Public Service and Administration Minister, Senzo Mchunu, will lead the South African delegation at the 8th annual Africa Public Service Day (APSD) conference to be held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 21 to 23 June 2021.
During the three-day conference, the Minister will share developments in the country’s state of public service, development and governance practices.
This year’s APSD celebrations will be held at the Victoria Falls Conference Centre in Harare under the theme , ‘Building the Africa we want through embracing an ethical culture that underpins purpose driven leadership in the context of a crisis’.
The conference will see Ministers of some of the 55 African Union Member States responsible for Labour, Public and Civil Service, in their respective countries, converging to discuss the state of public service on the continent, governance issues, best practices and innovative ways on how to improve the effectiveness of the public service, amidst the COVID- 19 pandemic.
Discussions at the three-day conference will be phased along the following sub- themes:
– Celebrating the contribution of the public servant: a story of courage and resilience in the management of the COVID-19 Pandemic
– Embracing Cultural diversity as a lever to strengthen institutions for a responsive and ethical public administration
– Deploying technology to sustain and enhance service delivery in the face of this challenging COVID-19 pandemic climate
– Achieve inclusivity through harnessing Arts and culture, as instruments to inform markets and build demand side capacity for effective and efficient service delivery.
The APSD programme is also being observed in various countries as a week-long programme from 21- 25 June 2021, consisting of various activities, with the 3 day continental celebration being the kick-off event.
Locally, a programme comprising of a series of webinars will commence on 23 June, with a ‘Dialogue on Youth Development in the Public Service,’ which will be preceded by a virtual showcasing and sharing of public service innovations unearthed in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will be followed by a ‘Dialogue on Frontline Service Delivery Monitoring,’ a webinar which seeks to create a platform for engagement, focusing on addressing the role of the public service and participatory governance and development of an efficient and effective developmental state.
The last event of the week will be a Master Class Webinar to be hosted by the National School of Government (NSG), where African public servants will be afforded an opportunity to critically reflect on their work and present urgent steps required to improve the effectiveness of the public service.
Information on these events will be shared on social media pages of the DPSA as well as the NSG. – SAnews.gov.za
