United Nations Public Service Day

Public service refers to the supplying of a commodity (e.g., water, electricity, gas) or service (e.g., welfare, transportation) to any or all members of a community, in the public interest and (usually) under government employment. Public Service Day is to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community, highlight the contribution of public service in the development process, recognise the work of public servants, and encourage the pursuit of careers in the public sector. Each year also, the United Nations (UN) recognises the contributions of public institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the UN Public Service Awards (UNPSA). Nominations for 2021 are now closed but prepare for 2022 (nominations close November 2021). Congratulations to the 2020 winners:

• Seongdong District’s HYO Policy (Republic of Korea) — doctors and nurses providing home health visits in five areas (health checkups, chronic disease management, depression and dementia management, and financial support for medical bills) to the old-old who were suffering from serious economic poverty, frailty, and social isolation.
• ASET – Automatic Social Energy Tariff (Portugal) — a national interoperability platform automating proactive checks for eligibility and attribution of social tariffs to families in need of financial support for their energy services.
• Jaboatão Prepara (Brazil) — encourage middle school students’ access to and attendance in secondary level technical schools, by offering professional guidance and a free preparatory course for low-income students with extra classes on Saturdays, including with online options for learning.
• Consejo Nuevo León para la Planeación Estratégica (Mexico) — designing a 15-year strategic plan was designed Nuevo León integrating experience and knowledge from civil society, academia, businesses and government across the six key areas of human development, sustainable development, economic development, security and justice, effective government, and public finance.
• e-Mutation (Bangladesh) — an efficient digital mechanism for mutation of land (the method of changing the title of ownership from one person to another when the property is inherited, transferred or sold) applications to ensure fairness, transparency and accountability, and for the processing of land-related issues and grievances.
• ICT Integration into Teaching and Learning (Botswana) — regional information and communication technology (ICT) integration into teaching and learning through a web-based interactive platform (e-Thuto) of e-learning (targeting teachers and learners with parental participation) and data management (targeting school principals/heads and the Regional Director) modules.
• Justicia Digital: La visión 360º de la Seguridad (Spain) — a technology platform for accessing electronic legal proceedings including online participation, e-information exchange with third parties, access to case information online, recordings of trials and transmission of procedures between judicial bodies.