Justification

Introducing reforms is a continuous, complex and expensive process. It requires planning on a short, medium and long term basis as well as the effective mobilization of human and material resources and committed leadership. Conducting reforms requires, above all, a clear vision of goals to be achieved and a strategic plan of all actions to be carried out. To develop and implement a reform requires, therefore, not only creativity, but also a strategic vision, institutional capacity and a committed leadership.

In Africa, since the independence period, governments have adopted administrative and institutional reforms in their priorities with designated bodies in charge of reforms. Reforms have clearly been seen as an important vehicle for the effective and efficient delivery of public services by governments. However, the effective implementation of reforms has been hampered by numerous obstacles, notably:

• Lack of a strategic, global and national vision of reforms through the impetus of a dynamic and participatory leadership. In fact, many reforms are designed without a clear vision and without an effective strategy of interventions to be undertaken. Also, some reforms lack national and global importance. These deficiencies in the design of reforms do not enable to identify all areas to change or reform. A project or program of reform should reflect all the problems facing the country in order to consider the changes necessary to be introduced in order to achieve development goals;
  
• Absence of strategic planning. There is lack of a clear vision of all innovations to be introduced. The majority of reforms are limited to short-term outlook, rather than focusing on medium and long term. Strategic planning should not only make a judicious choice between different actions to be taken and their timing, but it should also mobilize necessary and sufficient resources to implement the plan and timetable of these reforms;

• Lack of continuity in leadership. The frequent and often unexpected changes of reform programs by leaders are a major obstacle to the conduct of reforms. The reforms are a venture of national scope, they should give rise to a leadership made up of different skills, the continuity of which should be ensured without prejudice to the reform programs;
  
• the absence of reforms truly based on national development. Reforms should serve as instruments of facilitating and simplifying the operation of the administrative apparatus and ultimately lead to change and improvement of living conditions of populations and to national development. They should also be designed to support government action, compliment the efforts of civil society, facilitate private sector activities and improve the business environment. Reforms should not only be conducted in offices but rather on the ground to concretize development efforts by all stakeholders;

• The capacity and scope of reforms. To succeed and have an impact in countries, reforms should have a national dimension and should involve all departments and all state institutions, private sector and civil society. To do this, institutional, human, financial and material capacity from all these stakeholders should be mobilized to support the reforms. Reforms should not be considered the sole responsibility of one ministry. On the contrary, the action of all development actors must combine their efforts.

All these challenges and others indicate that in Africa, the effective implementation of reforms still faces significant challenges. Without a different vision of reforms and without new approaches to lead these changes, the reform programs will continue to exist without major effects in the countries.

Given this situation and the various challenges posed by the implementation of reform programs in Africa, the African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD) decided to organize, in collaboration with its partners, this seminar which is intended for the managers of programs and reform projects of public administration and state institutions. The aim of the seminar is to rethink the current methods of design, coordination and monitoring of reforms and to consider new approaches based on the vision and objectives of economic and social development of countries. It is about re-orienting reforms and adapting them to the needs and requirements of development.

To achieve this goal, the seminar will focus on the following issues:

• How can reforms be a strategic leverage to accomplish missions and objectives of the government? In other words, how are we to ensure that programs and projects of reforms are the basis for the effective implementation of government's aspirations? The aim of the reforms would be to transform, restructure, innovate or re-invent any structures and any procedures to facilitate the implementation of government policy;
  
• How can reforms stimulate, encourage and support private sector or business development? In addition, how can reforms clean up the economic environment and thus facilitate investment and development of businesses? How is this to be carried out in collaboration with the private sector to identify barriers, challenges and opportunities in order to improve the performance of the private sector?
  
• How can reforms improve the lives and the well-being of populations? In other words, what reforms should be undertaken to ensure that populations have easy access to state services and benefit from the fallout of government and private sector action? The reforms should serve, in this case, to solve real or concrete problems of populations;
  
  
• How can reforms pave the way towards a sound and balanced economic development in African countries? In other words, how can reforms accompany the effective implementation of the vision and objectives of national development? In this context, the objective of reforms is to consider all mechanisms contributing to the achievement of the vision of short, medium and long term development. They should also strengthen the capacity of appropriate structures, restructure those whose needs are felt and finally eliminate those that might impede the effective fulfillment of the objectives;
  
• How can reforms be used to mitigate the effects of the economic and financial crisis and prepare services and institutions to the post crisis period? What reforms should be taken to stimulate economic recovery and prepare the public services and state institutions to support social and economic reflation?

While examining these different questions, participants will be better prepared to review current practices of reforms and to consider new strategies that fit better with the current challenges and complexities of reform programs in the public sector. As you can see, the seminar will provide a platform for reflection, dialogue and work towards the adoption of concrete solutions to the current concerns of reforms in all African countries.

