In furthering its goal to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public service management, public sector modernization and good governance initiatives, the Government of Belize established the Office of Governance in September/October, 2005.

The Office of Governance is an amalgam of two government agencies, namely the Governance Unit from the Ministry of National Development, and the Public Sector Reform and Human Resource Management and Development from the now defunct Ministry of the Public Service.  In addition, a new business of Government, that of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Electronic Government (E-government), was later included under the purview of the Office of Governance.  Since December 2006, oversight to the Elections and Boundaries Department for administrative and financial management was added to the responsibilities of the Office of Governance.

The Office is a reform/modernization endeavour.  Whereby, once the functions for governance initiatives, modernization and public sector management were under separate managements and institutions of government; this new structure, the Office of Governance embraces all three abovementioned businesses of government under one management.

The Mandate of the Office of Governance which has emanated from the communiqué dated October 11, 2005 issued under the directives of the Minister for the Public Service, as empowered under Sec. 106 (3) of the Belize Constitution reads as follows:

• Lead and coordinate good governance and public sector reform initiatives
• Monitor and evaluate human resource management
• Provide leadership and oversight of public sector management
• Create and manage a Training Institute for Public Sector Development offering programmes to ensure that needed competences are available

Promoting effective and accountable management has been the focus of the Office’s agenda for the Belize Public Service.  This is the guiding principle utilized in all undertakings, to revitalize and transform the delivery of services to the Belizean public.  As the leading catalyst for change, the Office of Governance adopted the Theme “Putting People First – Achieving More with Less” and embarked on a series of initiatives, including:

• Conducting in earnest public sector administration and managerial capacity building efforts
• Building awareness to governance and the machinery of government
• Supporting tools such as e-government to sustain public administration reform

As a new Office with a multiplicity of responsibilities, it was imperative to develop an interim two-year strategy to handle the diverse issues in a more systematic and strategic manner.  This Strategic Plan with the accompanying Operational Plan was implemented at the start of the new financial year, in April, 2006.  This plan is the road map used to chart the way forward as the Office of Governance leads the path in the transformation to a more professionalized public service that will provide to stakeholders, efficient and effective delivery of services.

To achieve its Vision, the Office of Governance has to produce concrete results in all aspects of its core business or Key Result Areas (KRAs) as stipulated in its Mission.  The Office is currently focusing on the following three KRAs through three separate Units:

• Human Resource Development & Management
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT’s) & E-government
• Governance & Modernization Initiatives

• Joint Staff Relations Council (JSRC)
• Council on Good Governance and Public Sector Modernization (CGM)
• Human Resource Development Committee (HRDC)
• Electronic Government Effectiveness Task Force (eGe)