pakistan recognizes institutional reform and modernization of the public sector as one of the pillars of development and growth framework. To actualize this vision, the Ministry of Planning Development & Reform (MoPDR) proposed a project for enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of the public sector through institutional change and robust performance management.

In order to support the government in this task, UNDP signed a four-year project with MoPDR titled “Reforms and Innovation in Government for High Performance”.

Strategic guidance and oversight of the project is carried out both by the Steering Committee of the Institutional Reform Group, as well as by the Project Board which is co- chaired by the Minister, MoPDR and the Country Director, UNDP-Pakistan.  The Board’s composition includes representatives of the Planning Commission, Economic Affairs Division, Finance Division, Establishment Division, IT Division, the Planning and Development Divisions of the provinces and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Achievements

• Detailed review and analysis of past reform efforts through research studies, consultations with stakeholders and leveraging UNDP’s international experience. More than 200 meetings conducted with approximately 3000 stakeholders to seek feedback and suggestions on civil service and governance reform
• Revision of Planning Commission’s ‘Development Manual’ conducted
• ·Studies on Executive Recruitment and Compensation in Public Sector conducted
• Implemented training on ‘Building Capacity to use Research Evidence (BCURE)’ modules through NSPP. It was a Harvard designed course for the senior public servants to use data in policy. Over 2,071 civil servants trained
• Weightage of Training Evaluation Reports (TERs) increased from 15% to 35% in the Performance Evaluation Reports (PERs)
• Provided support to Prime Minister’s Task Forces on Civil Service Reform and Austerity and Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms through need-based policy research
• Provided technical and operational support to office of SAPM Establishment for implementation of performance contracts
• A comprehensive Training Needs Assessment (TNA) exercise completed in consultation with National School of Public Policy (NSPP) for identifying gaps between demand and supply of skills for public servants and propose measures to address these gaps
• Conducted the first Stock-Take Workshop on public sector reforms in Pakistan, attended by the members of the PM’s Task Forces, MoPDSI officials, and representatives of the donor community
• ·Second phase of the Citizen Perception Survey initiated in KP and Punjab. The survey will identify areas and districts where citizens’ satisfaction with service delivery is low and identify underlying factors which negatively affect service delivery
• ·Conducted an all-encompassing digital readiness assessment of the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication (MoITT) and its key attached organizations: National Information technology Board, IGNITE, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) and National Telecommunication Corporation. This assessment gauged organizational digital readiness in three categories: a) infrastructure maturity b) business process continuity c) digital readiness of employees

What’s next?

• Provision of technical and operational support to office of SAPM Establishment for implementation of performance contracts
• Provision of technical and operational support to Task Forces on Civil Service Reform and Austerity and Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms (CCIR)/ by conducting need-based policy research
• Provision of technical and operational support for conducting survey to measure citizens’ satisfaction with public service delivery in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab
• Provision of technical assistance to MoPDSI to act as a research think-tank to Government of Pakistan

Download the PROJECT BRIEF