| Overview : The Public Service in Malawi has over the years experienced deteriorating performance as evidenced in its challenges to deliver public services effectively. The lack of basic services (in other cases) is particularly acute in the rural areas where over 80% of the population resides. Consequently, the country rates poorly on several development indicators including the achievement of the Malawi Vision 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Critical challenges face the accountability dimension of the governance space, which covers the interaction among MDAs in public service. Specifically, to the horizontal accountability dimension, the public service is faced with some of the following issues: Weak knowledge management and information sharing; weak coordination of innovation initiatives for continuous service improvement; ineffective learning and innovation; inadequate space for young people to contribute to new ways of thinking in the public sector; and silo working approaches across the MDAs. Over the years, government has undertaken to tackle these gaps. Through the Public Sector Reforms agenda, a solid policy framework for the implementation of reforms across the public service has been laid. Of particular note, the government passed the National Public Sector Reforms and Public Service Management policies in 2018 to guide the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all reforms in the public sector. Both of these policies outline continuous improvement through research and innovation as well as coordinated/collaborated approaches among MDAs outlined as being critical for improved service delivery. Recently, all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) in the country committed to the achievement of certain reform areas under contracts co-signed by the President and Heads of the various MDAs. The government also recently established the Department of Innovation Science, Technology and Creativity (ISTC) in the Office of the President and Cabinet to oversee innovation, learning and creativity across the public service. However, while some strides towards improving innovation and learning in the public sector are in place, knowledge management for innovative and learning initiatives remain weak. The public service lacks effective digital knowledge management platforms for documenting strategic documents. Poor documentation is currently prevalent in MDAs with a lot of work processes relying on paper-based filing. This inhibits the sharing of policies, laws, innovations and learnings across MDAs and effective delivery of services. Under the Public Sector Innovation Initiative, UNDP is supporting government to adopt an integrated approach towards innovation, learning and knowledge management in the public sector. As part of the support to the initiative and supporting young innovators, the services of a small start-up national firm or an individual with demonstrated ability to work with other individuals are required to undertake the assignment of developing a Public Sector Innovation Information Management System. |
