Access to basic services plays an important role in both individual well-being and a country's economic development. For this reason, general availability of these services to citizens, regardless of income level and geographical location, has generally been viewed as an important public policy...

The past two decades have witnessed a convergence between human rights and development, particularly at the level of international political statements and policy commitments. This phenomenon is captured in milestones such as the 2007 OECD DAC Action Oriented Policy Paper on Human Rights and...

The main purpose of the paper is to provide orientations based on a comparative approach to policy makers on drafting legislation on the organisation and functioning of the state administration. It is therefore written in a practice oriented way, although it nevertheless attempts to draw some...

The SIGMA Paper is drawn from a report on relations between Supreme Audit Institutions and parliamentary committees, prepared for the network of Presidents of the Supreme Audit Institutions of Central and Eastern Countries, Cyprus, Malta and the European Court of Auditors, as part of their...

This publication is the product of a project which SIGMA started in autumn 1995. The country papers were completed in late spring 1996, and since that time some countries have reviewed their training strategies. Lithuania, for example, has adopted a regulation concerning the qualification of...

The development of a regulatory framework which meets EU standards is a major concern in central and eastern European countries, and this not only to foster economic development but also to ensure the wellbeing of the citizen. To achieve this goal, it is important to create a sound institutional...

Central Bank Audit Practices describes common approaches, practices and trends relevant to the audit of central banks, with a view to supporting public administration reform efforts in central and eastern European countries. The study provides a basis for further discussion between...

While defining appropriate roles for political advisers is a highly relevant topic in most democracies and especially in EU NMS, as well as candidate and CARDS countries today, surprisingly little comparative information exists. To fill this gap, in Autumn 2005, the Sigma Programme launched a...

This chart compares the EC Procurement Directives and the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services. Most central and eastern European countries used the Model Law as the basis of their public procurement laws in the early 1990s. Now that many countries of the region...