Supporting Public Administration Reform in Georgia (PAR) - Phase 2

summary

With funds from the UK Government and in close cooperation with the national partners, UNDP assists the Government of Georgia to carry out the Public Administration Reform (PAR). The project echoes three policy areas under PAR: Policy Planning and Coordination, Human Resources Management and Civil Service Reform, and Public Service Delivery.  

The project builds on successes and lessons learned during the previous iteration of UNDP’s “Supporting Public Administration Reform (PAR) in Georgia” project (phase 1) and transforms its focus to creating effective processes that give real-life, operational meaning to the new laws, rules and regulations in each of the target area.

The goal of the project is to enhance the capability of the Government of Georgia to implement its national development agenda that will contribute to its European integration, through a more effective, professionally trained, unified and independent public administration that delivers public services with greater accountability and responsiveness to citizens’ needs.

what we do

Policy Planning and Coordination: We support the Government of Georgia in enhancing whole-of-government policy planning and implementation and in introducing strong mechanisms for holistic monitoring, evaluation and fostering meaningful public participation, through training and consultancy support and methodological guidance.

Human Resources Management and Civil Service Reform: We assist the formation of increasingly professional, merit-based, non-partisan and uniformly trained civil service that enjoys protection from arbitrary decisions through increasing knowledge and awareness among civil servants about civil service reform and its implications;  operationalization of a unified training system; introduction of staff performance appraisal based on effective international models; development of tools for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and engagement of civil society organizations to provide evidence and practical solutions for enhancement of policy planning, civil service reform and public service delivery.

Public Service Delivery: By introducing common standards and principles of public service design and delivery, we work with the Government of Georgia to further institutionalize the achievements made in public service provision and ensure that they are sustainable, replicable and cover the ever-widening array of the government agencies that provide services to citizens and organizations. We also strive to contribute to the increased usage of these services online, through improved and user-centred e-governance platforms.

results so far

Policy Planning and Coordination

  • Adoption of the whole-of-government policy regulatory guidance to establish the framework for policy development processes across the government agencies and embedding the public participation component into this process.
  • A total of 291 public servants from 49 agencies - 94% of staff from all line ministries’ Policy Planning Units trained through the tailor-made course on policy analysis, planning, monitoring and evaluation.

Civil Service and Human Resource Management

  • The comprehensive legislative and regulatory changes were made toward a unified, professional corps of civil servants.
  • Extensive support was granted to the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) and the line ministries in translating legislative and regulatory changes into the practical transformation of civil service towards a merit-based, professional and unified model.
  • Consultancy and coaching support were provided to line ministries towards the introduction of performance appraisal and professional development systems, coupled with civil servant trainings and the creation of knowledge products and digital platforms to facilitate the meaningful application of recently introduced systems.

Public Service Delivery

  • Uniform methodological guidelines were elaborated for designing and delivering new or existing (including electronic) services.
  • Methodological foundations were laid for ensuring consistency and quality control of the public services. The number, sophistication and use of e-services grew – especially when spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Common principles and standards for public service design, delivery, costing, and quality assurance were developed and in turn translated into the National Public Services Development Strategy of Georgia for 2022-2025 approved by the Government of Georgia. The creation of methodological packages was followed by training of up to 200 public servants on the newly developed standards and the practical side of their application.
  • Through the creation of methodological packages, syllabi and training in e-Services and cyber security as well as support in strengthening the security of internal systems the project has contributed to the improvement of knowledge and expertise management in e-governance and increase of institutional resilience to cyber-threats at service provider agencies.

CSO Grants

  • The participation of Civil Society Organizations in PAR through research and monitoring was encouraged focusing on various aspects of the reform. Six cycles of CSO grants resulted in 28 awarded grants throughout the project lifetime.   

Contact information

Project address

3 Kavsadze Street 
Tbilisi 0179 Georgia

Contact persons

Sesili Verdzadze
Project Manager
sesil.verdzadze@undp.org

Gigi Bregadze
UNDP Democratic Governance Team Leader
gigi.bregadze@undp.org

Impact

START DATE

April 2021

END DATE

December 2025

STATUS

Ongoing

PROJECT OFFICE

Georgia

IMPLEMENTING PARTNER

GEO -Government Administration

DONORS

DEPARTMENT FOR INT'L DEVELOPMENT (DFID)

Foreign,Commonwealth & Dev.Off.

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS

$3,466,077

DELIVERY IN PREVIOUS YEARS

2021$547,778

2022$1,105,139

2023$1,220,702

Full Project information