UNDP | Afghanistan | Civil Service Leadership Development

Thematic Area: Democratic Governance

[Last Updated June 2008]

Project Start Date: May 2005
Project End Date: April 2009
Status of project: Active
Implementing Partners: Direct Implementation (DIM), IARCSC, CSI
Project Location: Afghanistan Civil Service Institute, Kabul, Afghanistan

Today, the lack of human capacity is among the most serious problems facing the Afghan civil service. The problem is particularly acute at senior management level, where there is no senior cadre with genuine leadership and management skills in place. Civil Service Leadership, however, plays a pivotal role to i) loyally and effectively support and advance the new vision for the future that the Government has set in place for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan, (ii) to lead and manage the process of change and reform, in particular the reforms of the public sector, iii) to inspire, to influence and motivate others to support the reform and to achieve the changes, and (iv) to personify and represent the values of a new civil service culture and a culture of service delivery.

The “Civil Service Leadership Development” project is designed to assist the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC) to implement the Civil Service Leadership Development Strategy and to further support the Government of Afghanistan’s Public Administration Reforms efforts. The objective of the project is to strengthen the capacities of key senior civil servants in priority national government institutions in order to contribute to the establishment of a competent and effective civil service. To date the project has trained close to 500 senior civil servants from drawn from 24 ministries and 6 independent agencies to different streams of training programmes.

In order t guarantee the continuity of the training programmes implemented under the CSLD project, a cost sharing agreement was signed with the Royal Government of Norway for additional USD 2.2 million to support the implementation of a new output for “operation and set-up of the Afghan Civil Service Institute (ACSI)”. UNDP will support the Afghan Civil Service Institute (ACSI) by closely twinning international experts and Afghan counterparts to promote transfer of knowledge and ensuring that the required institutional and human capacity is built at the ACSI for delivering responsive and relevant leadership training programmes for Afghan civil servants.

Upon the request of the Government of Afghanistan, the CSLD project is planning to use its experience of delivering responsive leadership training programmes for Afghan civil service, to design a structured training programme that will be used by the government to assess the competencies of potential candidates for senior leadership positions and confirm their appointments. The contents of the new training programme will be aligned with the newly developed pay and grade scale for the civil service, which is under implementation. It will specifically address the competency requirements of senior civil servants in grades 1 and 2. This training programme will be named as the Senior Leadership Competency Development Programme (SLCDP). All SLCDP trainings will be conducted within the premises of the Afghan Civil Service Institute. In 2008- 2009, it is planned to train a total of 500 senior civil servants drawn from all key ministries and agencies.

Achievements:

The project to date has completed delivering the three popular leadership-training programmes. In 2006 and 2007, nearly 500 senior civil servants participated in the three training streams.

(a) Top Leadership Programme (TLP)
This training programme was designed for high-level government executives and targeted senior officials in the system i.e., Deputy Ministers, General Directors and Provincial Governors. This training programme was delivered in 2006 in two rounds outside of the country. The contents of the training programme mainly focused on leadership concepts and techniques, strategic planning management and hands on exercises in change management. The first TLP course was organized in September 2006 with 22 participants (11 Deputy Ministers and 5 Directors from various ministries, and 6 Governors from the Provinces of Zabul, Ghor, Parwan, Bamyan, Laghman and Samangan). It combined interactive class-room training with case scenarios and study visits to German Ministries. The second TLP course took place in November 2006 with 22 participants (16 Deputy Ministers and 6 Directors from various the ministries). The training programme also included experience sharing and exposure visits to various institutions.

(b) Senior Leadership Programme (SLP)
This training programme was designed and delivered to senior executives working in different public sector institutions, which supervise several professionals and make decisions of different kinds in managing complex operations. In 2006 and 2007, seven rounds of SLP training programmes were successfully conducted. The total duration of the training programme was four weeks. It was delivered in such a way that it would facilitate practical implementation and action learning. Over 200 participants from all central ministries and agencies took part in this programme.

(c) Emergent Leadership Programme (ELP)
This training programme was designed and delivered to civil servants who hold middle management level managerial responsibilities in various line ministries and agencies. In 2006 and 2007, eight rounds of ELP training programmes were conducted. Over 240 participants from central ministries, and agencies, as well as provincial administrative offices took part in the program.
The total duration of the training programmes was four weeks, divided into different workshops to allow participants to implement their theoretical knowledge in the workspace.

The project gave priority emphasis to encourage female civil servants to participate in all its training programmes. The figures for all the training programmes conducted in 2007 indicate that 17% of the participants were female civil servants. About 11% of the participants in 2007 came from various provincial offices.

(d) Coaching
All SLP and ELP training programmes were accompanied by a coaching scheme that helps combine class-room training with extensive on-the-job coaching to maximize the actual impact of the training programmes and influence change at the work place. Coaching service has been provided to all participants who were drawn from the central ministries and independent agencies. The coaching service was done by the team of 5 local Afghan project trainers & coaches who were trained by the International Training Consortium prior to assuming the tasks in order to familiarize themselves with the contents of the leadership courses. The overall feedback regarding the coaching support given to the participants in the central ministries and agencies has been very positive.

(e) Alumni Programme and CSLD Network
CSLD Network was created in 2006 to reach out to all the former participants of the CSLD courses and others in the civil service system, to disseminate general information on Public Administration Reform and provide a platform for sharing of experiences and to encourage networking among CSLD training participants.

Furthermore, the project has been organizing a cycle of Alumni meetings since 2006. Alumni meetings, essentially are a half day conferences, whereby former participants of CSLD training programmes and others interested will come together to listen to presentations of prominent resource persons, from government ,academia of the international community, on topical issues and latest developments in the area of public administration, and in particular public sector reform. In 2007, a total of six Alumni gatherings have been organized on varieties of topics in the area of public sector reform and administration, and other topics that are of interest to senior civil servants.

The CSLD newsletter and networking tools will also be launched with new and revised formats and contents, and in particular with the aim of aligning this output to the operational capacity building initiatives of the ACSI. Brochures and training materials have been revised, redesigned, and updated, and will become operational starting the 2nd quarter of 2008.

(f) End of year review
In late 2007 and early 2008, the CSLD project’s external evaluator carried out the end of year evaluation to assess the impact of the leadership training programmes that were carried out in 2006 and 2007, and suggest recommendations. The overall findings are:
• The programme has achieved its overall goal of equipping participants with basic concepts and techniques of managing public sector operations
• Participants indicated that they learned new concepts and skills which could easily be used in their workplace environments
• In some offices, participants attempted to impart the knowledge they gained to their colleagues
• The evaluation also reflected some important recommendations, with respect to the need for mandatory training programmes for civil servants, programme sustainability, evaluation design and methodology, and about local trainers and coaches.
The project has reviewed the recommendations and has taken actions to incorporate the recommendations in the implementation of project activities in the coming periods.

Plans for 2008 and beyond

(a) Support to the Operation and Set-up of the Afghan Civil Service Institute (ACSI)
Preparatory works that were started in the last quarter of 2007, for the implementation of this output has taken some shape. The CSLD project has identified four areas of focus for the implementation of this output. Repeated consultations, discussions, and meetings were carried out with the government counterpart and other donors who have stake in building the operational capacity of ACSI.
• A working group comprised of donor representatives and chaired by the Director of the Training and Development Department of the Civil Service Commission has been established to lead the CSI implementation process.
• A joint action plan that show the division of responsibilities of the three donors mainly supporting ACSI, namely, UNDP/CSLD, USAID/Capacity Development Program (CDP) and EC, has been prepared and will be used to monitor progress. The Working Group formed in the second half of 2007 is coordinating the implementation of plans related to the ACSI capacity building.
• The formulation of the strategic plan for the development of the ACSI has been finalized. Members of the Working Group have reviewed it, and agreement has been reached to use this document as a “road map” for implementing the capacity building initiatives for the ACSI.
• CSLD has recruited an International Institutional Development Advisor, who will be the focal person to advise the director of ACSI and other stakeholders, in implementing the strategic plan. In addition to advising on the implementation of the strategic plan, the advisor will also develop and implement different guidelines and manuals that will be used for efficiently managing the different functions of the institute, and train the staff of ACSI.
• CSLD has recruited an International Training and Curriculum Advisor to coordinate and lead the capacity development of ACSI trainers and the development and adaptation of the CSLD training modules and other materials. In addition to the international expert, CSLD project has finalized the recruitment of a Sr. Training Coordinator, and three National Training Assistants. This will ensure the sustainability and national ownership of the successful CSLD leadership training programmes.
• The recruitment of three international experts to advise and design systems and procedures and build local capacity in the following areas is in the process:

Library and Information Management,
Facilities Management and Maintenance System
Management of Training Materials Production

(b) Senior Leadership Competency Development Programme (SLCDP)
The SLCDP is a high-level comprehensive training programme that will be used to assess the competence of senior civil servants who will be assigned to senior leadership positions in the civil service as per the new pay and grade system. The programme is designed carefully to equip civil servants with the skills and knowledge that is required to manage complex operations in the public sector. The participants for this programme will be selected from those candidates whose nominations for senior positions have been processed by the Board of Appointments of the IARCSC. The delivery modalities as well as the continuous assessment tools to be used during the training period are designed in such a way that the concepts of the training sessions are implemented to the real working environment of the Afghan civil service system. In 2008- 2009, it is planned to train a total of 500 senior civil servants drawn from all key ministries and agencies.

Future Priorities:

• Implementation of Project Output 5: Support to the Operation and Set-up of the Afghan Civil Service Institute.
• Preparation and Implementation of the SLCDP

Partnerships and Resources:

Target Budget: USD 9,320,138
Received Budget: USD 5,834,974
Committed: USD 6,950,677
Shortfall: USD 2,369,461
Donors: Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Norway DGTTF and UNDP

Focal Points:

Kumlachew Aberra, CSLD Project Manager (kumlachew.aberra@undp.org)
Michael Schaadt, UNDP Programme Officer (michael.schaadt@undp.org)
Orzala Ashraf Nemat, UNDP Programme Officer (orzala.ashraf.nemat@undp.org)

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