Summary Report

Transcription

Summary Report

African Training and Research Centre in
Administration for Development (CAFRAD)
African Capacity Building Foundation
(ACBF)
Original: Français
Pan-African Conference of Permanent Secretaries and Directors of
Human Resources of State Institutions
Topic: The Role and Place of Human Resources in
Achieving Government Development Objectives and
Countries’ Economic and Social Emergence
Summary Report
25 – 27 August 2014
Tangier (Morocco)
Pan-African Conference of Permanent Secretaries and Directors of Human Resources of State Institutions:
Summary Report
INTRODUCTION
From 25 to 27 August 2014, the first Pan African conference for Permanent
Secretaries and Human Resource Directors of African State institutions was held in Tangier
(Morocco), on the theme: “The role and place of human resources in achieving government
development objectives and countries’ economic and social emergence”. This conference
was organized by the African Training and Research Centre in Administration for
Development (CAFRAD) in partnership with the African Capacity Building Foundation
(ACBF).
The objective of the conference is to redefine the role played by human resources
managers of State institutions in the implementation of the economic and social emergence
process of African countries. The conference aimed also at pointing out the difficulties still
suffered by the administrations, in order to exame them and find the means to reduce, if not to
eradicate, them specially through innovative management strategies and approaches.
Present at the conference were delegates from Algeria, Burundi, Congo, the Gambia,
Niger, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Togo in addition to the following resource
persons: Dr. Tak Youssif Gnongbo, senior lecturer, Deputy at the Togolese National
Assembly, Mr. Dawda D. Fadera, Permanent Secretary of the Gambia Civil Service, Mr.
Benoît Ndi Zambo, Professor at the Higher Institute of Public Management (ISMP) of
Cameroun, and Mr. Kpanou Briand, Representative of K.M. Solutions Informatiques located
in Morocco.
The proceedings of this Pan African Conference have taken place in five major stages
namely: a formal side, the actual proceedings, discussions, conclusions and recommendations.
I.
OPENING CEREMONY
The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr. Stéphane Monney Mouandjo, DirectorGeneral of CAFRAD, and ably assisted by Mrs. Mariama Nianthio Ndiaye Sy of Senegal and
Mr. Mamadou Baba Oumar, Director of the Regional Centre of Employment Management
(CARDAT).
In his introductory remarks, the Director-General of CAFRAD warmly welcomed the
delegates of the various countries represented at the seminar before expressing his sincere
gratitude to them and to all other invitees for having created time to honour the invitation
from CAFRAD. He stressed the importance of the meeting which, according to him, was the
first conference of PS and HRD which was also the first conference organized under his
mandate after the official hand-over which took place early August sequel to his election to
this post during CAFRAD’s Governing Board on 14 May 2014. In addition, he raised the
stakes of such an initiative in the specific context of the history of the African continent where
the issue of emergence ranges from a form of conventional speech and the reality of a
legitimate aspiration of people and some governments. Although the concept seems to have
consensus both scientifically and politically, it is not necessarily so at the social level. So, this
represents a central question in Africa in which human resources should play a decisive role.
He also stressed the enormous task of PS and HRD in that it is their duty to manage the affairs
CAFRAD/ Tangier (Morocco) _ 25-27 August 2014
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of the Ministry, to serve often times as advisers to the Ministers and that it is also their duty to
understand the mechanisms not only of the decision making process but also the
implementation of these mechanisms as well as the follow up and the assessment of
projects/programmes of the Ministry in order to ensure their success. He also hoped that the
meeting would not just be an additional one, but that it would be the place of emergence of
new ideas and innovative proposals for a qualified African administrative staff. This phase
ended with the introduction of participants and resource persons, etc. and the presentation of
the detailed three days work programme.
II.
THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE
The proceedings were conducted in various phases namely: presentations by resource
persons, sharing of country experiences and group reflections.
The first session of the proceedings was chaired by Mrs. Mariama Nianthio Ndiaye
SY, Head of Training Department in the Ministry of Interior of Senegal. This was the
occasion for Dr. Tak Youssif Gnongbo to elicit the duties of the Permanent Secretary (PS)
and the Director of Human Resources (DHR). In his communication, which he presented in
two phases, Dr. Gnongbo gave an overview and detailed vision of the structure of the
functions. He gave a special importance to the duties and responsibilities of the PS and the
HRD in State institutions before describing the evolution of the duties of the HRD as longer
limited to personnel management and that of the PS confronted, until the publication of the
Togolese Decree of 2011, by the difficulties associated with the strong presence of the
Director of Cabinet of the Minister. Furthermore, the PS appointed by the Council of
Ministers holds a median position in the organization of the ministry in order to coordinate all
activities at both the central and decentralized levels. In the exercise of his/her duties, he/she
could be assisted by the Deputy Permanent Secretary in order to make the work of the
Ministry smoother.
In the second phase of this presentation on the place of the Permanent Secretary and
DHR between political, managerial or economic interest, Dr. Gnombo emphasized that
managerial interests often outweighed the political interests in the exercise of the duties of
