July-December 2000                                    Numéro  67

                                                                       CAFRAD News

 

   

Content

 

NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNING BOARD 

Following the announcement on 6th September 2000, of a Cabinet reshuffle in the Kingdom of Morocco, Mr. M’Hamed EL KHALIFA has emerged as the new Minister of Civil Service and Administrative Reform; and consequently, the Chairman of the Governing Board of CAFRAD.

A member of the Executive Committee of the Istiqlal Party, for which he is Head of the Unity and Equality Group, Mr. EL KHALIFA has been a noted Member of the Chamber of Representatives since 1977.

 A Lawyer by training, the new Chairman has been on the Marrakech Bar since 1964, becoming its President from 1974-1978. In addition, he has been a long-standing and honoured member of the Union of Arab Barristers. Aside from his strong interest in juridical questions, Mr. EL KHALIFA has much interest in political, historical and sociological studies.

Elected President of the Municipal Council of Marrakech (1976-1984), Mr. EL KHALIFA was that Council’s first President to receive from His Majesty King Hassan II the Dahir Acharif provided for in the Communal Charter of 1976.

The Acting Director-General and staff of CAFRAD congratulate wholeheartedly Mr. EL KHALIFA and wish him a successful tenure of office.

In the same vein, the Acting Director-General and staff of CAFRAD congratulate the outgoing Chairman of the Governing Board H.E. Mr. El Houssine AZIZ who has been appointed by His Majesty King Mohamed VI as Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Qatar. 

WORKSHOP ON MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN AFRICA 

CAFRAD organized a bilingual Workshop (English/French) on the Management of Human Resources in Africa:  Challenges for the Third Millennium in Tangier (Morocco), 23-27 October 2000.

The Workshop was attended by 41 high-level participants in charge of human resources from : Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Guinea Bissau, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Four Resource Persons from UN-DESA/DPEPA (USA), IIAP (Paris), an independent consultant from New York (USA) and Tangier (Morocco) facilitated the Workshop.

Among the personalities who attended the opening ceremony were : the representative of the Wali of Tangier, H.E. The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Morocco, and the Resident Representative of UNDP and Coordinator of the UN system in Morocco.

The main objectives of the Workshop were to :

  1. Challenges for the Third Millennium : new role of the State, new role of the civil servant and new expectations of the citizen.

  2. The use of new methods of performance and productivity appraisal in the public sector.

  3. Application of information technology in the management of human resources.

  4. Financial aspects of human resources management.

  5. Improvement of legal and administrative texts (statutes, code of conduct, regulations, rules and procedures) relating to the management of human resources.

Following very interesting exchange of views and experiences, as well as resource persons’ presentations, the Workshop made the following recommendations :

  1. Human resources constitute a capital or an investment. African Governments need to consider human resources as an important component in national development.

  2. Modernization of human resources management ought to be part of the national administrative reform programmes. No administrative reform programmes could succeed without reforming the management system of human resources.

  3. Improvement in the management of human resources is presently a great challenge to all African countries. There is a need for training and exchange of experiences in this area. Therefore, CAFRAD was requested to undertake the following activities in collaboration with international, regional, sub-regional organizations and national partners :

DEVELOPMENTS IN UNPAN PROJECT

As announced in the last issue of CAFRAD News No. 66, CAFRAD is collaborating with the United nations Department of Public Economics and Public Administration (UN-DPEPA) in its UNPAN Project, which is an On-line Network on Public Administration and Finance.

Within the context of the project, Mr. Lelo Mamousi, Expert at CAFRAD, alongside 12 others, attended the training session organized by UN-DESA/DPEPA in New York (USA), 27-28 November 2000 on “Document Management System”. Participants were from ARADO (Egypt), OFPA (Benin), IDEP (Senegal), EROPA (Philippines), CARICAD (Barbados), CLAD (Venezuela), CAFRAD (Morocco) and UNPAN Secretariat (New York).

The training session consisted of a demonstration of the software called intra-doc Document Management to be used in the management of the documentation component of the project. Intra-doc could be used for acquisition, processing, management, exchange, lending and publishing documents in a middle or large sized library. It could also be used interactively with other softwares and devices connected with internet facilities.

