Cars, computers and formal training may often be requested as part of a public sector reform programme, but it’s changes in the behaviour and mindsets of people that produce lasting results, according to a recent blog post by World Bank experts.
The main challenge is how to generate these changes by introducing elements of governance and political economy analysis. By so doing, the support provided to reforms could be rethought.
Anand Rajaram is a Sector Manager for public sector and governance work in the Africa region of the World Bank. In a recent blog post on the site http://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/, Mr Rajaram and co-authors Gael Raballand and Patricial Palale, both World Bank officials based in Zambia, published a thought provoking blog about what it takes to change mindsets – and the risk associated with technical cooperation support to reform:
Public sector reform—changing behavior with cars and computers?
During a discussion on public service management reform (PSM) in Zambia, a senior official with strong experience in this field, explained: “in order to implement PSM, I had been asked to provide cars to reforms teams, we did it; then, we were asked to provide computers, we did that too; then, we were asked to provide them formal training overseas, we did that as well; they came back and what happened?... Nothing! There was no greater capacity to reform despite these investments. Why is it so?”
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