these two senior officials. The PS thus maintained hierarchical and collaboration relationships
with the Minister without much political influence. As to his/her activity in the ministry, the
PS may rely in particular on the DHR who nevertheless remains the first contributor to pass or
implement government programmes.
The second session of the afternoon, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Civil
Service of Tchad, Mr. Tom Cherif Bilio, was facilitated by the presentation of Mr. Dawda D.
Fadera on “The role of PS and HRD in the implementation of reforms and the perpetuation of
a managerial culture of efficiency in the African administrations".
In his speech, Mr. Fadera first noted the place which becomes essential to all citizens
in decision making and in the implementation of actions in order to meet their real needs.
Indeed, the planning of strategies and their implementation take into account the geographic
and cultural specifics of the citizens. He also stressed that the 21st century was presented as
the century of the rise of Africa. However, this progression of the continent necessarily
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involved a considerable investment in human resources which are really the first force of the
entire production system. He recalled that the role of people was just as vital as that of
financial resources to the success of projects.
Mr. Fadera also stated that the attention enjoyed by the African countries in recent
years, are based as much on the interest in its raw materials as on its human resources
increasingly skilled and diversified. Therefore, the duty of HRD is important and deserves to
be endowed with necessary means in order to optimally manage the available resources. He
concluded this first point by stating that to have an effective system in Africa, we should
combine efforts so as to build a development in line with the expectations of African
countries.
As he continued he gave an overview of the 2020 vision of his country. In this context,
the Gambia, he said, had undertaken reforms in various sectors in order to eradicate the
scourges still affecting the administration and the Gambian society in general. He insisted in
this regard on 'poverty reduction programmes' and 'The page programme' which aims at the
employability of qualified persons.
These multi-sectoral reform programmes demonstrate the need to bring necessary
training to the working staff for its development in order to better meet the needs of citizens
by sectors. However, he stressed the problem of low pay which dampened the enthusiasm of a
large part of the workforce. Today, this problem is gradually resolved through the
establishment of a palliative retirement system that meets the needs.
The third session of his conference was held on Tuesday morning under the
chairmanship of Mr. Attah Assoumane Moussa, Permanent Secretary of the Public Service of
Niger. The session witnessed two papers namely that of Mr. Benoit Ndi Zambo on the theme:
"From the culture of means to the culture of result: the modernization of public
administration through the re-engineering of Human Resources." and that of Mr. Briand
Kpanou.
In his presentation, Mr. Ndi Zambo showed the passage of the administration from an
unsatisfactory and retrograde situation to a new administrative logic of modernization subject
to a variety of concerns. Although the means to get there were many, he felt it would be wiser
to invest in a tool such as results based management (RBM), which had already proven
elsewhere. This led to the important exercise in mastering the chain of results of RBM in
order to understand the efficiency and the effectiveness of this strategy. In the process, he
suggested to meet an internal and external logical framework, to measure performance, to
manage risks, to monitor it and to use the assessment in order to make necessary
improvements. Mr. Ndi Zambo ended his talk by stressing the reengineering of the training of
State human resources, which inevitably requires the effective application of the principles of
GPEC and RBM, revising training programmes so that the latter are more in line with the
current developments in administration.
Speaking in turn, Mr. Kpanou Briand first gave an overview of the contributions of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to the Human Resource Management
(HRM) before briefly drawing a table of current projects in African countries in the use of
ICT in human resource management. Thereafter, he insisted on the areas of improvement
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while presenting new technical solutions. The speaker recalled the great utility of ICT in the
modernization of administration. He said that this was as necessary to the viability of the
institution as in its work itself.
Also, he introduced dematerialization as a way to contribute to the reform of the
administration because it saves time, reduces the risk of errors in carrying out daily tasks as
well as it allows the tracking of records, to draw from them the necessary knowledge within a
short time in order to facilitate and enlighten decision making. The presenter concluded his
speech by encouraging the use of appropriate new technologies, which could be adapted to
the African infrastructural environment and hence make for as much a considerable time
saving as a better capitalization of efforts.
The fourth session which was chaired by Mr. Mohammed Kabir Badamasuiy, Director
of Human Resources of the Ministry of Water Resources of Nigeria, witnessed the sharing of
the experiences of Togo, Algeria, Chad, Senegal, Burundi, Niger, and Nigeria. It was
generally gathered from these experiences that the administrations have similar problems
including corruption, resistance to change, overcrowding (ghost workers, duplicates, etc.) as
they also have a convergence of solutions.
III.
DEBATES
The various presentations gave rise to particularly diverse and inspiring discussions.
As much as they have brought to light many ideas and proposals highlighted the relationships
