Reforms in Arab world do not reach core administrations

The 13th Annual Conference on the State of Governance and Public Administration in Arab Countries has recommended that decision makers in Arab states focus on tackling basic problems namely unemployment, housing and education. The recommendations came in the final statement of the three-day conference that concluded here on Thursday. It was organized by the Arab League-affiliated Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO), in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Sector Development. The participants, in the final communique, called on Arab states to upgrade the efficiency of using and protecting resources, safeguarding public interests, resolving basic issues namely joblessness, and problems related to housing, health care, education and the environment. Tackling such problems warrants task specification of administrative departments, establishing state institutions and implementing basic principles namely transparency and corruption-combating, the statement said. The rapid change of top echelons of ruling hierarchies in the Arab world or the adoption of reform policies do not always transform into in-depth, real change or development in the state various departments, the conferees said in the statement. There must be robust adherence to the activation of reforms in state departments, also in terms of policies and laws, therefore there must be genuine transformation in the public administrations for the sake of reaching "wise governing," it said. The conferees examined plans to help Arab administrative systems detect challenges facing governance and provide requirements to develop a sustainable strategy to serve public interest. They addressed challenges of governance, public administration capacities, the changing role of governments and the role of anti-corruption agencies. The conferees, according to the statement, analysed in depth flaws hindering or paralyzing Arab public administrations, namely the sharp intrusion of ruling administrations' jurisdictions. On Security in the Arab countries, the conferees called for redefining tasks and the role of the security authorities. Moreover, they called for tackling defects in administrations, namely predominant corruption. The participants in the gathering tackled various other issues such as sustainability and a strategic approach in public administration reforms, human and organizational capacity challenges and measuring progress in governance performance. Representatives of 14 Arab countries participated in the conference which was inaugurated by Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil Al-Araby