Daniela Gašparíková, UNDP Resident Representative to Montenegro

Dear Minister Pribilović, distinguished partners,

It is a great pleasure to celebrate United Nations Public Service Day here in Cetinje – the birthplace of the public administration in Montenegro. It is very symbolic, as the Old Royal Capital is an intersection between the past, the present and the future.

Today we honour those who daily dedicate their skills, knowledge, abilities and commitment to serve the citizens. Doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers, soldiers, firefighters and administrators alike – provide services that are indispensable in our daily lives – and whose work allows the rest of us, citizens, to focus on our daily jobs and lives, and call upon their services when we need them.

What I hear from people on the ground is that these services are continuously improving and responding to citizens’ needs.

However, the renewed compact between service providers and citizens will be needed if the public service providers are to identify satisfactory responses to the challenges of today’s world. This Compact needs to recognise the central role of citizens in the design and improvement of services, through the citizen’s continuous and real-time feedback, addressing of which is measurable and visible. Principles of openness and transparency that builds trust on both sides are necessary preconditions for the Compact to function and make it a two-way street.

At the same time, already on-going public service transformation to improve its effectiveness and efficiency from within needs to continue. Such difficult and challenging job cannot be under the umbrella of just one Ministry. We all need to step in to support the government in this endeavour, regardless of our functional assignment. This is why for us at UNDP it’s both a privilege and an obligation to actively support public administration reform, with the focus on: a) digitalisation of public services, b) optimisation of the number of civil servants c) evidence-based policy making d) gender mainstreaming.

Effective, inclusive and accountable institutions are critical not only in driving the country’s EU accession, but also in achieving Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals, through subscribing to which Montenegro’s government pledged to nourish inclusive society and leave no one behind.

Last, but not the least important, I would like to congratulate the civil servants who will be awarded today – you are the champions of an innovative, transparent and service-oriented public administration. We should all take pride in your work!