2010年-世界发展银行全球_The_Gambia_-_Improving_Civil_Service_Performance___Main_Analysis_87页_520kb

Summary of the Gambia Civil Service Performance Report (Report No. 51655-GM)

Core Content

This report, prepared by the Government of The Gambia in collaboration with the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), provides an in-depth analysis of the civil service performance and outlines key reform measures to improve it. The report is divided into several sections, including an overview of public sector capacity, pay and benefits, human resource management, and specific challenges in the education and health sectors.

Main Findings

Public Sector Capacity

• The Gambia's civil service suffers from significant capacity weaknesses, including poor governance, limited policy-making and strategic planning, and weak performance management.
• Governance indicators from the World Bank Institute (WBI) show the country ranks poorly in government effectiveness, voice and accountability, and control of corruption.
• The civil service is relatively sized (around 1.5% of the population), but the composition is a critical issue, with a notable decline in professional and managerial staffs (grades 9-10) between 2003 and 2007.
• The vacancy rate in grades 9-10 is 38%, while lower grades (1-3) have a surplus of staff, mostly due to unqualified teachers being employed on fixed-term contracts.

Pay and Benefits

• Civil service salaries are low compared to other low-income countries, with an average salary ratio of 3:1 relative to per capita income, compared to 5:1 in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The salary compression ratio is 7.4, indicating limited differentials between grades, which is a major contributor to staff attrition.
• A proposed pay reform would increase salaries by 83% at the lowest grades and 68% at the highest, but this would not adequately address the loss of professional and managerial staffs.
• A second proposal suggests higher increases for professional staffs to align them with public enterprise salary levels, resulting in a wage bill of 6.1% of GDP.
• Allowances, particularly hardship and relocation allowances, are significant and should be retained to support rural deployment.

Human Resource Management

• The current HRM practices are weak, with a lack of transparency, performance-based incentives, and effective feedback mechanisms.
• The legal and institutional framework, including the Public Service Act (1991) and PSC regulations, is outdated and needs review.
• The Personnel Management Office (PMO) and Public Service Commission (PSC) are currently focused on operational activities rather than strategic roles.
• There is a lack of job descriptions and performance appraisal systems, which are not being used effectively.
• HR data is incomplete and unreliable, affecting planning and management.

Education and Health Sectors

• Both sectors face similar HRM challenges as the rest of the civil service, including fragmented management, ambitious expansion plans, and imbalances in staff distribution.
• There is a lack of local training and a heavy reliance on overseas training, which often does not benefit the Government long-term.
• Recent initiatives in Education, such as competitive recruitment and promotion, have shown promise and could serve as models for other sectors.
• Hardship allowances have been effective in encouraging rural deployment.

Key Recommendations

Short Term Actions (within one year)

• Develop a medium-term civil service and pension reform strategy.
• Formulate a pay reform strategy targeting professional and managerial staffs.
• Establish more transparent and fair recruitment, promotion, and dismissal processes.
• Strengthen payroll and establishment controls.
• Develop a civil service training policy and reallocate training funds to local training.
• Improve manual processes for HR data capture.

Medium Term Actions (two to five years)

• Continue implementing civil service and pension reform strategies.
• Conduct functional reviews to align ministerial objectives with sector strategies.
• Develop and pilot performance appraisal tools in select departments.
• Overhaul job descriptions and schemes of service.
• Reorient PMO and PSC to strategic and regulatory roles.
• Decentralize operational aspects of hiring and promotion to line departments.
• Build local training capacity and invest in on-the-job and locally based training.
• Strengthen policy-making capacity in the President's Office and the Secretary General's role.
• Apply a more strategic and coordinated approach to HR planning and management.
• Integrate HR and payroll systems within the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS).
• Apply a strategic and coordinated HRM approach in Education and Health.

Conclusion

The report emphasizes the need for a comprehensive and sustainable civil service reform strategy, focusing on improving pay, enhancing HRM practices, and building institutional capacity. It highlights the importance of stakeholder collaboration, transparency, and long-term planning to ensure the civil service can deliver effective public services. The findings have been incorporated into the Government's reform strategy, currently supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).