UN Public Service Awards 2024 (UNPSA)
UN Public Service Awards 2024 (UNPSA)
The United Nations Public Service Awards 2024 is a prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. It rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide. Through an annual competition, the UN Public Service Awards promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service.
The UN Public Service Day intends to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community; highlight the contribution of public service in the development process; recognize the work of public servants, and encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector. Since the first Awards Ceremony in 2003, the United Nations has received an increasing number of submissions from all around the world.
The United Nations Public Service Awards 2024 (UNPSA) applications are now open.
Purpose of the Mandate: UN Public Service Awards 2024 (UNPSA)
The United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) recognizes excellence in public service at the
local, regional and national levels. It was first introduced in 2003 to promote and support
innovations in public service when the General Assembly designated 23 June as Public Service
Day through resolution 57/277. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) called for “the
proclamation of a United Nations Public Service Day to celebrate the value and virtue of service
to the community at the local, national and global levels, with prizes to be awarded by the
Secretary-General for contributions made to the cause of enhancing the role, prestige and
visibility of public service”1.
The programme has supported the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and
has been subsequently revised to align with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The
relevance of the programme was reiterated in 2015 by the General Assembly “to strengthen public
institutions and public services for sustainable development … including through the United Nations
Public Service Day, the United Nations Public Service Awards and the United Nations Public
Administration Network…”.
The UNPSA is committed to promoting and recognizing creativity and innovation in public sector
institutions to enhance effectiveness, transparency and inclusiveness as recognized by SDG 16.
It seeks initiatives that are creative, inspiring and dedicated to providing quality public services
for the realization of leaving no one behind
Eligibility: UN Public Service Awards 2024 (UNPSA)
The UNPSA will continue to be open to all public sector institutions at the national, sub-national
and local levels from all UN member states. In the case of partnerships, the application must
include the public sector institution. There is no personal nomination or recognition.
The initiative must be relevant to one of the categories
The initiative must have been implemented for a minimum of two years2, except for the special
category which will be specified, if different.
To avoid conflict of interest, the initiative must not be implemented by the United Nations
System.
Evaluation Criteria: UN Public Service Awards 2024 (UNPSA)
The evaluation process will be multi-stage. Once the applications have been vetted for minimum
requirements, 1st round of evaluations will focus on the common evaluation criteria of
innovation, impact and adaptability.
2nd round of evaluation will focus on category-specific criteria, specified in Appendix I.
The final round will be conducted by the Committee of Experts in Public Administration (CEPA),
will focus on the Principles of Effective Governance.
UNDP Regional Technical Specialist – Climate Change Adaptation: International Contract
VERIFICATION
All proposed winning initiatives will be vetted. The programme will continue to work with the
UN Resident Coordinator system and relevant special agencies for validation of the finalists.
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
The UNPSA programme will continue to accept applications in all six UN official languages.
However, applicants are encouraged to apply in English and French – the working languages of
the Secretariat. Applications as well as any supporting document in a language other than one
of the six official languages will not be accepted. In the case of supporting material in nonofficial languages, a short summary in one of the six official languages will continue to be
required.
While the programmeme will continue to encourage and request the participation of evaluators
who are fluent in official UN languages, if there are no sufficient resources, evaluators may rely
on automated translation tools to conduct the assessment. This disclaimer is noted on the
UNPSA application website for transparency
Common Questions (regardless of category)
Innovation application questions
- Novelty and disruption: Does the initiative introduce a new idea, concept, or approach
that has not been tried before in the relevant initiative area and potentially lead to
transformative change? - Risk-taking: Did the initiative involve taking calculated risks, with a willingness to
experiment and potentially fail to learn and innovate? Justify your answer.
Impact application questions - Objectives and outcomes: What were the objectives and how did you meet them? How
did the initiative contribute to achieving the SDGs? How the project achieves the
realization of leaving no one behind? - Performance metrics: Explain metrics used to measure the impact of the innovation.
Were these metrics tracked and monitored over time to assess the innovation’s impact?
Adaptability application questions - Flexibility: How flexible is the initiative to adapt to changing circumstances, such as
changes in political or economic conditions or changes in stakeholder needs and
preferences? Explain it. - Scalability: Can the initiative be scaled up or down depending on the size and complexity
of the problem it addresses or the context in which it is implemented?
Nominations for the 2024 UNPSA are invited in three categories:
- Innovation in Public Institutions;
- Gender-Responsive Public Services; and
- Special category on Tackling Climate Change.
Application preview in PDF are available in the links below.
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish
Please review the submission guidelines before you begin the application available in the links below.
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish
2024 UNPSA application forms are available in the links below.
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish
Applications MUST be completed before 16 October 2023.
Contact Us
Mr. Juwang Zhu | Director
Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations Secretariat
Room DC2-1714 | Email: dpidg@un.org
Ms. Victoria Kim | Programme Management Officer
Public Service Innovation Branch
Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations Secretariat
Room DC2-1734 | Email: unpsa@un.org
Mr. Enkel Daljani | Programme Management Assistant
Public Service Innovation Branch
Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations Secretariat
Room DC2-1734 | Email: unpsa@un.org
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