Public sector reform & governance

The role of DevPar in public sector reform has been to facilitate restructuring aimed at enhancing accountability, strengthening governance and increasing transparency. Reform of the public sector has been undertaken to meet a number of objectives. Dominant amongst these has been the desire to provide more effective service to the public and to distinguish between the role of the public sector and that of the private sector in the delivery of services. Features of reform have included: rewriting governing legislation and changing regulations; revising the terms of human resource management; decentralising government functions to be closer to the people served; strengthening governance and accountability; introducing new computer and management information systems. At the heart of public sector reform is the introduction of change management processes and extensive training and consultations.

The approach to reform has been different across countries in terms of how management is to be performed and held accountable for results. In some cases, management contracts are entered into in a manner that provides more latitude for planning and action, but under the proviso that satisfactory results will be achieved. In other cases, more traditional forms of adjustment have been made to historical approaches to management with a view to gradually extending more latitude for the management of resources with attendant changes in civil service regulations.

Changes in the activities focused on by government, rather than privatised or outsourced to the private sector, have led to different orientations to work by civil servants. These changes have required extensive management to achieve. At the same time, DevPar Group members have facilitated the commercialisation, outsourcing and privatisation of functions where appropriate.

Although the member firms have been involved in several dimensions of public sector reform, a large concentration of projects has been in the establishment of improved financial planning, budgeting and reporting systems for application across government. This work has been complemented by strengthening the internal control features. It has included improving the audit function by supporting the conduct of financial/compliance audits, performance audits and investigations.

Some of the assignments carried out by member firms are listed below:

List of Projects:

Recovery of Central Bank Accounting System - Angola

Development of a Policy for Telecommunications - Angola

Development of a training program to support the licencing of securities market professionals. - Angola

Streamlining and Strengthening External and Internal Audit and Control in the Government of Armenia - Armenia

Pension accounting and administrative reform - Armenia

Securities Market Training Study - Bangladesh

Market Study of Demand for financial products and recommend how to meet demand. - Belize

Research into the CIDA classification systems for project experience - Canada

Bank Payment Systems Reform - Legal Component - Eastern Caribbean

Evaluated draft legislation proposed for stimulating Investment Promotion - Ethiopia

West African regional securities market - Evaluate the market and make proposals for strengthening. - French West Africa Monetary and Economic Union

Enhance economic forecasting to support monetary policy management - Ghana

Agriculture Development Bank Operational Strengthening - Ghana

Regulatory Reform of Government - Ghana

Establishment of an Audit Function that was to become the Supreme Audit Institution. - Guinea-Bissau

Review and assessment of government budgeting and reporting system - Guyana

Operational Assessment of Private Sector Development Project - India

Modernization of the Department of Statistics - Lithuania

Provide training and technical material on corporate governance in banking industry - Mozambique

A review of the micro prudential indicators used in banking supervision - Russia

Study of credit cooperatives - Russia

Financial Institution for the region to support infrastructure development - SADC

Evaluation of Training and TA to the Offices of the Auditors General of the South Pacific - South Pacific OAGs

Support to the Bank of Tanzania on the Development of the Capital Market. - Tanzania

Evaluation of Investment Promotion Centre - Tanzania

Operational/financial model and training for smaller micro-finance institutions. - Thailand

A financial market study and a market development plan - The Gambia

Evaluation of Financial Market Development program. - Uganda

Primary Dealers in Government Securities - Uganda

Review and assessment of Government Budgeting and Reporting System - Vietnam

Banking System Reform including Strengthening of Banking Supervision - Vietnam