Collaborative and Creative Workshops

Capacity Building of Training Institutes

It is planned to hold two regional workshops � one in 2001 and the second in 2002. The training will be aimed at the Directors of national DMIs/IPAs in sub-Saharan countries. The course would last for four weeks. The target is 30 Directors of both Anglophone and Francophone countries. Participants from civil society groups will be included.

The title of the Course is "Transforming Public Administration Curriculum in African Countries: Integrating Good Governance and Democracy in Development Management."

Briefly the objectives of the Course are:

To sensitize the Directors of DMIs/IPAs on the significance to development and development management, of the fundamental transformation taking place in African countries;
To discuss the significance of the major issues in the transformation process taking place in African countries, namely: democracy and good governance, civil and political leadership, and conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction;
To show the relevance and necessity of integrating these issues in the training and research program of the DMIs/IPAs;
To sensitize civil servants on how to manage civil society reaction to the impact of policy implementation.
To sensitize civil servants on the necessity to adopt organizational principles and operational methods from the corporate world in order to increase their efficiency in implementing polices and in service delivery.
This proposal is being discussed with ISS (Institute of Social Studies at the Hague) for collaboration in preparing the training program.

Peace-building in Post-Conflict Countries

Through collaborative and creative workshops between DPMF specialists, civil servants, civil society leaders and researchers, a program will be developed in which the different stakeholders collectively can play a critical role in the complex process of consolidating peace in post-conflict countries. Critical element of the program is the development of (a) responsive governance on the part of the civil service, as per the expectation of the people after many years of conflict, and (b) the development of effective and country-wide reconciliation programs. The program could then be customized to fit the specifities of each post-conflict country. The country program would then be implemented through sensitization workshops.

The sensitization workshop in each country would involve (a) senior civil servants, and (b) civil society leaders ? especially leaders of women organizations, youth, labor, the media, professional associations, developmental NGOs and businessmen.

The sensitization program for each country, which needs to be worked out in details, would cover the following areas:

Understanding the nature and dynamics of the post conflict situation and the kinds of strategies and policies needed for consolidating sustainable peace;

In particular to analyze the expectation of the people not only for physical security, immediate bread and butter satisfaction, but more importantly the expectation of democratic governance - representative, transparent and accountable - as well as long term economic security;

The critical need for opening important and serious channels of communications for dialogue between civil servants and civil society - specifically for purpose of educating and informing both sides on the nature of the challenges and obstacles both sides are confronting;

Developing methods whereby leaders of Civil Society Groups/Organizations and Senior Civil Servants would co-operate in working out and implementing strategies and program of reconciliation throughout the country. Leading civil society groups such as those which represent women, youth, labor, the media, teachers, conflict veterans, leaders of traditional groups etc. must be seriously involved in the process of reconciliation;

Encourage developmental NGOs both indigenous and foreign to focus their efforts on the areas which need most attention during this immediate post-conflict phase.

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