International Conference on Public Administration and Governance in South Asia

The SDGs provide a shared roadmap for governments to improve citizens’ living standards in ways that uphold dignity, freedom, and recognition. Since the adoption of the SDGs, however, the world has faced an increasingly complex set of natural, health, economic, and political shocks that threaten human security and development progress. Crises such as COVID-19, earthquakes, floods, and episodes of civil unrest—alongside intensifying political tensions—have disrupted development pathways and constrained state capacity, particularly in developing countries.

In this context, public administration has remained the principal custodian of SDG implementation: translating global commitments into national priorities, coordinating action across sectors and levels of government, mobilizing resources, and ensuring accountable delivery. This track invites papers and case-based contributions from scholars and practitioners on (but not limited to) the following areas:

• Institutionalizing the SDGs within public administration systems
• SDG localization and the role of subnational governments
• Policy coherence, coordination, and whole-of-government approaches
• Monitoring, evaluation, and accountability for SDG delivery

Several South Asian countries have recently graduated from Least Developed Country (LDC) status or are preparing to do so in the near future. While this transition can expand economic opportunities—through greater scope for innovation, investment, production, trade, and market integration—it also introduces new vulnerabilities and policy demands. Managing graduation effectively is therefore essential to sustain development gains, reduce transition risks, and ensure that emerging opportunities are broadened and shared.

Realizing post-LDC benefits requires more than economic readiness. It depends fundamentally on the capability of public administration to manage the institutional and governance implications of graduation, including financing transitions, regulatory and trade-related reforms, strategic public investment, and service delivery systems that support inclusion and competitiveness. In this sense, LDC graduation is not only an economic milestone; it is a whole-of-government and whole-of-administration transition.

This track invites papers and case-based contributions on (but not limited to) the following areas:

• Administrative implications of LDC graduation
• Managing fiscal transitions, aid restructuring, and development finance
• Trade, industrial policy, and regulatory governance
• Strengthening institutions for inclusive economic growth

Across the world, public trust in institutions is widely understood to be under sustained pressure. In South Asia, this challenge is compounded by heightened citizen expectations, rapid information flows, and greater public scrutiny of decision-making and service delivery. Questions of ethical conduct and integrity are no longer confined to public office alone; they extend across the wider governance ecosystem, including political actors, public servants, the private sector, civil society, and citizens themselves.

While digitalization, transparency reforms, civic education, and social accountability have strengthened oversight and raised ethical standards in many settings, they have also expanded the benchmark by which integrity is assessed. As parameters of ethical governance become more demanding—covering conflicts of interest, procurement integrity, responsiveness, equity, and respectful treatment of citizens—public institutions face persistent gaps between expectations and performance. Strengthening ethical governance is therefore not only a compliance agenda; it is central to legitimacy, effective policy implementation, and citizen-centred public service.

This track invites scholarly papers and practice-oriented, problem-solving cases on the dynamics of ethical governance and integrity systems, including (but not limited to):

• Ethics management and integrity systems in public administration
• Anti-corruption strategies and administrative accountability
• Transparency, open government, and right to information
• Rebuilding citizen trust in public institutions
   

A renewed social contract between the state and citizens is increasingly judged not through formal declarations, but through everyday interactions with public institutions—how services are accessed, how decisions are communicated, how grievances are resolved, and whether citizens experience dignity, fairness, and responsiveness. In this sense, citizen-centric governance is not an abstract aspiration; it is made tangible through the quality, equity, and reliability of public service delivery.

Across South Asia, rising expectations, digital connectivity, and widening inequalities are reshaping what citizens demand from the state. Governments are therefore under growing pressure to redesign services around citizen needs, reduce administrative burdens, ensure inclusion of marginalized groups, and strengthen mechanisms that enable citizens to provide feedback and hold institutions accountable. Citizen-centric delivery also requires new approaches to collaboration, including co-production with communities, civil society, and the private sector—especially in complex areas such as urban services, health, education, climate adaptation, and local governance.

This track invites papers and case-based contributions assessing the challenges, innovations, and reform pathways for citizen-centric governance and high-quality service delivery, including (but not limited to):

• Designing services around citizen needs and experiences
• Administrative inclusion and reaching marginalized populations
• Grievance redress, social accountability, and feedback mechanisms
• Co-production of public services and participatory governance

Over the past two decades, rapid advances in digital technology have reshaped economies, societies, and governance. These innovations provide not only new tools, but also new ways of thinking about the state—how governments design policies, manage institutions, interact with citizens, and deliver services. Digital transformation has reduced long-standing barriers in communication and information flows, expanded opportunities for participation, and enabled new models of collaboration with non-government actors in service delivery and oversight.

At the same time, modernization is not automatically democratic or inclusive. Digital systems can widen inequality when access is uneven; they can erode trust when data governance is weak; and they can amplify administrative risk when AI systems are deployed without adequate transparency, accountability, and safeguards. Modernizing public administration must therefore be approached as both a technological and institutional reform agenda—one that strengthens capability and effectiveness while protecting rights, ensuring fairness, and deepening democratic accountability.

This track invites scholarly papers and applied cases on emerging approaches to modernizing public administration—including digital government and AI—and their implications for democratic governance and development outcomes. Topics include (but are not limited to):

• Digital government, AI, and ethical public service delivery
• Civil service reform, performance management, and diversity
• Innovation, adaptive governance, and administrative resilience
• Balancing efficiency with equity and democratic accountability
   

South Asia is widely recognized as a climate hotspot, facing increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related hazards and growing uncertainty in weather patterns. Erratic rainfall, floods, heatwaves, droughts, landslides, and glacial and riverine risks are placing severe pressure on livelihoods, infrastructure, and public services—especially for communities already experiencing poverty, exclusion, and geographic vulnerability. These impacts are not only environmental; they are fundamentally governance challenges that test the preparedness, coordination capacity, and legitimacy of public institutions.

Advances in forecasting, early warning systems, and disaster response capabilities have helped reduce loss of life and damage in many contexts. However, short-term response improvements alone are insufficient to address the deeper, long-term risks to ecosystems, development pathways, and social resilience. Climate change therefore requires a shift toward climate-informed development—embedding risk and sustainability considerations into planning, budgeting, regulation, investment decisions, and service delivery across all levels of government. It also demands inclusive governance approaches that ensure climate action does not reproduce inequality, and that vulnerable groups are protected and empowered.

This track invites scholarly papers and applied cases on climate-responsive public administration, innovative climate-informed development practices, and effective approaches to disaster risk reduction, including (but not limited to):

• Climate-responsive public institutions and SDG 13
• Disaster risk governance and resilient service delivery
• Environmental justice and inclusive climate action
• Governing climate finance and adaptation initiatives