that the PS has with the minister and the chief minister's cabinet. These relationships, without
being fundamentally conflicting, are not necessarily the most harmonious in all countries.
This is due to various considerations including political, ethnic affiliation or just personal
reasons. However, for the perpetuation of the State institution, all agree to say that it is
imperative that the Minister, through the cabinet, is working to help achieve the objectives of
the government, leaving to the PS the task to drive, without hindrance, the technical aspects
related to the proper functioning of the institution.
After confirming the prominent role played by the PS and the HRD in managing both
the Ministry and the various resources it contains, the participants then wondered about the
training received by them at the National Schools of Administration. In particular, they
considered that the training of the HRD should know a revaluation. These trainings should be
subject to a specialization along with some functions of State institutions.
After establishing the existing border between the Ministry of Public Service and the
Directorate-General of Human Resources in that the former deals with acts of administration
and the sectoral provision of agents while the latter works on management activities. They
noted that the scope of work of the HR Directorate is now taking other proportions and is
moving toward other prerogatives. The HRD, regardless of its name (Directorate of
Administrative and General Affairs (DAAG), Human Resources Department (HRD),
Directorate of Personnel (DP), or others, may, in some circumstances, deal concomitantly
with Human Resources, material and have a look at the financial management of the Ministry.
Indeed, in the exercise of his/her duties, the HRD ensures the distribution and the execution of
tasks set by the PS of his/her ministry. He/she must also develop both vertical and horizontal
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communication, implement systems that work, give priority to merit beyond any political
considerations. The HRD can also use negative sanctions to correct defects or positive
sanctions to reward and encourage merit.
Certainly, to build an effective administration, training is important not only in order
to strengthen the capacity of the serving staff but also to allow those who aspire to make, as
soon as possible, the best use of modern tools of managements to do so. Participants also
noted that Africa lives in an emergency situation, given the decades of delays accumulated by
the government operating systems. The change is a difficult process and sometimes complex,
it is important to develop effective communication tools in order to gradually do away with
the factors which often constitute bottlenecks. Finally, discussions led to the conclusion that
the development or change in Africa can only be brought about by Africans themselves. It,
therefore, becomes necessary to make a firm commitment to the endeavour of transformation
and modernization of States, without which no development would be possible.
IV.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. From the presentations and discussions which that followed it became clear that African
States are committed in their move towards emergence on a medium term. This vision of
emergence challenges a wide range of stakeholders from different fields such as the
political class, the various State institutions, training institutions, etc.
2. The participants agreed on a set of considerations including the role of the Permanent
Secretary as the conscience of the Executive Power in the Ministerial architecture; a key
pillar contributing to the effectiveness and success of the ministry. They, therefore,
considered that it would require a variety of skills including planning skills, coaching to
guide motivation of all staff towards efficiency, an irreproachable morality to ensure that
the Ministry and its departments are running smoothly and efficiently. It is, therefore, up
to the PS to act as a facilitator, coordinator, controller, monitor and evaluator of the
ministerial actions through an effective communication. Thus, the PS has to ensure the
proper functioning of the decision-making process of the Ministry as well as the
mechanisms of implementing these decisions. To play this role, he/she should be able to
provide solutions to problems that arise and be able to predict and anticipate problems,
confidently manage pressures and be innovative. Achieving the objectives of the
government would then be his/her priority.
3. All participants recognize the role that public administration should play in the emergence
process and believe that effective human resource management is an essential link in the
development of a State and the African continent in general.
4. They recognize the existence of relationships, sometimes conflicting, between the officials
within the Ministry. The officials could adapt their strategies to the potential hazards of
politics while directing their efforts toward achieving the government's objectives in order
to significantly contribute to the economic and social development of the country.
5. They also recognize a low application of computers. They note that ICT are not always
expensive or too technical even less suitable to our context because several ways exist to
make a reliable, efficient and optimal use of ICT at reasonable costs.
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V.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The fifth session was chaired by Mr. Komlavi Quashie, Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry of Planning of the Republic of Togo. During the first part of this final session,
delegates gathered in groups so as to talk about two chosen themes "The conditions of
success for strengthening the role of human resource directors in the management and
development of human resources" and "the role and place of human resources in achieving
the objectives of the government and in the economic and social emergence" (see Appendix
1) From these discussions participants recommended:
The States

