GUYANA is set to host the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management’s (CAPAM) Biennial Conference in October of this year, a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency said Saturday.

According to the MotP, Permanent Secretary of the Department of the Public Service, Reginald Brotherson, made the announcement last Thursday.

According to their website, the CAPAM organisation provides an opportunity for government heads within the Commonwealth to exchange innovations in public sector management, in order to promote good governance. CAPAM’s ultimate goal is the global emergence of more responsive and dynamic public services. Guyana has been a member of CAPAM for over three decades, and will, for the first time, host the biennial conference. The theme for the October-billed event is ‘Transforming the Public Sector for Climate Governance.’
Brotherson said that the theme of Climate Governance is particularly relevant to the Guyanese public sector as Guyana goes ‘green.’

“The fact is that we’ve got to keep our environment in a very pristine state. We’ve got to have regulation. We’ve got to have laws. Who are the persons carrying out these regulations? Who are the persons enforcing the laws? It’s the public sector through policy mechanisms… Our programmes [have got] to be skewed to take care of the evolution, of the changing environment that we are in,” he said.

The permanent secretary noted too that through its membership in CAPAM, Guyana stands to gain from the development of strategies to help modernise and improve efficiency in the public sector. “There are so many aspects of transformation that [are] necessary, [such as] the whole aspect of technology… How we deal with e-governance, paperless operations… cutting out the wastage of time, being more efficient and effective. All of these are transformational things in the public sector that we need to do and, in fact, we are doing,” he said.

According to Brotherson, plans are moving apace in preparation for the conference later this year. “We have established already a local organising committee. Cabinet has given its approval in principle for Guyana to host… We have signed on to a memorandum of understanding, which [sets out] what the responsibilities [are]. We will be hosting the first visit from Ms Gay Hamilton, who is the [Chief Executive Officer], of CAPAM… We hope to have a number of international experts on various aspects of climate governance here carrying on workshops and plenary sessions,” he said.

The CAPAM biennial conference will be held from October 22-24, 2018 and will see the participation of 450 delegates.