Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 14, 2018 (SKNIS): Civil servants in St. Kitts and Nevis are currently being trained in Public Policy and Management Analysis (PPMA) and Project Cycle Management (PCM) as part of an initiative between the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank.
Beverly Harris, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, explained the importance of the programme as it is expected to redound to better and improved quality, effecting and impacting policies, programmes and project formulation, and implementation within the public sector.
“The effective management of public policy programmes and projects is a critical component in stimulating growth and development in any country. However, to ensure this occurs strong technical capabilities within government institutions must be developed and maintained,” said Ms. Harris.
Ms. Harris used the occasion to recognize CDB for its continued support, while at the same time explaining the introduction of the programme.
“The Caribbean Development Bank has been a long-standing partner in the advancement of the development of the region. This partnership has been in terms of enhancing human capacity and in the financing of development initiatives across all sectors,” she said. “To ensure this partnership continues to bring the expected outcomes CDB undertook a training assessment which was based on input from the borrowing member countries regarding previous training initiatives provided by the bank. As a result, the Public Policy and Management Analysis (PPMA) and Project Cycle Management (PCM) training programme was developed to provide an opportunity for technical personnel across all borrowing member countries to enhance their expertise.”
The introduction of the programme provides for online training courses in the areas of project management techniques; public policy analysis and management; monitoring and evaluation and procurement, utilizing the CDB guidelines as a best practice approach.
The permanent secretary wished the trainees every success and encouraged them to give of their utmost best.
“…I wish to encourage you to complete the areas of interest to expedite the process. Today, we are here marking the commencement of the second phase of this important opportunity – the national face-face exercise. Over the course of five weeks, the registered officers will have an opportunity to engage in dynamic sessions, learning not only from the facilitators… but from each other as they strive to continue to build their skills in the critical areas that will make them more efficient contributors in the development process,” she said. “It is the hope of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Finance that having completed these courses, participants will be proactive change agents and partners in utilizing the project management techniques in particular, in the area of formulating projects and programmes…”
The programme will be broken down into 10 Modules. Modules 1A on May 14 and 2A on May 18, are designed for Permanent Secretaries, Chief Executive Officers, Financial Secretaries and their Deputies. Modules 2 to 10 which runs on various days during the period of May 15 to June 25 will cater to mid-level and senior civil servants, as well as technical staff.