To adapt the training programmes of the training schools of public officials to the
requirements of modernization of public administration;

To strengthen the capacity of staff;
o Drawing up skills assessment;
o multi-year training plan (retraining, upgrading, training courses);
o Develop and enforce management rules;

To make available to the HRD material, financial and human substantial means;

To use ICT in Human Resource Management ;

To ensure the professionalization of HRM function;

To put the HRD in staff at the level of PS;

To clearly define the responsibilities of the PS and HRDs and enhance their
professional skills;

To support CAFRAD’s capacity building in order to enable it to provide leadership on
the harmonization of training programs.
Regional and sub-regional training schools

To contribute to the adaptation and harmonization of qualifying programs for HR
managers implemented by different States.
CAFRAD

To initiate the various States into the necessary actions to achieve the adaptation and
harmonization of vocational training programs;
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
To strengthen its own capacity in order to better support various States in the
modernization of public administrations;

To establish a database of African experts in terms of modernization of public
administration.
All delegates represented at this seminar encouraged CAFRAD for this initiative and
hoped that the proceedings of the meeting were only the beginning of a series of similar
meetings in order to accompany the PS and HRDs in their mission of modernizing the
administration.
They encourage the establishment of an open Pan-African conference relating
especially to human resource management and sponsored by CAFRAD as well as other
relevant institutions; this conference could be held on a regular and rotating basis in different
African countries so as to better popularize the importance of Human Resource Management
in the transformation of administrations and African states.
VI.
Signature of a Partnership Agreement
At the closing of this Pan-African conference, a partnership agreement was signed
between CAFRAD, represented by its Director-General, Dr. Stéphane Monney Mouandjo and
Krypto-Mania Solutions Informatiques based in Morocco, represented by Mr. Briand Kpanou.
The purpose of the agreement is, among others, to build the capacity of CAFRAD in
terms of Information and Telecommunications Technology (ICT), mainly the redesign of its
website and various aspects related to the modernization of CAFRAD procedures and the
promotion of new management tools for public and private organizations across the Member
States.
Expression of appreciation
The representatives of the countries present at the conference expressed their sincere
gratitude to the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco for its hospitality. They thanked
CAFRAD, through its Director-General, Dr. Stéphane Monney Mouandjo, the personnel
accompanying him, the interpreters and the staff of the Grand Hotel Villa de France, Tangier
for their availability and their professionalism.
Done in Tangier (Morocco), on 27 August 2014
Master of ceremony: Mr. Ifeanyi Emmanuel ODOGWU
Report prepared by: Mrs. NEMBOT Mariette
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Transcription

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