Strengthening Reform Initiatives in the Public Administration

Context

Since 2011, Egypt has been facing major socio-political, economic and societal challenges. These are accompanied by high expectations among the people for comprehensive reforms of state structures and processes. Citizens are demanding a more efficient public administration, stronger protection and promotion of human rights, as well as sound and efficient coordination of development projects.

Modernizing the human resource management is one of the top priorities with respect to reforming the public administration. While the wages of the approximately six million civil servants account for a quarter of public spending, the civil service needs to become more efficient, transparent and service-oriented. With the Egypt Vision 2030, the government has initiated a comprehensive programme to pursue necessary reforms. However, the responsible institutions need support in enhancing their technical and organisational skills to fully implement these reforms across the public administration.

Although respect for human rights is firmly enshrined in Egypt’s 2014 constitution, many of these rights have yet to be translated into national legislation or government practice. The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) is the key national institution for protecting and promoting human rights and acts as a bridge between citizens, civil society and the government. The NCHR is mandated to monitor and report on the human rights situation in the country, advise the Egyptian government on its legizlations and policies, receive and examine complaints from citizens, as well as foster greater awareness in Egyptian society.

The Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation (MIIC) is the national institution responsible for managing development assistance. It has a major role in ensuring alignment to national strategies and aid effectiveness. Fulfilling this mandate requires to further develop the MIIC’s institutional and human skills.

Objective

Selected public institutions perform their roles more effectively and in better response to needs.

Approach

GIZ supports the Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform (MoPMAR) and the Central Agency for Organisation and Administration (CAOA) in introducing an efficient human resources management system in the public administration. The partner institutions have piloted new structures and processes, both in-house and in four additional public institutions. With the support of GIZ, they are now sharing their experience in order to reform human resources management throughout the entire public administration. This includes, for example, introducing a performance-based career development system as well as clearly defined responsibilities and procedures.

The project supports efforts by the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) to promote greater awareness of human rights, both among the population and within the public institutions, using improved outreach and information campaigns. It also supports the NCHR’s involvement in regional and international exchanges of knowledge and experience, and assists the Council in improving the effectiveness and transparency of its complaints mechanism for human rights violations, as well as the access to that mechanism. Moreover, GIZ is providing institutional development measures for selected departments, as well as training in technical and organisational skills for NCHR staff.

GIZ supports the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation (MIIC) to coordinate and monitor the effective implementation of official development assistance through enhancing its institutional and human skills.