Technical Assistance in Public Administration
| Author | F. J. Tickner |
| Date | 01 March 1953 |
| Published date | 01 March 1953 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1953.tb01761.x |
TechnicaZ
Assistance
in Public Adininistration
BY
F.
J.
TICKNER,
C.B.E.
Fornzerly Director
of
Training and Education in the British Treasury,
Mr. Tickner is now assisting Dr.
van
Mook with the work
of
die Public
Administration Division
of
the Technical Assistance Board
of
U. N.
HE
creation of the Public Administration Division of the Technical
T
Assistance Administration of the United Nations is in itself a recent
development, but proposals for training in public administration on an inter-
national basis were first made some years ago. In December
1948
the General
Assembly adopted a resolution
(246
111) which established a programme to
meet
“
the need for international facilities which will provide adequate admin-
istrative training for an increasing number of candidates ofproved ability recruit-
ed on a wide geographical basis, but mainly from the countries in greatest need
of access to the principles, procedures, and methods of modern administration.”
The idea of an international training centre in public administration,
which might have been one means of interpreting these wishes of the General
Assembly, has not materialised
;
instead technical assistance in public ad-
ministration is given to countries which invite it in the same way as technical
assistance in the more material andtechnical field. Indeed, the former may follow
the latter
;
a country planning to implement a technical project may need advice
in the creation or the review of the organisation necessary to carry
it
out.
Thus assistance in public administration is following the normal pattern
of Technical Assistance. Experts are sent by the United Nations at the request
of
the governments concerned to explore, to investigate, to report and to
advise; and when their advice has matured into a scheme
or
a project,
accepted by the government, they or others may, and usually will, help in the
execution of what has been planned. Always the initiative lies with the home
government to make sure, before accepting the expert’s advice, that it suits
the conditions of the country. When a scheme has been agreed upon and is
being put into execution, technical assistance from the United Nations is for
a
limited period and in due time the expert advisers withdraw, leaving
the
mechanism and the organisation which has been created as an integral part
of the domestic arrangements of the country concerned. The period depends,
of course, on the nature of the project, and in case it requires continued
assistance for a number of years, a succession of experts may serve in one post.
The Public Administration Division has been operating for a compara-
tively short time and in relatively unexplored territory. Some
of
its projects
may therefore at first sight seem ambitious. Probably its most important
achievement
so
far has been the creation, in collaboration with the Brazilian
government, of a School of Public Administration at the Getulio Vargas
Foundation in
Rio
de Janeiro. The Directorship of the Institute is a Brazilian
appointment, but for some years the United Nations will provide a number
of
the teaching faculty and in this way the Institute will secure the services
of
authorities of international reputation. The United Nations are also providing
fellowships held in countries outside Brazil, to enable future members of the
E
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