News and Events

The Role of Public Administration in Alleviating Poverty and Improving Governance
Launching Conference of the Network of Asia-Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 6-8 December 2004

Purpose

The conference will take a critical look at the crucial role public administration plays in poverty alleviation through improved governance. While poverty alleviation is a responsibility of all stakeholders (the government, the private sector, the civil society, and the international development community), it is the government which must provide the enabling environment for efforts to succeed.

Good governance facilitates effective pro-poor strategies while weak governance hurts the poor the most, highlighting the vital role that public administration plays in the fight against poverty. Promoting pro-poor development needs a flexible, result-oriented and proactive public administration.

It is in this context in which this conference intends to discuss some of the critical concerns of good governance that challenges public administration in Asia and the Pacific.

Objectives

As the launching conference of NAPSIPAG, this meeting aims to achieve three main objectives:

1. Put in place a network of public administration schools and institutes in the Asia-Pacific region that would unite them in further developing the role of public administration both as a discipline and as a profession, particularly in making it more responsive and relevant to serving the needs of society.
2. Provide a venue for educators and practitioners to share expertise and experiences on the role public administration plays in promoting good governance and poverty alleviation.
3. Look at innovations in poverty alleviation and good governance that can be used to promote development in general and improve outcomes for the poor in particular.

Participants

The conference aims to bring together public administration professionals, civil servants, academics, trainers, researchers in Asia, and the Pacific concerned with educating or training current and future generations of civil servants and students who are or will be serving in public management positions.

Public Administration professionals with an interest in Asia-Pacific, but from outside the region are also welcome to participate and submit papers.

Program

• View the program (as of 3 December 2004) [ PDF:210kb| 3 pages ]

Conference Panels

To achieve its objectives, the conference will be organized into plenaries and panels dealing with specific sub-themes. The sub-themes deal with fundamental issues facing public administration as it attempts to reduce poverty:

• leadership and change management
• citizen empowerment through participation
• economic and financial management
• effective public service delivery
• gender-responsive governance
• strengthening democratic institutions

Special session on the Teaching of Public Administration and Policy

A special session will be devoted to new trends and innovations in the teaching of public administration and public policy in the Asia-Pacific Region. The objective is to understand the challenges of teaching Public Administration and Policy in the region and devise an effective strategy for dealing with them. It is expected that eventually, a database of teaching resources will be developed which NAPSIPAG member institutions will be able to access.

Topics that could be covered at this special session include:

• Challenges in using Western teaching materials in Asian and Pacific settings
• Designing core curriculum for professional education in public administration and policy
• Preparing case studies relevant to the region
• Challenges for executive training programs in the region

Conference Details

The Conference will start on Monday, 6 December 2004 and end at noon on Wednesday, 8 December.

Financial Assistance: Financial assistance to attend the conference may be available to participants from developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank. Preference will be given to paper presenters. Please inform the organizers as early as possible.

Confirmation Requirements: All participants must confirm their attendance on or before 30 September 2004.

Accommodation: The participants will stay at the:

Passport and Visa: All foreign travelers entering Malaysia must have a valid passport for at least 6 months and the required travel documents. Please contact the Malaysian Embassy in your country to find out about visa requirements.

Contacts

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Jak Jabes
Director
RSGR
Asian Development Bank
Email: jjabes@adb.org

Ms. Eden V. Santiago
Coordinator
NAPSIPAG
Email: esantiago@adb.org

Governance and Regional Cooperation Division
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Asian Development Bank
6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 0401
Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. + 632 632 6636
Fax: + 632 636 2193

The Organizers

The Asian Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific

INTAN is Malaysia's National Institute of Public Administration serving as a training center for Malaysian public officials.

About NAPSIPAG

The Asian Development Bank, a regional development organization is implementing a technical assistance (TA) project that seeks to establish a network of schools and institutes of public administration within Asia and the Pacific. ADB recognizes the importance and potential of these institutions particularly in influencing the quality of governance in their respective countries.

The TA aims to create a network with the capacity to:

• provide effective capacity-building services to member institutes on a sustainable basis
• encourage the sharing of expertise and good practices
• assist the member institutes in the continuing development of public administration theory and practice through research and other initiatives
• foster cooperation and collaboration between and among the member institutes and individuals in the pursuit of common interests.

The long-term goal of creating the network is to build and enhance the capacities of public administration schools and institutes as well as research organizations and think tanks in the region to enable them to transform their respective governments as effective agents of good governance.

Some of the preparatory actions towards the creation of the network include:

• creation of a database
• invitation of interested institutions to a region-wide conference to launch the network
• preparations to establish a network secretariat
• identification of activities and funding opportunities for the network. oster cooperation and collaboration between and among the member institutes and individuals in the pursuit of common interests.

The proposed benefits that may be gained by the members from joining the network are:

• enhancing national capacity to promote good governance
• strengthening member institutions
• encouraging improved professional competence
• promoting knowledge about good governance
• creating a professional identity and community
• promoting professional standards and ethics
• promoting professional communication about good governance
• promoting the discipline of public administration
• promoting academic freedom.