Objectives 

The main objective of the seminar is to examine objectively and comparatively the current systems of reforms of the administration and state institutions. It also aims to focus on the new strategies and approaches of design, coordination and monitoring of reforms. It is especially about explaining to participants the new trends and directions of reform, innovation and modernization programs and those of re-invention of the pubic administration and state institutions.

The specific objectives are as follows:

• Exchange knowledge and experiences on programs and projects of reform of public administration and state institutions in Africa and elsewhere;
• Examine the various trends and innovations in the reform process;
• Encourage consultation on appropriate and effective approaches to adopt in order to reform, restructure and modernize the entire public sector;
• Strengthen capacities, skills and leadership in conducting reforms in Africa;
• Strengthen and enhance cooperation between African countries in the field of administrative and institutional reforms.

Program content (sub-themes)

The seminar will address the following topics:

1. Towards a new governance of public services and state institutions:

• Review and formulation of new missions and new interventions by public services and state institutions; their adaptation and direction to the needs and current contexts of the government and population;
• The participatory and inclusive approach of development based on diversity, public / private partnership / civil society;

2. Place and role of organizations in charge of reforms, innovation and modernization of public services and state institutions in the national development:

• Reviewing, broadening and strengthening of the duties assigned to the bodies in charge of reforms;
• Coordination, partnership, decentralization and empowerment of reform processes;
• Strengthening of institutional, human and financial capacity of the bodies in charge of reforms.

3. Strategies and mechanisms for conducting complex reforms:

• Study and evaluation of the complexity and scope of the system or processes to be reformed, taking into account institutional, economic, social or political stakes ;
• Participatory formulation of the vision, strategies and objectives of the reforms to be undertaken according to the complexity of problems and national development programs;
• Strategic planning of actions to be taken, resources to be mobilized and partnership to be considered with stakeholders;
• Strengthening the capacity of leadership, coordination, steering, management, evaluation and monitoring of the implementation of interventions;
• Assessing the impact of programs / projects of reforms on the ground.

4. In search of the ratio cost/effectiveness/performance/results of public services and state institutions:

• Focus on evaluating performance and outcomes of services, institutions and personnel;
• preparation of contracts of performance and outcomes for services and staff;
• Advancement based on merit, productivity, skills, capabilities and results;
• Performance and results based budget / funding.

5. The importance and reinforcement of knowledge in performance and results:

• centrality of knowledge in achieving good performances, productivity and results;
• Need to develop expertise (knowledge) through training, development and creativity;
• funding/budget for the acquisition of knowledge.

Participants

The seminar is organized for senior officials responsible for designing, coordinating and steering the reform programs of governments and state institutions. It is particularly intended for the following persons:

• Ministers of Civil Service, Administrative Reform and State Reform;
• Chairpersons of National Commissions of the civil service and reforms;
• Secretaries General of the Ministries in charge of reforms, innovation and modernization of public services and state institutions;
• Managing Directors and Directors responsible for reform programs;
• Managing Directors of National Schools of Administration;
• Partner institutions at regional and international level working in the field of the seminar.

Resource persons

Resource persons will be experienced, high level experts that are skilled in the field of reforms, innovation and modernization of public administration and state institutions. Their role will be to introduce topics, guide the discussions, generate debates and participate in discussions on all issues to be addressed during the seminar. Their input will also be critical to developing conclusions and recommendations of the seminar.

Methodology

The seminar will involve reflection, dialogue and use of the participatory approach. After introduction of topics by resource persons, participants will intervene to raise questions, make comments, share views and provide additional information based on the concrete example from their respective countries and backgrounds. The seminar will be organized in plenary sessions using such important presentation tools, such as Power Point.

Expected results

The seminar will serve as a platform for dialogue and search for new mechanisms to enhance the performance of public services and state institutions. It is expected that by the end of the seminar, participants are better prepared to initiate and implement new strategies, approaches and reforms that will support the development of their respective countries. The seminar also seeks to strengthen the leadership capabilities of participants to make them better implement reforms in their respective countries. At the end of the seminar, a report will be prepared and published to the attention of all participants.

Registration Fees

Pursuant to the decision of the 47th Meeting of CAFRAD Governing Board, held in Tangier (Morocco) on June 29, 2009, each participant will pay a lump sum of U.S. $ 300 (three hundred U.S. dollars) or 250 Euros (two hundred fifty Euros) at the time of registration.

Venue:            Tangier (Morocco).
Date:               8 – 10 February 2010.
Duration :      Three days.
Working languages: French and English.