Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Report on “Changing Mindsets to Realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which aims to support countries in building their capacities to achieve Agenda 2030, was released on 1st October this year.
The publication, prepared by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (UN DESA), through its Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG), provides key recommendations on how to promote public servants’ mindsets, competencies, and behaviours to foster effectiveness, accountability, and inclusiveness in the public sector.
It is intended as a companion document to the Curriculum on Governance for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its Toolkit on Changing Mindsets in Public Institutions to Implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, developed by UN DESA/DPIDG.
The Report emphasises the need for governments to work with a sense of urgency and rethink their policies and institutions to deliver quality services for all and create the conditions for more prosperous and equitable societies given that there are nine years remaining to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the world is currently faced with the challenge to effectively recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, the importance for governments to give high priority to developing the right mindsets, capacities, and skills for mainstreaming and implementing the SDGs, is also highlighted in the Report.
The publication is divided into two parts. Part I (Chapters 1 to 10) examines key concepts related to changing mindsets. It offers strategies, approaches and tools that can facilitate a change in public servants’ mindsets and behaviours. Part II (Chapters 11 to 15) of the publication provides a regional perspective of what schools of public administration are doing to promote new mindsets and behaviours to achieve the SDGs. It features opportunities, approaches, and accelerators for developing capacities and promoting change in public service.
It is recalled that the idea of producing the Report was conceived in 2019 as a follow-up to the workshop on “Mobilizing and Equipping Public Servants to Realize the 2030 Agenda”. The workshop brought together worldwide experts on the subject matter of changing mindsets and allowed for insightful discussions with many schools of public administration. It was organised by the UN DESA during the United Nations Public Service Forum in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan.
