The United Nations together with the Austrian Government and UNDESA hosted the 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government on the theme of "Building Trust in Government" at UN headquarters in Vienna, June 26^th – 29^th 2007.

Observing the rule of law, respecting human rights, safeguarding social equality and enabling women's empowerment are indispensable dimensions of good governance, said Ursula Plassnik, Austria’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, during the opening ceremony.

Austria was proud to host one of the headquarters of the United Nations in Vienna, being the only one in the European Union, said Ursula Plassnik. The conference, also explored strategies and innovations that generate improvements in governance and earn the trust of citizens.

The conference is held every two years since 1999 and took place in the Austria Center, Vienna. The Global Forum on Reinventing Government has addressed the need for improvements in governance and public administration, offering a good opportunity to examine the issue from different angles, be it accountability, transparency and access to information or be it participation and inclusion of all sectors of society in the political process. The last conference was held in Seoul in the Republic of Korea in 2005.

Trust was examined in terms of the capacity of the public sector and the cost of the lack of trust. Efficient, accountable, effective and transparent governance plays a key role in the implementation of policy objectives and internationally agreed goals.

Over the course of four days, more than 2,000 delegates, including Heads of State, Government Leaders, Ministers, Parliamentarians, Lord Mayors, Government Officials, Experts, Managers as well as representatives of international organisations of civil society and non-government organisations (including WFWPI) met together in plenary sessions, workshops and meetings. The conference designed to contribute directly to the Millennium Development Goals by strengthening state capacity and improving the quality of governance, examined best practices and alternative strategies for "Building Trust in Government".

Senior officials had the chance to exchange innovations in government reinvention, share perspectives with international colleagues and discuss different methods of strengthening public confidence. The conference also aimed to promote better international and regional cooperation, while giving government officials an opportunity to exchange good practices and experiences. The Plenary sessions, working groups and meetings were designed to contribute directly to the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by strengthening government capacity and quality of governance.

In a time of constant global population growth and connectivity, the necessity to strengthen mutual understanding, to ensure a mutual beneficial dependency is the challenge of the 21st Century, thus the challenge to include marginalized groups, including the poor in the political process, to ensure that government leadership is representative and beneficial for all members of society.

Trust in Government and trust between socio-economic partners is an increasingly relevant theme in developed as well as in developing economies. The need for strategies to build and strengthen trust as a foundation for social cooperation and for mutual benefit is essential.

The ability of the Global community to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to ensure security and to uphold the standards of Human Rights, depends on the trust that people have in their governments. Governments need to earn this trust by encouraging public participation in political activity, to strengthen the cohesion between communities and by practicing transparency, accountability and efficiency in government leadership.

Before the 7th Global Forum in Vienna, there were eight Regional Forums which defined the challenges. The results of these conferences were presented in Vienna.

In his Welcome Address Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, said “Trust between citizens, between member states, and in government itself is one of the most vital needs for peace and the prosperity of humankind. Our ability to work together to confront common threats and promote mutually beneficial objectives – such as the Millennium Development Goals – requires that we nurture this invaluable commodity.”

The Federal President of Austria, Heinz Fischer, said: A prerequisite for democracy is the modern idea of mankind, as developed by the Enlightenment and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations: an idea of mankind that is based on the principle of equality of all human beings. Only on this basis can the principle of democracy evolve successfully and persist durably.

Jose Antonio da Costa, Under-Secretary General of the UN: Improvements in governance and public administration have become increasingly recognized by the international community as central pillars to the successful implementation of the UN development agenda, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). No longer can our communities act in isolation from the outside world; everyone is affected by the acts of others, even if indirectly.

On the 28 & 29 June 2007 seven parallel Capacity Development Workshops were held on: Restoring Trust in Government through Public Sector Innovation; Managing Knowledge to Build Trust in Government; Decentralization and Local Governance; Improving the Quality of the Electoral and Parliamentary Process; Building Trust Through Civic Engagement; Reinvention with Integrity: Using the UN Convention Against Corruption and: Governance Challenges in Crisis and Post-Conflict Countries.

In Workshop V, Building Trust through Civic Engagement the Queensland Government Community Engagement Alliance, Kyung Hee University, the New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the International Budget Project (IBP) and the Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA) offered a capacity development workshop on Building Trust through Civic Engagement’

A lack of trust in government is often accompanied by increases in voter apathy, disenchantment with the political process, and declines in productive civic participation and contributions to public life. The challenge therefore becomes how to motivate and encourage civic engagement in the policy processes which impact the lives of citizens. This workshop discussed some of the successful ways that local and national governments addressed this challenge by implementing policies that encourage engagement, address marginalization, and lead to more effective participation. A broad overview of the concept of engaged governance, effective participation, and innovative tools to build social capital and networks of cooperation was followed by more specific discussions of civil society engagement in budgeting and public accountability. Various techniques of developing and reinforcing social trust, alternative participatory mechanisms, strategies to build coalitions with different socio-economic actors in open and transparent ways, and means of advancing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

http://www.7thglobalforum.org

 Prepared by Lilly Gundacker for WFWPI with grateful support of the UN Information Service website:

http://www.7thglobalforum.org/site3.aspx

 

Photographs