August 2018: A report by the Global Centre on Public Service Excellence (GCPSE), established by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Singapore, showcases innovations and improvements to public services that are contributing to each of the 17 SDGs in countries around the world.

The GCPSE, established in 2012, is co-funded by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNDP, and acts as a think tank to promote new knowledge about how public services can promote progress and development. The report titled, ‘Making the SDGs Happen,’ highlights one country case study for each SDG, with examples ranging from Singapore’s efforts to achieve complete sustainability of the water cycle (SDG 6) through its ‘Four Taps’ policy, to Uganda’s provision of free weather forecasts to its farmers to promote food security (SDG 2), to rebuilding a radiotherapy center damaged during the conflict in Benghazi, Libya, making cancer treatment available once again to patients (SDG 3).

States that invest in their own public service capacity are more likely to achieve the SDGs, the report concludes.

The report concludes that states that invest in their own public service capacity are more likely to achieve the SDGs, and that the public sector still remains the critical actor in driving a country’s development, despite increasing complexity and interdependence among countries.

The GCPSE’s approach to promoting quality in public services focuses on four themes: examining what motivates public servants to fulfill their responsibilities (‘New Public Passion,’ proposed as heir to New Public Management); establishing peer-to-peer learning alliances among developing countries; working with countries to apply ‘foresight’ as an alternative to traditional forecasting approaches (the Empowered Futures Initiative); and using digital technologies in government. [Publication: Making the SDGs Happen] [GCPSE website]