While innovation in the public sector is often overlooked due to its gradual and understated nature, it holds immense potential as a catalyst to accelerate the implementation of SDGs. However, it is necessary to broaden our understanding of innovation beyond just technological advancements and to view it as a new approach to policymaking, business processes, partnership and service delivery for enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in public sectors. Innovation does not happen in a vacuum. It requires a cultural shift within the organization and leadership, as well as the institutional setting, including promoting an enabling environment, cultivating creative mindsets, fostering strategic partnerships, taking calculated risks, and accepting failures. The project aims to build and complement the efforts of the governments in four target countries by encouraging the prioritization of innovation practices and fostering innovation experimentation in the public sector. Countries with innovation strategies or dedicated innovation entities within the government exhibit a stronger commitment to finding creative solutions to address today’s challenges and preparing for future uncertainty. While having an innovation strategy or creating an innovation unit is not an end in itself, it can provide a clearer roadmap for achieving the SDGs and position governments at all levels to better utilize their limited resources to promote inclusive development and create a resilient society . The project intends to enhance the institutional capacities of government officials in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam to outline a vision for public sector innovation in line with their existing national development plan or SDG implementation plan. The project will be implemented by the Division of Public Institutions and Digital Government of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DPIDG/UN DESA), in close consultation with the UN Resident Coordinator System and the UN Country Teams as applicable.

The objective of the project is to enhance the presence and leadership of women in public institutions at national and local levels in selected countries of the Africa and Asia regions, currently identified as Mauritius and Senegal, Bhutan and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, respectively. The initiative will enhance the capacity of the governments in the four project countries to develop and implement an action plan that prioritizes gender equality in public administration at the national and local levels and promotes women’s career progression towards leadership positions in the public sector. It will also stimulate a South-South knowledge transfer and cross-fertilization by enhancing the awareness of a broader group of governments (partnering countries) on the importance to prioritize gender equality in public administration. Direct beneficiaries include high- and mid-level government officials from ministries and governmental institutions at the national and subnational levels. Indirect beneficiaries include citizens and communities at large.
 

SIDS have been persistently lagging other comparable economies in the developing world on the path to sustainable development. This is caused in part by the diverse characteristics of SIDS, which include low- and below sea-level- lying coastal communities, multi-island jurisdictions, and their attendant vulnerabilities. Many also have small populations or limited usable land area, which limits their development options. The COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events have further aggravated this situation by hampering the sustainable economic growth of these island economies and undermining the security of their populations. Promoting innovation and digital transformation in the Caribbean can help countries to ‘build back better’ by delivering services in a more effective and inclusive way, particularly to underserved, rural, physically disconnected, and otherwise marginalized segments of society.However, the public sector in the Caribbean appears to be facing a capacity challenge in delivering change and transformation, with challenges being experienced in relation to mindsets, capacity, processes, and right skillsets. Implementing effective, accountable, and inclusive governance and institutions, and pursuing opportunities for innovation and digital transformation, including digital services, could build resilience      through progressive structural changes, and mitigate geographical remoteness. Their populations could then be provided with reliable, fast, and affordable connectivity and better access to services, such as health and education.Implemented by UN DESA and ECLAC Caribbean, with the collaboration of the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD), this project aims to strengthen public sector national capacities for Innovation, Digital Government Transformation and Changing Mindsets in three Caribbean SIDS after the pandemic by: (i )strengthening public servants’ skills, knowledge, and understanding of the importance of public sector transformation by promoting changing mindsets strategies and approaches in support of innovation and digital transformation  to support the implementation of the SDGs ; and (ii) strengthening institutional arrangements, structures, mechanisms and approaches to promote innovation and digital governance transformation to improve public service delivery, leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first. In this regard, multi-island jurisdictions are likely to especially benefit from improved governance and institutional service delivery modalities.

Data and related issues and developments in the public sector have become increasingly important in terms of government analysis and operations, academic research, and real-world applicability and acceptance. Data are now integral to every sector and function of government—as essential as physical assets and human resources. Much of the operational activity in government is now data-driven, and many Governments would find it difficult, if not impossible, to function effectively without data
This project seeks to address existing challenges and gaps in digital data management and cooperation, focusing on enhancing the institutional capacities of countries to utilize, manage and govern data in a comprehensive, objective and evidence-based manner, through regional and global cooperation. The project will build on the momentum of recent initiatives, including the Initiative on Partnership for Africa's Development. 
To this end, the project will support African countries, LDCs and SIDS to assess key data management and governance challenges and strengthen government officials’ and stakeholders’ knowledge of sound and secure data management, working closely with UN RCOs and UNCTs; support national and regional initiatives in fostering an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for digital data cooperation through mutual benefit, win-win outcomes and common development; support countries in developing institutional capacities for developing national digital data policies and strategies for ensuring data quality, access, security, privacy and usage, and for promoting data security through consultation, collaboration and shared benefits; make available relevant legislative information and toolkits for advancing digital data cooperation agreements through case studies.
The objective of the Project is enhancing the institutional capacities of government officials and stakeholders in Asian and African countries, in particular the LDCs and SIDS, for digital data management, data governance and data cooperation to achieve mutual benefit, win-win outcomes and common development.

