The emergency generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has turned a spotlight on the key role of the State in providing public goods and services, while the public sector has returned to the fore as the locus for emergency response and for driving the recovery. However, the State and the public sector have been rendered less effective by the weakening of public leadership and of its capacity to generate confidence in the work of State institutions.

This document argues that stronger State institutions are needed to address the structural problems of the current development pattern and tackle the new challenges posed by the current crisis and others the future may bring. Institutions need renewed capacities and leadership to design and implement policies and programmes capable of meeting present needs with a future vision, in a way that is participatory, collaborative and inclusive.

It is a matter of urgency to build resilient public institutions that can cope with present crises and prepare for future ones, because the policy and investment decisions made today will condition our tomorrow.