The Accelerator Lab of Guinea-Bissau remodels the Notary Office of the Ministry of Justice

December 15, 2021

Photo: UNDP, 2021

On the 13th of December 2021, the Ministry of Justice and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) inaugurated the remodeled Notary Office, aimed at providing better services to the citizens of Bissau. The inauguration was held in the presence of the German Ambassador and the Director-General of the Civil Registry and Notary. The ribbon-cutting event began with a visit to the remodeled space, followed by speeches made by the UNDP Resident Representative, Tjark Egenhoff, and the Minister of Justice, Iaia Djaló.  

In June 2021, the UNDP Accelerator Lab Guinea- Bissau embarked on a journey with the Ministry of Justice and the High Commissioner for COVID-19, to explore how design thinking can be used as a tool to improve public service delivery. The Notary Office was chosen as a focus area as it is the busiest service provider for the Ministry of Justice. 

Through a design thinking process, 255 interviews were carried out with users, and 40 interviews with staff of the Ministry.  Out of the respondents, 60 percent did not consider the space adequate for its use and 90 percent felt that there were no measures in place to protect users from the spread of COVID-19. 

The Notary Office before and after the remodeling by the UNDP Accelerator Lab, Photo: UNDP, 2021

Working closely with key stakeholders such as the High Commissioner for COVID-19 and the student association of Lusófona University, a common understanding was reached and, challenges as well as and root causes were identified through a collective intelligence workshop. Once the main limitation was identified as, “inadequate physical space,” and the barriers it caused to meeting the needs of the users and staff, possible solutions were co-created to address the limitation. The re-modeled space is therefore a result of co-creation between staff, users, and the UNDP.   

Overall, the remodeling was carried out through a participatory process using prototyping and iteration, promoted by the UNDP Accelerator Lab in partnership with technicians and users of the Ministry of Justice and the High Commission for COVID-19. The new space aims to improve public service delivery to the population, taking into consideration the merits of an effective service provision with COVID-19 measures in place.