Public Personnel Administration Reform: Effect on Civil Service Management and Innovation in Lao People Democratic Republic

Public Administration reform has been a key development within the Lao civil service since the early 1990s. Against the backdrop of a demanding internal and external environment, the civil service is implementing widespread reform and modernizing activities in an innovative mode while facing internal human resource-related challenges that include a low level of capacity across the civil service. Government’s vision of an efficient and effective civil service, there is a requirement to continue to engage in the public service strategic planning to increase the level of civil servant capacity to deliver high-quality service to personnel administration. Addressing this critical issue has required new approaches that ensure that the inherent challenges have met with solutions that have real potential to impact successfully at a fundamental level. Recognition of the importance of improved Public Administration Reform has resulted in the creation of a Civil Service Management Strategic Framework which draws on Lao and international best practice and provides agencies with an enabling tool for reform. Within this framework, many innovative and far-reaching public personnel activities have been initiated and improved in Public Personnel Administration. These are ongoing in accordance with the legislative framework, guided by the Civil Service Management Framework, and evidenced by the wide range of reform activities. While Public Personnel Administration reform activities are ambitious, they are also firmly grounded in focused, but innovative, outcomes which support the continued development. This article explores two such examples of innovation, highlighting how they act as critical drivers in the process of civil service modernization and reform through the short, medium and long-term development of civil service capacity. The draft National Training and Development Framework and the Personnel Information Management System incorporates the systematic allocation and alignment of resources with implementation coordination, quality control mechanisms, and the application of modern technology. Such an approach addresses not only potential training delivery and knowledge management. However, this approach also provides for the critical linkages to job descriptions, an effective performance appraisal system, and the provision of pertinent management information to support timely decision making and future manpower planning. Keywords: Civil service management, Public administration reform, Capacity development, and Innovatio

District Development Fund and Strengthening Local Services Delivery in Lao People Democratic Republic

The District Development Fund program  or  model was introduced in Lao People Democratic Republic in 2005, with the technical and financial support of United Nations Capital Development Fund, as a core part of the Governance and Public Administration Reform Programme, which was jointly supported by United Nations Capital Development Fund and United Nations Development Programme. The District Development Fund program was designed to be an effective approach and support methodology suitable for a low capacity environment in order to help deliver better public services to rural and remote communities in Lao PDR. The DDF has since been expanded to fifty two (52) Districts (of a total of 148 Districts) across the country. DDF aims to sustainably improve local public services delivery through the strengthening of capacity of local district administration and demonstrating improved financial management systems and procedures that can contribute positively in this objective. It does this by providing both discretionary development grants together with capacity development and support to improvements systems and procedures for local development. However, there has been little external research undertaken to date on “assessment of the District Development Fund program as an effective approach to strengthen public service improvement for decentralized and better service delivery in Lao PDR, and whether the District Development Fund program has positively affected the capacity of local authorities to delivery prioritized local public services”.  This article addresses this by looking at the empirical results from the DDF program and draws on experiences on how DDF program has been operating and contributing on the ground in building local capacities, in financial management, planning and budgeting, to enhance the local authorities’ ability to finance local priority services. The DDF for government has become the viability and positive results of empowering local authorities and communities as part of public administration reform, that is not only a government fund transfer mechanism a form of fiscal decentralization but also has proven to be very well suited to the low capacity environment in Lao PDR A better people-focused service delivery has mostly been achieved by empowering sub-national administrations to take a more effective role in leading local socio-economic development, which is to bring about tangible improvements in public services to people and a real reduction in local poverty. The most significant lesson of the DDF experience in Laos has been its ability to achieve results that have led to improvements in pro poor service delivery combined with improvements in the capacity of local administration in planning, budgeting and monitoring services. A critical lesson in achieving these results has been ensuring that new systems and procedures fully align with existing government processes. This not only helps to improve capacity development but also ensures innovations, which is more cost effective and scalable in future by working through existing governance systems. Greater district and community oversight and accountability result in funds being well spent with minimum leakages. This article, to a large extent, is entering new ground where there is little other independent research or documentation available. Thus the approach relies on conducting structured evaluation dialogue with the direct stakeholders, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, Governance of Public Administration Reform /District Development Fund  project team, national and local practitioners and representatives of the communities involved, combined with a review of the available documents and data. The methodological tools used were interviews, workshops, focus group discussions, data analysis and document review. Keywords: Service delivery, Building capacity, Financial management, Planning and budgeting management, Local authority, District development fund approach