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17.1 Change, reform and capacity development at CRDB must be viewed through the lens of the on-going reforms that are taking place across Government; indeed, the establishment of a PMG is a central feature of the RGC’s reform programme coordinated by the Council for Administrative Reform (CAR). In view of the very real budgetary constraints and the pace at which the public administration reform program can be expected to make progress, however, the implementation of the Capacity Development Strategy should proceed with the external support that is available, chiefly from MDSP and JICA. 17.2 This Capacity Development Strategy sets out a proposed path for CRDB for the period 2007-10. It must be noted that, while many of the suggested changes will take more time to implement in full, significant headway can be made with the resources that are currently available. Many of the sections outlined in this document have therefore made observations and provided some recommendations that will enable implementation to begin in January 2007, however many of the proposals require significant further elaboration or validation. 17.3 As the Strategy is implemented there will almost certainly be a requirement to commission further diagnostic work before the nature of capacity-related challenges can be fully understood and an appropriate course of action can be identified. Premised on a recognised demand by CRDB management, this applies in the short-term to the need to undertake a workflow analysis study and possibly to commission a more detailed review of past training that can then be used to inform the design and delivery of future support for training. 17.4 Beginning January 2007, the implementation of the Capacity Development Strategy will commence under the leadership and management of the Secretary General of CRDB. Implementation arrangements will need to be elaborated in significantly more detail but should follow a three-step approach: 1) Planning Assess current functions and associated activities and undertake a coherent process to develop an Organisational (and Departmental) Workplan that supports mandated responsibilities across Government, with assigned responsibilities, financing and indicators (see Annex Two). The CRDB Workplan should include all activities and all resources so that maximum efficiencies can be made in the use of the different sources of donor funding that are available. 2) Administrative and Execution Capacity Implement the revised organisational structure, develop job descriptions & training plans, establish the PMG, and deliver management training and technical support as may be required to implement the Workplan activities. 3) Monitoring and evaluation Under the oversight of a CRDB core management team, deliver training in monitoring and results-based techniques to all staff, establish the performance management system, and establish capacity to monitor and evaluate the activities of CRDB, the H-A-R Action Plan, and the Capacity Development Strategy. Staffing 17.5 The most significant implementation constraint – discussed in the Risks section – relates to staffing. During the period when negotiations to secure permanent staff for CRDB are underway, CRDB will use external resources to fill key vacant positions to perform core functions of CRDB. This includes use of the MDSP Advisor, who should continue to function as the overall advisor on all internal matters of CRDB, paying particular attention to work related to the Aid Coordination Policy Department and the Information Management Department. 17.6 When permanent staff positions for CRDB have been secured, CRDB management should transfer the seconded staff from ministries and regularise the status of contract staff nationals recruited by CRDB through donor-supported programs. In the short to medium term, however, CRDB will continue to seek support from external sources for positions that are essential to perform its key functions and for which it is unable to secure funding from the national budget or for which it is unable to promote, re-deploy or recruit qualified national staff at prevailing public sector remuneration levels. 17.7 Notwithstanding the need to maximise merit-based promotions, at least in the short to medium term some of the staffing of CRDB will need to be supplemented by staff recruited by donor supported programs that offer significantly higher remuneration levels. It is important to note that the national professionals employed by donor supported programs have to conform to much stricter quality controls and performance standards and it is therefore often not possible to make a simple comparison of compensation levels. Donor-funded staff should also be expected to make a significant contribution to the delivery of this Capacity Development Strategy. MDSP and JICA Integration 17.8 Almost immediately after the creation of CRDB in August 1994, UNDP started providing support through the Aid-Coordination Project. This assistance has continued uninterrupted and has become, since January 2006, a Multi Donor Support Programme for Aid Coordination (MDSP). In the beginning, six international full-time consultants were engaged to establish systems for data gathering, and to assist in aid-mobilisation and coordination, as well as to support capacity building of CRDB staff. The use of international capacity has been gradually reduced and since 2000 the project has engaged only one full-time international advisor, although short-term international consultants are engaged to support specific tasks. 17.9 The Advisor and staff of the MDSP are often requested to draft documents/papers of a policy related nature, including those for high-level Government-donor meetings and for supporting the GDCC-TWG mechanism. As such, the work of MDSP is distinct and de-linked from other parts of CRDB and, although the level of integration has advanced in recent years, there is still a significant degree of capacity substitution. If the vision of CRDB is to be realised through the implementation of this Capacity Development Strategy then all the functions of the program must increasingly become part of the structure of CRDB and staff must be embedded within their counterpart Departments. 17.10 CRDB functions are also being supported by a JICA project that began on 31 July 2005 and will end on 30 July 2007. The JICA Project provides support to the Asia, Pacific, and Oceania Countries Department to enhance coordination and management of Japan's ODA projects focusing on strengthening capacity of the department to appraise project proposals from line ministries and provides logistics support to CRDB as well as advice to the Secretary General on broader aid coordination issues. 17.11 In principle, there should no longer be any donor support components that function in an isolated manner. According to this principle, all the work currently being carried out by MDSP and/or JICA will become routine functions of CRDB Departments. The delivery of all donor support, and the execution of donor programs, should facilitate direct involvement with concerned CRDB Departments so that hands-on experience can be acquired to move towards strengthened capacity, self reliance and self confidence. 17.12 The MDSP and the JICA Project have been requested to continue their support to CRDB, in particular to supporting key staff positions and in the implementation of the Capacity Development Strategy, including training. Although the option to secure resources from the national budget to finance a small part of the total costs of the PMG initiative exist, realistically it is likely to add a significant delay in implementing the scheme without any assurance of success. 17.13 Given the importance of CRDB's Capacity Development Strategy to the implementation of the H-A-R Action Plan, it is therefore proposed that the MDSP, which is specifically designed and resourced to support capacity development, finance the implementation of the Strategy. |