The International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) held the First Meeting of the IASIA/UN DESA Task Force for the Review of the Standards of Excellence for Public Administration Education and Training on April 18, 2023. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the need to revamp the Standards of Excellence and agree on how to proceed to build a common shared roadmap.

The Standards of Excellence for Public Administration Education and Training were developed in 2008 and provide guidelines for schools of public administration and institutes of public management to evaluate the quality of their programs. However, these standards were developed before the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by 193 Member States. Therefore, they do not include recent inter-governmental agreements and insights from UN DESA/DPIDG and IASIA's work in the area of education and training.

The joint initiative to review and update the Standards of Excellence is part of IASIA and UN DESA commitment to ensuring that public administration education and training programs equip current and future public sector leaders with the skills and knowledge needed to address the key issues facing the world today.

In 2013, IASIA established the International Commission on Accreditation of Public Administration Education and Training (ICAPA), which provides an international accreditation system for public administration education and training programs, enabling schools and institutes to demonstrate that they meet high standards of quality and are committed to continuous improvement.

Accreditation by ICAPA ensures that public administration education and training programs equip current and future public sector leaders with the skills and knowledge needed to address the key issues facing the world today. Through its accreditation process, ICAPA also contributes to the standardization and harmonization of public administration education and training programs worldwide.

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