Indian sanitation project wins UN award
For its pioneering work in the field of community-managed water resources, Gujarat’s Water and Sanitation Management Organisation has won the prestigious UN Public Services Award. The internationally acclaimed awards recognise creative institutional efforts that promote people’s participation in policy and decision-making.
New York: A mobile community health clinic in Zambia and an electronic service that enables Seoul's citizens to access information on the quality of water supplied to their homes are among a dozen innovative programmes honoured with the United Nations Public Service Awards 2009.
- As part of the project, villagers are trained to monitor water quality/ Photo credit: WASMO
This year’s Awards also recognised projects in Canada, Egypt, India, Oman, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden and Thailand for using novel approaches to improve the delivery of services, transparency, accountability and responsiveness in public service.
From India, Gujarat's Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) was conferred the Award for "Fostering Participation in Policy-Making Decisions Through Innovative Mechanisms" for their work in the field of 'institutionalisation of community management and user's level participation in the drinking water supply'.
The programme involved improving access to water in rural areas by engaging citizens in water management, which was developed by the organisation in 2002. This programme has been also instrumental in playing a key role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"This year's winners and finalists show that public services can be delivered more efficiently, effectively and equitably all over the world," UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said at the awards ceremony held yesterday at the UN Headquarters in New York.
"The ingredients are simple: commitment, hard work, innovation, talent and technological know-how," he said. "Combined, they make a powerful recipe. And together, these women and men make vital contributions to our efforts to build a better world for all."
Ban added that the UN has long recognised that effective governance and efficient public administration are central to the global development agenda, particularly in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set of anti-poverty targets world leaders have pledged to try to achieve by 2015.
In addition to the 12 winners, the Center for Public Service Innovation in South Africa, the Shanghai-based Regional Cooperation Office for City Informatisation and the Institute of Public Administration in Central America were recognised with a special award that celebrates achievements in advancing knowledge sharing through the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to advance the MDGs and other development goals.
The UN Public Service Awards programme was established in 2003 to reward excellence and promote professionalism in the public sector around the world, and is open to public organisations and agencies at national or sub-national levels, as well as public-private partnerships.
Initiatives are divided into four categories: improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public service; improving the delivery of services; fostering participation in policymaking decisions through innovative mechanisms; and advancing knowledge management in government.
