Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption Community of Practice SURVEY RESULTS Europe and the CIS May 2005

The Invitation  An invitation to join the PAR-AC CoP was sent out to 170 staff members in the region who had indicated an interest for PAR-AC issues in a previous large-scale survey of interests and competencies of UNDP staff.  Those who wanted to be members were asked to complete a questionnaire that was attached to the invitation.

The Questionnaire

28 questionnaires were received. questionnaires were received. Out of those, 22 respondents opted to be active members, and 6 passive.

CoP Communication – Face to Face Meetings - The favored format is sub-practice thematic meetings (64% of respondents are “very interested”, 21% are “ medium interested”). - There is some, but less, interest for staff exchanges (46% of respondents “ very interested”, 25% “ medium interested”) and sub-regional/ geographic meetings (46% of respondents “very interested”, 25% “medium interested”).

CoP communication - Online  Respondents are most interested in best practice exchange (71% of respondents have indicated that they are “very interested”, 21% that they are “medium interested”.)  There is also interest for case study exchange (57% “very”, 32% “medium”)  In addition, there is some, but less, interest for policy advice exchange, Action Reflection Note exchange and a CoP web page.

Top 12 most commonly marked theme- tool combinations for CoP products - Public participation in decision making – How- to guide (15) - Different regional traditions of public administration – Case study analyses (15) - Anti-Corruption strategies and plans – Case study analyses (13) - Performance management – Training course (12) - Public participation and awareness – Regional version of practice note (12)

Top 12 continued… - Policy development mechanisms – Policy paper (11) - Convention reporting – How-to guide (11) - Performance management – How-to guide (11) - Public participation and awareness – How-to guide (11) - Poverty and corruption in the group of poorest countries – Case study analyses (10) - Public participation in decision making – Case study analysis (10) - Procurement – How-to guide (10)

Which theme-tools should the CoP focus on? (respondents were asked to list three top priorities)

TOP 4 PRIORITY FOCI  EU Accession and Harmonization  Public Participation in Decision Making  Anti-Corruption Strategies and Plans  Functional Reviews

EU Accession and Harmonization - COUNTRIES

EU Accession and Harmonization - TOOLS

Public Participation in Decision Making - COUNTRIES

Public Participation in Decision Making – TOOLS

Anti-Corruption Strategies and Plans - COUNTRIES

Anti-Corruption Strategies and Plans - TOOLS

Functional Reviews - COUNTRIES

Functional Reviews - TOOLS

Other comments:  “Each CoP event should be clearly linked to participating COs' programme needs. For example, should the CoP facilitators be aware of CO's programmes in the related area and ensure that COs' staff brings CoP "products" back to their own offices and projects. A training and capacity building framework should be developed and agreed by COs. For this we should top CB advisors - like Raymond Clark, who builds his training and capacity building work on participation and feedback.”

Other comments continued…  “I could say from my personal experience that those sub-practice meetings are most efficient that have a specific focus / topic; not too many general presentations; where not only UNDP staff but also national project managers or government / NGO representatives involved in certain initiatives take part. Get to know who the counterparts in other countries / offices are is a very important motivating factor.”

Other comments continued…  “It has become extremely difficult to manage the invitations to all CoP meetings and workshops. The staff has constantly been on travel while the productivity of the COP meetings is yet to be confirmed. Instead; we should start using virtual means such as videoconference facilities. It saves the cost and allows more participants (not only COs but our partners in the government and civil society) to attend the event. The WB's experiences could be helpful to learn from.”

Other comments continued…  “To support the above the CoP events database can be developed to track the knowledge received. As an example - UNDP Albania has developed an interactive sharing database. It can be accessed through “

Other comments continued…  “It would be actually very useful to go to a 'best practice' country from the region and work with colleagues on actually developing a plan of action for public reform/anti-corruption. It could be for both regional and local levels.”  “The role of culture in public administration and anti-corruption reforms should be examined, together with the impact of economic transition.”

Other comments continued…  “Kindly note that my responses are focused on EU accession matters and that I strongly believe that there should be a New EU Member States and Pre-Accession countries group. One topic of key importance is the absorption of the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds.”  “The weak point among post-soviet countries is AC Laws Drafting and its implementation. They do not have so good anticorruption legislation.”

Other comments continued…  “The partnership of and with civil society at large (including trade unions, employers associations, religious communities, etc.) in anti- corruption mechanisms and public participation deserves more attention.”  “PAR and anti-corruption should be addressed also from a local level perspective, since many SEE and CIS countries are not homogeneous and present areas out of the central governments' control.”