Ghana will on Thursday, June 23, 2022, join African countries and the rest of the world to commemorate this year’s United Nations and African Union Public Service Day (UN/AU PSD).
This was contained in a statement issued by Mr Victor Way Kuvodu, Acting Deputy Secretary in charge of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Public Services Commission (PSC), in Accra on Wednesday.
Members of the United Nations and African Union have celebrated the UN/AU Public Service Day on June 23 of each year since 2003.
Africa Public Service Day (APSD) is an event entrenched in the African Union calendar.
Its origin is traced from the Conference of African Ministers for Public or Civil Service held in Tangier, Morocco in 1994.
The Day is commemorated annually to “recognise the value and virtue of service to the community,” and is also a platform to reflect and share practical recommendations on women empowerment in public service nationally and across the African continent, the statement said.
At the global stage, the UN General Assembly designated 23 June as Public Service Day by adopting resolution 57/277 on 20th December 2002.
To bolster recognition of the Day and the value of public service, the United Nations established the UN Public Service Awards (UNPSA) programme in 2003, which was reviewed in 2016 to align with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The UNPSA aims to promote and reward innovation and excellence in public services by recognising the creative achievements and contributions of public institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide in support of sustainable development.
The 2022 National APSD commemoration will be celebrated in a dispensation where African countries are slowly emerging from the effect COVID-19 and directing efforts at resumption of full service delivery and generally instituting counter-measures to avoid the resurgence of the COVID-19 waves among the population.
“AU Member States will have the opportunity to reflect on and assess the efficiency of service delivery tools at its disposal during and after a pandemic and more specifically how the journey on Africa We Want has been progressed on disciplines such as achieving food security, resilience in nutrition and other commitments under the SDGs and Agenda 2063.”
It will be held under the theme “Enhancing the Resilience of the African Public Administration to Support and Facilitate the Realization of Africa’s Nutritional Needs during and post COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The annual celebration of APSD in the member states has grown from strength to strength, both in numbers of participants and the sophistication in the organization of the events.
The celebration in Ghana over the years under the various themes has contributed to generation of greater enthusiasm among the populace for increased access to the services provided by the public sector institutions and the demand for quality service delivery from the public servants who have equally become conscious of the value and virtue of service delivery to the citizenry.
Some public servants who distinguished themselves are recognised at well organised events and this continues to keep our public servants motivated to deliver.
Also, the celebration has contributed to improved services delivery, enhanced engagement with the citizens as well as improved accountability.
Most especially, the annual celebration has contributed to increase in public knowledge about the mandates and functions of the various public service organisations in charge of specific aspects of our social and economic lives, as the PSOs use the celebration to present their services and products to the public at organised fairs and fora.
For instance, in 2013, the celebration offered the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority and the National Narcotics Control Commission and others who had the opportunity to display their public education materials.
The statement urged public servants to join the session physically by invitation and via zoom.
