On Monday 7 September, in the meeting of the Home Affairs Sector Development Council, the 3rd phase of the project “Improving the Efficiency of the Interior Sector Institutions in Latvia”, was officially launched. The project is funded by the EU’s Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) and implemented in cooperation with the European Commission.
The aim of the project is to significantly improve the strategic planning and performance management processes in the home affairs sector. The project envisages centralizing the strategic planning and performance management process, as well as introducing an evidence-based SMART[1] approach in strategic planning and performance management.
Within the project it is planned to establish a sustainable strategic planning and performance management system for the home affairs sector, which will create a common and coherent approach to the implementation of these processes. In order to ensure a full understanding of the newly established strategic planning and performance management system, a training module will also be developed, which will include, inter alia, an explanation of the principles for the development of objectives and performance indicators and the monitoring of their performance.
“We must learn to use allocated resources efficiently, where a good example is artificial intelligence speech recognition technology, which will save not only time and financial resources, but will also facilitate the work of the State Police and strengthen the quality of criminal investigations in Latvia. I am not interested in the length of the reform, but on the contrary, I want the staff of the home affairs services to increase their professionalism and competence, which will result in the strengthening of national security and safety", said the Minister for the Interior at the meeting.
The introduction of a unified policy planning and performance management system is an important step towards the implementation of results-oriented and effective policy planning, allowing the Ministry and its subordinate institutions to be an example of good governance both on a Latvian scale and internationally. The new planning system will make it possible to optimize internal processes and ensure the objective of promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness as set out in the Public Administration Reform Plan 2020 of Latvia.
Mr. Mario Nava, Director General of the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission (DG REFORM) addressed the meeting of the Home Affairs Development Council via a recorded video message. He praised the Ministry of the Interior and its institutions for the very good cooperation since 2017 and wished the project success, so that this project becomes “a model of good practice for other public administrations not only in Latvia but also in other EU countries”.
The project is implemented by SIA "Ernst & Young Baltic" in cooperation with home affairs policy planning experts from the Netherlands, Austria and Estonia.
The project is being implemented within the framework of the European Commission’s SRSP. The European Commission’s DGREFORM coordinates and provides tailored technical support to EU countries, in cooperation with the relevant services of the European Commission. The objective of DG REFORM is to support the countries of the European Union to establish more effective institutions and stronger governance systems and to strengthen their capacity to design and implement policies that contribute to job creation and sustainable growth.
Prepared by:
Māris Zariņš
Head of the
Communication Division of the
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ph.: 67219213 Mob.:29120858
E:mail: Maris.zarins@iem.gov.lv
[1] Specific, Measurable, Achievable,relevant, Time-related.