United Nations Public Service Day: History, Importance and How to Celebrate the day

United Nations Public Service Day will be set apart on June 23 (Wednesday) across the globe including Pakistan to perceive the way that democracy and successful governance are based on the foundation of skilled civil service.

United Nations Public Service Day, celebrated on 23 June every year, perceives the value and virtue of public service to the community; features the contribution of public service in the improvement interaction; perceives the work of public servants, and urges youngsters to seek after careers in the public sector.

The role of public service and individuals occupied with it acquire much more important when a pandemic is seething across the globe, killing over 9.9 lakh individuals around the world. Every year the United Nations Public Service Day is seen on June 23 as a mark of respect and gratitude to individuals in public service, here and there imperiling their lives, in nations across the world.

United Nations (UN) holds a Public Service Awards ceremony every year. It rewards the inventive accomplishments and contributions of public service institutions around the world.

Numerous public service organizations and departments throughout the world celebrate this day by holding different events to perceive the significant role that public servants play in making enhancements in society.

Activities including data days highlighting slows down and booths about the public service; organized lunches with visitor speakers; internal awards ceremonies within public service agencies or departments; and special declarations to honor public servants.

This day was made to celebrate the value and virtue of public service of the community; feature the contribution of public service in the improvement interaction; perceive the work of public servants, and urge youngsters to seek after careers in the public sector.

United Nations Public Service Day History

On 20 December 2002, the General Assembly assigned 23 June as Public Service Day by adopting resolution 57/277.

UN Public Service Day celebrates the value and virtue of public service of the community; features the contribution of public service in the advancement interaction; perceives the work of public servants, and urges youngsters to seek after careers in the public sector.

To support acknowledgment of the Day and the value of public service, the United Nations set up the UN Public Service Awards (UNPSA) program in 2003, which was audited in 2016 to line up with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UNPSA means to promote and reward innovation and excellence in public services by perceiving the creative accomplishments and contributions of public institutions that lead to a more viable and responsive policy administration in nations worldwide in support of sustainable development.

Every year UN DESA organizes the Forum with a host country, using the event to host capacity-development workshops, the UN Public Service Awards ceremony, and a Ministerial Roundtable. Attracting together approximately 800 to 1,000 members, the Forum is a space for world leaders, Ministers, and other senior decision-makers to discuss arising issues and trends, discuss good practices, strategies, accelerated actions, and innovative approaches for effective service delivery and transforming institutions.

The last decade achieved a digital revolution that changed the way we live, work, and govern. Technology and information-driven innovations have expanded the speed of our daily life, opened up data and raised common society voices, and changed how we solve issues, design policy, and deliver services.

In parallel, governments find themselves under resource pressures and increasing public demands, doing considerably more, with less. The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic was a competitive edge to these trends, presenting remote work in government, digital service delivery, virtual service teams, and even new portfolios.

Today, every country in the world needs to reevaluate the structure and operating model of its civil service as we enter the third decade of the 21st century. The next era will see fundamental changes in how public servants, are hired, trained, and retained. We will see more technology being utilized to settle on better decisions, monitor performance, and deliver service, and there will be a requirement for the private sector, and more extensive society, to play a bigger role in all part of making public worth.

The future public service should be more light-footed, technically knowledgeable, information-driven, and human-driven. These are central components to assemble future availability, guarantee comprehensive strategies and responsive administrations, lessen imbalances, and bring trust up in government.

To praise the 2021 United Nations Public Service Day, the Division of Public Institutions and Digital Government of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the government of the United Arab Emirates will host a 1.5-hour virtual event on 23 June under the theme of “Innovating the Future Public Service: New Government Models for a New Era to Reach the SDGs”. The event will unite key stakeholders, public servants, and UN officials to honor the work of public servants.