Human Resource Capacity Development

Abstract

1. Background to the Manual In the framework of priority Africa in UNESCO and of strengthening the North-South-South- cooperation between National Commissions for UNESCO (NATCOMS), the German Commission for UNESCO supported the UNESCO implemented a programme to build capacity of National Commissions for UNESCO in Sub-Sahara African countries. The first workshop to introduce this programme was hosted by the German NATCOM in Bonn, Germany in June 2008. It was attended by participants from five NATCOMS from Africa, namely: Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Namibia and Rwanda, representing their sub-regions and representatives of the German NATCOM, UNESCO Headquarters and UNESCO cluster offices in Sub-Sahara Africa i.e. Dar es Salaam, Windhoek, Nairobi and Bamako offices. The workshop adopted a roadmap for organizing regional training workshops for NATCOMS in Africa for the period of October 2008 to February 2009. These workshops were organized and conducted by UNESCO in collaboration with the hosting NATCOMS with funding from the German National Commission. In the East African sub-region, the first training workshop was held in Kigali, on 29-31 October 2008, attended by representatives from the 5 East African countries (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda).The participants resolved to develop one Capacity Building Programme (CBP) for the sub-region. Uganda and Rwanda NATCOMS were elected co-chairs of the programme and tasked to develop the programme. Subsequently, a programme code named the East African National Commissions for UNESCO Capacity Building Program (EACBP) was developed and adopted in 2008/09. It was implemented during 2009-2012 with each NATCOM hosting one workshop as indicated in the chart below. NATCOM Venue 1. RWANDA Kigali Dates 29-31/10/2008 NATCOM-SPECIFIC TRAINING EA Regional workshop on: "EACB Project programming" and " Results based pro- gramming, Management and Monitiring (RBM)" 2. UGANDA Jinja 30/11/- 3/12/2009 Strategic Planning and Project Proposal Writing the CBP strategic framework and structure was adapted. The CBP Secre- tariat was based at Kampala with a joint coodination desk of Rwand and Uganda NATCOMS 3. TANZANIA Arusha Nairobi 4. KENYA 5.BURUNDI 05/07/05/2010 18-20/04/2011 Bujumbura 22-24/10/2012 Financial Management and fundraising Strategies Effective Communication, Public Relations and Customer Care Monitoring and Evaluation of Projects These workshops targeted senior officers (Secretaries-General and Deputy Secretaries- General) of the NATCOMS. The host countries however were allowed to include members of Staff to the workshops. After a successful implementation of the first phase (2009-2012) of the EACB programme, a terminal evaluation of the programme was conducted in 2013. The evaluation revealed that the objectives of programme had been achieved. It also endorsed the recommendation by the participants for a second phase of the programme. The donor (German Commission for UNESCO) welcomed and supported the recommendation of the evaluation. The German Commission requested the secretariat of the programme to develop a concept for a second phase of the programme. It is in this context that the second phase of the EACB programme was developed by the EACBP Secretariat. It is anchored on the principle of sustainability of the programme by focusing on the development of a training manual for the East African NATCOMS. The manual is envisaged to help NATCOMS continually to build capacity by increasing awareness, advocacy, administrative, planning and communication skills. The Secretariat of the East African NATCOMS set on the task to develop this training tool for capacity building in each EA NATCOMS by Commissioners and the support of experts. A workshop was organized in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania from 17th-21st March 2014 to review and pre-test the draft Manual, which was developed by the experts with the participation of the NATCOMS. The participants were representatives of the Staff NATCOMS, from Secretaries General & Programme Officers to support Staff. They not only reviewed the Manual but also piloted its use. The workshop was also an excellent opportunity for Secretaries-General and the EACBP focal persons and NATCOM Staff to test and enrich the training modules with their experiences. The content of the Manual is derived from the recommendations of the capacity needs assessment that was conducted among the NATCOMS personnel. The most outstanding areas of need to develop competences included: positioning UNESCO as a partner in addressing local development challenges by deepening knowledge about UNESCO and developing skills for proactively offering assistance to the national authorities; articulating the national needs and translating them into UNESCO's program priorities, through coordination, planning and programming; fostering advocacy for enhancing the visibility of NATCOMS and UNESCO: through the development of communication skills and a better conceptualization and operationalization of UNESCO's ideals, mission and vision; identifying and mobilizing resources, key partners and stakeholders: by building skills in project elaboration, negotiation, lobbying, policy and social dialogue; leading and promoting research and coordinating think-tank activities: by developing a future-oriented proactive culture; Administering, managing human and financial resources of the NATCOMS for effective attainment of organizational objectives and goals by building skills in management.