The following main issues were discussed :

  1. UNPAN document management :

  1. Types of materials to be catalogued and classified :

  1. Reference materials to be used in cataloguing and classification :

  1. Technical issues :

  1. Administrative issues :

 ACTING DIRECTOR-GENERAL’S MISSIONS

Between 17th and 18 th July 2000, the Ag. Director-General visited H.E. Mr. DIABATE, Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire to Rabat, H.E. Mr. Omar AL HARK, Ambassador of the Arab Jamahiriya  of Libya to Rabat,  H.E. Mr. Paba SALE, Ambassador of Cameroon, and H.E. Mrs. Ramatou DIORI, Ambassador of Niger to Rabat. Undertook various missions with a view to consolidating collaboration between the Centre and its Member States as well as making contacts with donor agencies.

On 3rd August 2000, the Ag. Director-General paid a visit to H.E. Mr. Fousseini SY, Ambassador of Mali, and on 4th August 2000, he visited H.E. Mr. El Mihoub MIHOUBI, Ambassador of Algeria, to Rabat (Morocco).

The Ag. Director-General of CAFRAD discussed possibilities of cooperation with Mr. Achim VOGT, Representative of Ebert Stiftung Foundation (Rabat). Between 5th and 6th September 2000 he had discussions with Mrs. Paugan of the World Bank Office (Rabat) and with the Ambassador Mr. Bouna S. DIOUF, Resident Representative of UNDP. On 7 September 2000 he attended the reception offered by the H.E. The Ambassador of the Libyan Embassy on the occasion of his country’s National Day.

On 15th September 2000 the Ag. Director-General paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Mr. M’hammed EL KHALIFA in Rabat to congratulate him on the occasion of his appointment to the post of Minister of Civil Service and Administrative Reform, and, consequently, new Chairman of CAFRAD’s Governing Board. He seized this opportunity to contact some Member States whose Embassies are accredited to Rabat to accelerate payment of contributions for 2000/2001.

From 16th -30th September 2000, the Ag. Director-General undertook a mission to Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire for discussion of CAFRAD’s Work Programme and for payment of contributions. He also visited the Secretary-General of OFPA, Mr. Nzouankeu in Cotonou (Benin) for partnership in joint programmes.

PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Professor Tijjani Muhammad Bande, Acting Director-General of CAFRAD, attended as Consultant the “International Workshop on Constitutionalism and Society in Africa”, held in Ohio University, Athens, Ohio (USA), 6-8 November 2000. Professor Bande seized that opportunity to discuss with FORD FOUNDATION the funding of two CAFRAD’s projects, and explored the possibility of a linkage between UNDP and CAFRAD.

Miss Lizette MICHAEL, Expert at CAFRAD, represented the Centre in the regional panel held in Tangier (Morocco) on 22 November 2000. The theme of the panel was : Gender and Development: A New Approach to Poverty Alleviation. It was organized by the Moroccan Ministry of the Family and Childhood in collaboration with FNUAP, UNDP and UNIFEM.

NEW SECRETARIAT IN AAPAM

Dr. Robert DODOO, member of CAFRAD’s Governing Board, became AAPAM President. Dr. Dodoo is the Head of Civil Service (Ghana).

Mr. Hudson Moses BIGOGO, Deputy Secretary, Administration Department, Office of the President (Kenya) is in charge of the Secretariat until the appointment of a new Secretary-General to replace Dr. Ijuka KABUMBA, who completed his term.

Professor Victor AYENI of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, succeeds Professor M.J. BALOGUN, Principal Regional Adviser, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) as Editor-in-Chief of AJPAM.

CAFRAD wishes the new team all the best in their assignments and looks forward to continued collaboration between AAPAM and the Centre.

AFRICA DAY OF ADMINISTRATION AND CIVIL SERVICE

23 June 2000 marked the 6th Anniversary of Africa Day of Administration and Civil Service. CAFRAD is pleased to publish information which was provided to it by the following countries :

BENIN

The Government of Benin organized some activities to commemorate the 6th Anniversary focusing on administrative reform and geared toward providing the public with information on the Civil Service function and achievements. It was an elaborate, phased, event which culminated in the award of prizes to serve civil servants whose dedication to their work was exemplary. H.E. Mr. Ousmane Batoko, the Minister of Public Service, was there to congratulate them for their achievement. /the Director-General of CAFRAD participated in the presentations of the awards.

BURKINA FASO

On the occasion of the  6th Anniversary of Africa Day of Administration and Civil Service, H.E. Mr. Paramanga Ernest YONLI, Minister of Civil Service and Institutional Development delivered an important speech to the nation.The Minister emphasized the importance of administration and the civil service as vital instruments to social protection, promotion, and orientation in the process of development in Africa. However, to enable the civil service to participate fully in the process, it needs to be strengthened so as to become more productive and efficient. He added that whatsover structures were envisaged, African leaders recognize that a development - oriented civil service could not be attained without the maximum utilization of its available resources and the improvement of services rendered to users. It is within this context that a number of African States commemorate each year, and this was since 1995 the Africa Day of Administration and Civil Service; a day of intensive reflection on administration and the civil service vis-à-vis challenges. The Minister concluded that the way forward was long and invites more determination and conviction in order to be able to implement fully civil service reforms already under way.

Africa Day in Burkina Faso was marked by the organization of various activities. A Conference on global reforms of administration was held on 21 June 2000 at Boussé; the installation of the Consultative Council of the civil service on 22 June in Ouagadougou; and the organization of a panel in Kaya bringing together the Minister and the civil servants from the provinces of Sanmantenga, Bam, Oubritenga, Ganzourgou, Namentenga, Soum and Passoré.

The Acting Director-General of CAFRAD and his staff seize this opportunity to express warm congratulations to H.E. Mr. Paramanga Ernest YONLI on his recent appointment to the post of Prime Minister of Burkina Faso.

GHANA

To commemorate the 6th Anniversary, Ghana chose the theme “Enhancing Administrative Integrity in the Civil Service” for the occasion.

The Anniversary Lecture was delivered by Professor Akua Kuenyehia, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana .

The Head of Civil Service, Dr. Robert DODOO, made a press statement in which he highlighted activities of the Civil Service and, in particular, on various aspects of the Civil Service Reform Agenda. The Civil Service Performance Improvement Programme (CSPIP) was instituted to provide strategies for change in the Civil Service; for engendering best management practices and desirable work ethic as a major vehicle for institutional and human capacity building and for instilling good governance culture in the Civil Service. Consequently, CSPIP has become the critical change mechanism for making the service more cost-effective, performance - oriented and more productive. In effect, it served as the appropriate and effective management tool for improving output, quality of service delivery and enhancing Civil Service image.

Since CSPIP is one of the pillars of the Civil Service Reform Agenda, it brought about improvement in performance and in the efficient design, planning and implementation of programmes and projects. CSPIP also helped in re-orienting systems, attitudes and behaviours in the Civil Service in order to establish good governance norms in service delivery.

The purpose of the “Meet the Press” session was to provide an open forum to both showcase what the Civil Service has been doing and provide ample opportunity for dialogue with the general public.

Celebrations included presentation of awards to selected civil servants at both National, Regional and District Levels who have contributed meaningfully and significantly, to the enhancement of productivity and efficiency in the Civil Service, music by Civil Service Mass Choir, and refreshments.

Another feature of this year’s celebrations in Ghana was that a Women’s Day for the Civil Service was observed and a seminar was organized with Dr. (Mrs) Mary Grant as the Guest Speaker.

MADAGASCAR

Madagascar celebrated the 6th Anniversary of Africa Day of Administration and Civil Service on the theme “Professional Public Service : Bedrock of Development”, in Toamasina.

Celebrations started with an official ceremony under the auspices of H.E. The Prime Minister, Head of Government of the Republic of Madagascar. It was attended by members of Government, high-level personalities, and representatives of Employers, Workers, and Syndicate Unions of the Province of Toamasina.

On this occasion, 110 medals of the National Order and the Order of Merit of Madagascar and diplomas were awarded to deserving functionaries of the six Provinces of Madagascar and especially to civil servants from the Ministry of Civil Service.

A bi-monthly “Liaison Bulletin” of the Ministry of Civil Service entitled “ASA VADIDRANO” or “Work in Solidarity” was launched.

The celebration was further enlivened in Antananarivo by the inauguration of various works accomplished by the Ministry of Civil Service, namely, the Canteen and the Documentation Centre of the Ministry, classroom and dormitory of the National Centre for Administrative Training and the Centre for Preventive Medicine of the National School of Public Administration of Madagascar. In addition, the foundation stone for the building of a National Centre for the Education of Workers was laid.

MOROCCO

To commemorate the 6th  Anniversary of Africa Day of Administration and Civil Service, the Ministry of Civil Service and Administrative Reform organized a one-day panel on “Women’s Access to Posts of Senior Management in the Civil Service”.

The Panel was facilitated by Experts from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, France, Germany and the United Nations.

The Experts presented the situation of women in the Civil Service and highlighted efforts deployed to achieve equality in career opportunities between men and women in the Service.

It was observed that the number of women in the civil service was about 31% of the total number of civil servants. Most women were employed in education and in the health sector and very few of them were in key positions.

NIGERIA

The weeklong celebration of Africa Day of Civil Service and Administration in Nigeria entailed various programmes of activities among which were Press Briefing, Colloquium, Friendly/Novelty Football Matches and Dinner and Award Night, which was the grand finale.

