United Nations Public Service Awards

The United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) recognizes excellence in public service at the global level. It was launched in 2003 in order to promote and support innovations in public service delivery worldwide. With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UNPSA continues to promote creativity and innovations in public services in support of the 2030 Agenda.

The purpose of the UNPSA is to promote and reward innovation and excellence in public services in support of the realization of the SDGs and the principle to leave no one behind, which is at the core of the 2030 Agenda. It takes into account the various levels of development of countries while reflecting the universal nature of the SDGs.

Through a global competition that promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service, the UNPSA aims to:

1. Highlight innovations in governance
2. Reward excellence in the public sector
3. Motivate public servants to further promote innovation
4. Enhance professionalism in the public service
5. Raise the image of public service
6. Collect and disseminate successful practices for possible replication

The 2019 UNPSA will be given to those public institutions that have distinguished themselves in one of the following categories:

1. Delivering inclusive and equitable services to leave no one behind
2. Ensuring integrated approaches in the public-sector institutions
3. Developing effective and accountable public institutions
4. Promoting digital transformation in public sector institutions
5. Promoting gender responsive public services to achieve the SDGs

Eligibility criteria:

1. The Award is open to all public-sector institutions at the national, state, and local levels from all UN member states. In the case of innovative partnerships (including civil society, private sector, academia, etc.), the nominee must be a public-sector institution
2. Both self-nominations and nominations by third parties are accepted. Nominations should be made by an organization
3. The initiative must be innovative and relevant to one of the UN Public Service Awards categories
4. The initiative must have been implemented for a minimum of two years, with demonstrated and documented impact
5. The application must be duly filled out
6. The submission must include all the required supporting documents
7. The initiative must not have already received a UNPS Award
8. To avoid conflict of interest, the initiative must not be implemented by the United Nations System