Countries face common challenges in moving from siloed elaboration and implementation of policies to the formulation of integrated policies reflecting the interrelations across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and addressing cross-cutting sustainable development issues such as poverty eradication, climate change and food security. To realize the vision of the Agenda 2030 of leaving no one behind and to ensure inclusive development, countries will also need to ensure more inclusive, accountable and participatory policymaking and public service delivery. This requires, among other things, organizing government and related institutions engaged in SDG implementation and making them effective, inclusive and accountable. It also calls for strengthening public servants’ capacity to implement the SDGs through the development of new skills, attitudes and behaviors and through new ways of working together across organizational boundaries.
The objective of the Project 1819G is to strengthen the capacity of selected developing countries in Africa and Asia in organizing and mobilizing their institutions and public servants to enhance effectiveness and institutional coordination, public accountability, and engagement of key stakeholders in the implementation and review of the SDGs. The project is structured around two expected accomplishments, namely: (i) Improved capacity of beneficiary countries to mobilize public institutions and build their capacities for SDG implementation and review, according to country-specific circumstances and priorities, as well as ensure public accountability and engagement of key stakeholders; (ii) Enhanced capacity of beneficiary countries to formulate strategies and policies to strengthen the technical capability and skills of civil servants to support SDG implementation and review. Recipient countries will also be encouraged to participate and present their findings during the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), as well as to take part in other related divisional capacity development workshops.

All governments from developing countries confront the challenge of designing coherent policies that can simultaneously accelerate growth, reduce poverty and inequality, preserve and improve the environment, and help adapt/mitigate to climate change. To successfully achieve these objectives, countries need both i) sound institutional arrangements for policy integration; and ii) quantitative analytical capacities to assess policy options. The ultimate aim is to foster a cohesive policy formulation process that incorporates development objectives across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
In response to the Government requests from Cameroon, Ethiopia and Senegal, this project aims to support policy coherence through stronger inter-agency collaboration and coordination, while building integrated assessment methodologies and capacities to address the interlinkages and tradeoffs among policies, goals and the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. A climate, land-use, energy and water systems integrated assessment (CLEWS), including socio-economic aspects, will be developed in each country within the framework of improved cooperation among institutions and public administration and integrated whole-of-government approaches. Capacity building activities will be provided to government officials, in order to address the challenges and particular policy scenarios discussed with official government counterparts, to inform evidence-based policy discussions.
The Project will result in enhanced institutional capacity and inter-agency cooperation within target countries for developing integrated approaches and tools to support evidence-based policy-making to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This project provided technical assistance to four least developed countries (LDCs), Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Lao PDR and Tanzania, on different aspects of their efforts to integrate the 2030 Agenda into national development plans and strategies. The work focused on areas that many countries have identified as a priority for technical assistance in their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs): policy coherence and inclusiveness (including aspects such as modeling, institutional arrangements and stakeholder engagement); financing of national development priorities; and data and monitoring.
The assistance was tailored to the specific needs and demands of each country. In addition to delivering the technical assistance itself, the project piloted an approach to DESA interdivisional work in close cooperation with the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) of each country.

Frontier technologies carry a promise to fast track the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through supporting innovative, forwarding-looking policies and solutions. There are, however, numerous risks and complexities of digital technologies that come along with those opportunities, as well as policy and regulatory challenges. In recent years, relatively new approaches of policy experimentation and regulatory sandboxes have emerged among countries, and have proven to be effective in creating a more conducive and contained space where governments, in partnerships with relevant stakeholders, can experiment and trial with digital technologies and innovations at the edge or even outside of the existing policy space and regulatory framework. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only brought about unprecedented challenges to sustainable development, but have also accelerated digital government and digital transformation in many areas.  At the same time, the pandemic has exposed harsh fragilities and digital divides especially for countries in special situations. The objective of this Project is to enhance the institutional capacity of selected countries in special situations, namely the: (i)  least developed countries (LDCs); (ii) landlocked developing countries (LLDC); and (iii) small island developing States (SIDS), to understand and develop policy experimentation and/or regulatory sandboxes on new technologies as an innovative and catalytic approach to accelerate the progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  The evidence of the result, if achieved, will include target countries having demonstrated ability to identify and establish the means for policy experimentation and/or regulatory sandboxes, that may also translate into policy documents or implementation strategies, in draft or working versions, including through multi-stakeholder engagement with the private sector and the civil society.  The project will be jointly implemented by the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division (IDD) of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).  

The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) face multiple development challenges with limited resources, capacities and access to technologies. E-government can be leveraged to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Targets . It is, therefore, critical that LDCs have the technical know-how to take advantage of this opportunity. Therefore, there is a need for knowledge transfer through development assistance, smart investments in information communications technology (ICT) infrastructure as well as flexible and effective use of e-government to bring about substantial returns on investment supporting the sustainable development agenda. Under the right conditions, such efforts will in turn deliver multiple benefits such as better access to essential services, including for the poorest and most disadvantaged groups. It can create savings by streamlining and simplifying government processes as well as enhance accountability and transparency.
In order to steadily build capacity in the area of e-government and identify areas of strength and weaknesses, LDCs need to measure their degree of e-government development. This requires using not just supply-side metrics but also demand-side metrics, such as the impact, usage and user satisfaction of online services in supporting the SDGs.
The objective of the Project 1617B is to support decision making to support the sustainable development agenda by building institutional capacity to collect analyse and use data on e-government. It is structured around two expected accomplishments, namely: (i.) to improve institutional capacity in target countries to collect, use and publish relevant e-government data and compile indicators for analysis, monitoring and evaluation of progress in e-government; and (ii) to strengthen institutional capacity, frameworks and approaches in target countries to implement e-government policies and strategies in support of selected SDGs and Targets and related decision-making based on data. Recipient countries will also be encouraged to participate and present their digital strategy and e-government initiatives in the annual review process of the SDGs through the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), as well as to feature their e-government tools to support specific SDGs and Targets through the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM).