amdin and the capam psti network prof sheikh a. abdullah chairperson: amdin
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AMDIN and the CAPAM PSTI network
Prof Sheikh A. AbdullahChairperson: AMDIN
Who and what is AMDIN?
What is AMDIN?
• A network of African Management Development Institutes (MDIs) as well as Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Management (SIAs) and research institutes in the area of public administration/ public management/ public governance and related areas
• Pan African network covering all five regions of Africa, straddling Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone and Arabic speaking Africa
• Organically linked to the AGPAP, the African Governance and Public Administration Programme, the initiative of the All Africa Conference of Ministers for Public/Civil Service, the African Union and NEPAD
• Founded in 2005 and legally registered as a Non-Profit Organisation with its Secretariat based in South Africa since 2007
• Membership exclusively institutional – no individuals or governments
AMDIN’s expanding footprint
AfricaAfrica
20092005
AMDIN Points of Departure
• African ownership• Recognition and utilisation of strengths
and expertise in African MDIs• Sharing knowledge and resources within
the network to strengthen and empower all of the African MDIs
• Collaboration and cooperation: within the network and across other networks and organisations
For MDIs to be centers of excellence capable of responding to African
development challenges and global engagements
AMDIN Vision
AMDIN Mission To create for African MDIs a platform
that articulates their collective voice and that promotes mutual partnership and collaboration with a view to developing leadership and management capacity in
response to the needs of the African people and their governments
AMDIN’s role
• AMDIN is positioned as Capacity Builder of those charged with Capacity Development of African public sector organisations and their employees
• AMDIN is dedicated to improving the environment in which African MDIs function as well as strengthening capacity of member institutions – be that organisationally or individually
Mandate: 1st AMDIN Biennial Conference August, 2007
AMDIN has a critical role to play in addressing the deficiencies that exists in the African MDIs – on institutional, organisational and individual levels. With the assistance of AMDIN and within a networked and constructive collective spirit, African MDIs will set out to achieve a multifaceted and durable agenda to raise their own standards and set continent-wide benchmarks to guide a process of continuous improvement.
Strategic & Operational Plan 2009 - 20116 Focal Areas:
1. Strengthened organisational and human resource capacity for MDIs
2. Shared African curricula and standards frameworks for continual performance improvement
3. Knowledge relevant to the development of African public sector capacity more readily available
4. Opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange and resource sharing increased
5. Contribution of MDIs to African Public Sector Capacity Development extended beyond training to include other HRD approaches, research, consultancy and policy advice
6. Enabling AMDIN Institutional Capacity
Purpose
Empowered African MDIs effectively fulfill their
developmental roles and mandate through knowledge
exchange and networking
Developmental Goal
Contribute to the development of Africa by strengthening democracy,
good governance and public administration
Activities in 2009-2011 Plan• Formulated in response to extensive consultation &
needs identification process in 2008• Aimed at 6 different target groups: Heads of
Institutions; Institutional Management; Training Administrators; Training and Curriculum Design Experts; Consultants; Researchers
• Content wise focuses on 11 curriculum areas identified by NEPAD in the AGPAP (as adjusted over time)
• Standard raising and quality improvement• African context & implications for what MDI are doing &
how they are doing it
Intersection: Target Groups and ActivitiesIntersection: Target Groups and Activities
Trainers & Design experts
Training Managers & Administrators
Heads of Institution
Institutional Managers
Consultants & Advisors
Researchers
Target groups Individual Capacity Development/ Training
Knowledge management; Collaboration & Peer learning
Annual Heads of Institutions Forum
Problem solving “fish bowls” and “showcasing” innovative solutions
Placement & exchange
Exposure visits/ study trips
Standards of Excellence for self & peer evaluation
Training of Trainers – generic & subject specialisation, e.g. e-government
Training Curriculum Design & Materials Development Experts (Incl. Wiki-educators)
•Change management exposure visits
•Support programme for new Heads of Institutions
•Customised training course re managing e/ on-line training PLUS managing logistics for residential courses
Training CFOs/ Financial directors for resource mobilisationBuild M&E capacity, with specific emphasis on RIO and Impact Assessment methodologies
Peer to peer learning
Placement & exchange
Communities of Practice in curriculum areas Peer to peer learning for professional groupingsCollaborative curriculum developmentAwards programmes
Peer to peer learningFacilitate consortium formation & collaborative biddingOn-line toolbox and example practices
Consultancy competency development through short courses & reflective practice
Placements in consulting firms
Collaborative research groupsMake accessible on-line resource centres and info rich DbasesJoint, comparative research programmes
Research methods & skills
Introduction to technological support & software for researchers
Communities of Practice: Curriculum Communities of Practice: Curriculum DevelopmentDevelopment Representati
ves from user/ client communities
Public Sector Restructuring and HRM
Leadership and Human Resource Development
Strategic Planning and Budgeting
Inter and Intra-Governmental
Relations
Public Policy Development and Management
Curriculum areas
Researchers and subject experts
Curriculum Designers & Materials Developers
Trainers
Further curriculum areas:•Public Finance, Budgeting and Financial Management•Ethics and Anti-Corruption•Public Participation and Service Delivery•Globalisation and Regional Integration
E-Government and Knowledge Management
What is AMDIN’s historical connection with the CAPAM PSTI?
Ghana conference• Was extensively consulted re programme, participants
& AMDIN participated in programme, but AMDIN not recognised as formal partner of the event notwithstanding discussions re this
• AMDIN cautioned around the special situation re existing networks, specifically Africa and extremely dense organisational fabric re public administration & MDIs, specifically in Africa, but also internationally
• Voice of MDIs from other regions who do not have their own pre-existing networks outside of CAPAM won the day to proceed with a CAPAM PSTI initiative
Barbados & since• No official AMDIN representation• Overlapping members, so some African
participation• Meeting between CEOs in Arusha in March
to establish foundation for collaboration• CIDA proposal for limited number of joint
activities in a selection of African countries, where existing overlap with AMDIN and Commonwealth, and geographical concentration for cost containment purposes
What are the drivers and challenges for future collaboration between AMDIN in the CAPAM PSTI initiative?
Fluidity of the network structure: In reality, many intersecting sub-networks on different dimensions and
layered: professional; disciplines; geographical; etc
Level 1: AMDIN one network within other global ones, e.g. UNPAN & IASIA
Level 2: AMDIN intersecting and cooperating with other regional/ language based/ colonial history networks, e.g. CAPAM PSTI initiative, CLAD, etc
Level 3: Intersecting and cooperating with other African initiatives, e.g. AAPAM; CAFRAD; African Human Resource Management Network
Level 4: Sub-networks within AMDIN – CoPs; Peer to Peer learning groups; interactive, action learning research groups
Elements of successful networks• Agreement and understanding by all re the network
structure in use• Commitment to a common purpose• Trust among participants• Governance issues clarified: e.g. Boundaries and
exclusivity; Rules; Self-determination; network management
• Access to authority (e.g. definitive standard-setting procedures)
• Leadership and willing champions• Distributive accountability/ responsibility• Information sharing• Access to resources
Challenges• The majority of commonwealth states are African – therefore
significant overlap. Anglophone African MDIs currently the most active/ demanding AMDIN members – double dipping on their side or the “cash-cows” for both initiatives?
• Oversupply, duplication and redundancy: African MDIs have limited resources: leadership and staff time, money to attend events, resources to pay affiliation fees, etc. -- within Anglophone Africa “competing” for the same resource base to make our individual networks sustainable. Large overlap in terms of donor partners
• Is the CAPAM PSTI a network of networks, or a network of MDIs??
– AMDIN currently the only existing network, with its own membership (including and beyond commonwealth) in the CAPAM PSTI effort – other interested parties are individual MDIs in Commonwealth countries
– If a network of networks, then where is CLAD, IASIA, UNPAN, the Asian networks, etc? (This will require different governance arrangements than what is on the table and CAPAM PSTI network will be one of many equal networks – existing and that may be formed in future)
– If a network of commonwealth MDIs, how does AMDIN as a network then fit into the CAPAM PSTI network picture, other than ad hoc collaboration/ attendance and individual MDIs that may have overlapping membership?
Drivers
• Existing relationship between leadership on both ends
• Shared commitment to improving situation of MDIs – making them more effective
• Similar types of initiatives and interventions foreseen
• Professional respect & competence• Limited resources encouraging more efficient
ways of working – collaborating & dovetailing efforts
The way forward
• From AMDIN side still very unclear regarding many of the “success” factors
• However, decided to start collaborating on a limited scale and hopefully gain clarity/ finding answers/ building rules while undertaking shared activities
• As an organisation will have to monitor the impact of such collaboration on an ongoing basis