The Press Briefing by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation took place on 16th June, 2000. The event afforded the HCSF the opportunity of informing the nation and the entire world of the objectives, achievements and problems of the Civil Service since the inception of the present democratic government.

In addition to regular media, stickers, banners of different sizes and posters were usedto further publicize the event. Civil Service standing flags were distributed to the Federal Ministries as well as 1000 Civil Service table flags to the states. Media publicity comprised 30 minutes discussion programme on A.I.T. in which the Permanent Secretary (PSO) represented the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. In addition, there was a network news coverage and full page advert placement in the National Newspapers.

A Colloquium Session took place on 20th June, 2000. The Head of Civil Service of the Federation as the Chief Host graced the occasion with the Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was represented by Chief Emmanuel Ogbuechi, Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Office of the SGF. The moderator of the Colloquium was Chief Mrs. J.O. Ayo, Special Assistant to the President on Economic Matters. The theme of the Colloquium “Revitalization of the Civil Service” was split into three discussion areas as follows :

  1. Work Ethics in the Civil Service.

  2. Revitalizing the Civil Service in a Democratic Setting.

  3. Budgeting for Efficient Management in a Democratic Setting.

A friendly Football Match and a Novelty Match for Permanent Secretaries were organized as part of the activities for the celebration. The friendly football match was between the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation’s team and the team of the Federal Ministry of Justice. Permanent Secretaries and Directors participated in the Novelty Match.

The Dinner and Award Night, which was the grand finale of the Celebration, took place on 23th June, 2000. The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was the Special Guest of Honour.

At the Dinner and Award Night, a total of 16 recipients were honoured. Six Heads of Service of State Governments representing the country’s six geo-political zones joined some prominent Nigerians selected for a special award in recognition of their contribution to public service.

CAFRAD wishes to congratulate in particular Professor Adebayo Adedeji and Professor A.D. Yahaya who had been for a good number of years associated with the Centre’s work for their distinguished Service Awards which they well deserve.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF COURSES

1)  The International Law Institute-Uganda will organize a series of courses in 2001. The 2001 Calendar includes courses, such as: Government Integrity, Policy and Legal Framework for Regional Integration, Post Privatization, International Criminal Justice, Private Financing of Infrastructure, and WTO participation : Rights and Obligations, Issues of Critical Importance in Sub-Saharan Africa.

For more information please contact :

Mrs. Anne Namuyomba

Marketing Manager

ILI - Uganda

P.O. Box 23933

Kampala - Uganda

Tel. :  256 41 347 523 / 231 712

Fax :  256 41 347 522

E-mail     : anamuyomba@ili.or.ug

Web Site : www.ili.org

 

2)  The Institut Forhom is offering various courses (in French) during the year 2001 on decentralization - deconcentration, Marketing, Environment, and Project Cycle, etc.

For more information please contact :

Institut Forhom

B.P. 3001

La Rochelle Cedex 01 - France

Tel. :  + 33 (0) 546 459 125

Fax :  + 33 (0) 546 459 126

E-mail     :  Institut.Forhom@wanadoo.fr

Web Site :  www.bdpa.fr

3)  The School of Public Policy of the University of Birmingham offers a wide range of short (two to six weeks) study programmes, such as, Improving Performance in the Public Sector, Governance, Poverty and Partnerships, Managing Participatory Development, Contracting Out and Public-Private Partnerships, Ethics and Corruption, Improving Financial Performance in Local Government, Mobilizing Financial Resources for Local Government, Managing Markets and Tailored training services.

For details of the programmes, contact :

School of Public Policy, The International Development Department

The University of Birmingham

Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT - United Kingdom

Tel.  :  (44) 121 414 4969

Fax  :  (44) 121 414 7164

E-mail     :  Y.Swain@bham.ac.uk

Web Site :  http://www.bham.ac.uk/IDD

 

4)  In addition to its traditional training in finance, management, law and governance, the International Law Institute (ILI) is offering new courses in 2001 as listed below :

 

-  Mediation : 16-21 April 2001

-  Evaluation, Management and Performance : 2-16 June 2001

-  Legal Issues in Electronic Commerce : 18-22 June 2001

-  Government Integrity : 16-27 July 2001

 

For detailed information, please contact :

Ms. Ramya Vivekanandan

Senior Program Administrator, International Law Institute

1615 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20009  -  U.S.A.

Tel.       :  (202) 483 3036

Fax       :  (202) 483 3029

E-mail   :  training@ili.org