Positive Feedback to New Rounds of SPPD Workshops
28/07/2010
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The UNDP’s Strategic Planning and Policy Development (SPPD) Programme held a series of workshops for representatives from the Programme’s partner ministries in Capljina and Zenica throughout the months of June and July 2010. During the seminars the participants were introduced to the strategic planning and policy development methodology and applied it to current issues within their respective sectors. The workshops’ overall aim was to strengthen the strategic planning and policy development capacities of the project’s partner organizations and to contribute to the public institutions’ good governance ambitions.
Strategic Planning: A Solid Alternative to the Clairvoyant Octopus
Even after the World Cup ended, German Octopus Paul was one of the topics of discussion during the third round of Strategic Planning workshops in Zenica. One of the participants envied Paul's powers of prediction: „It would sometimes not be bad to have such an octopus in our institution to help us predict the future and shape our plans accordingly.“ As an alternative to the clairvoyant octopus, the SPPD’s workshop “The Definition of Strategic Goals and their Programs“ supported the ministries’ efforts of structuring their future work, by providing the participants with the tools to create a three-year strategic plan for their respective sectors.
Right from the start of the 3rd round of workshops for the SPPD’s „new sectors“ – Agriculture, SMEs and Social Protection – Mladen Milanovic, the Programme’s International Strategic Planning Consultant, made clear the importance of this seminar: „Of all the four Strategic Planning workshops the ministries' take part in, this is the most crucial one as it offers the participants a methodology for systematizing their activities.“ After a short summary of the content of the previous two workshops, the participants were immediately introduced to the SP methodology and they quickly started working in small groups. Their first assignment was to compile problems from their sector and to group them into three to five overarching strategic questions. These questions were then reformulated into strategic goals and brought in line with the so-called SMART criteria (the strategic goals had to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound). The second day of the seminar was dedicated to drawing up programs to achieve each of the strategic goals that had passed the SMART test. Through this method, the participants went from defining broad conceptions of their ministries' plans to working out concrete activities to reach their goals.
All in all, the workshop participants advanced quickly in their group work and were satisfied with the results of the SP workshop as Hajrija Capljic from MOFTER confirmed: „The workshop enhanced our ability to create a solid framework for our future activities and I personally believe that this will help our ministry advance in the right direction.“
Policy, Obama and a Small Town in BiH…
“A good piece of legislation is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense.’” Most of the participants of the second round of Policy Development workshops, conducted for the SPPD’s “new sectors” – Agriculture, SMEs and Social Protection - in June in Capljina, agreed with the abovementioned quote by Barack Obama. Yet, they acknowledged that the level of policy development in Bosnia and Herzegovina was not yet a “musical masterpiece” and that the lack of trust citizens had in their governments should be treated more seriously.
After an introductory exercise, Ms. Marina Skrabalo, the SPPD Programme International Public Policy Consultant, explained the OECD/SIGMA 12 steps of a policy cycle to the participants, concentrating on the steps the SPPD’s partner ministries play a primary role in. As the focus of the workshops was on identifying and including formal and informal actors in a policy development consultation process, the participants were then asked to simulate such a consultation process for their respective sector in an imaginary BiH municipality. In the Social Protection sector, this role play proceeded the following way: Each participant was assigned a specific role; there were representatives of the City Council both of the ruling and opposing political parties, civil society actors, pensioners, representatives of the private sector and of the media. Quickly heated discussions originated as to how to include the interests of pensioners and the socially excluded groups in the town’s policy proposals and each side attempted to impose its position. After the exercise ended, the workshops concluded with the planning of the next steps in the ministerial policy development processes and with the evaluation of the seminar.
All in all, the role playing exercise along with the theoretical content of the workshop was very well received by the participants. Ankica Kostic from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy said, “It was great. The role play teaches you empathy for a position that you do not usually occupy and shows you where the problems in the consultation process might develop. Also, it fills the theory with some practical elements that you will not forget so quickly.”
Continued Policy Development Efforts in SPPD’s “Old Sectors”
“I found this workshop to be very helpful as it built adequately upon the knowledge we gained in the seminars we attended before“, said Jasmina Hercegovac from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (FBiH) after finishing a two-day workshop organized by the SPPD Programme within its policy development component. Mrs. Hercegovac along with her colleagues from the SPPD’s “old sectors” – Transport, Energy, Labour and Employment – met in Capljina at the beginning of June to learn about “Factors for the Successful Formulation and Implementation of Public Policies“.
Due to the previous experience with the SPPD Programme workshops, the participants quickly established a routine revisiting the OECD/SIGMA 12 Steps for policy development as well as the public policy cycle. Marina Skrabalo, the SPPD Programme International Public Policy Consultant, then asked each of the ministries’ representatives to analyze one key policy from their respective sector and to critically reflect on what they had accomplished so far. The first day was, therefore, dedicated to the analysis and improvement of national policies whereas the second day focused on the policy impact assessment in the European Union. For the representatives from the Labor and Employment sector this encompassed an introduction to the European Union’s Employment Strategy as well as the task to prepare a presentation on how to incorporate EU gender guidelines into their national employment policies.
All things considered, the lead consultant, Marina Skrabalo, was satisfied with the results from the seminars: “In comparison to last year, I can see that the participants progressed a lot. They are for example quicker in putting together a presentation on the key policy in their sector and in defining indicators for measuring the impact of the policy. It seems that many of them apply the knowledge they gain in the seminars to their everyday work.“
Please see below for examples of the work done in the workshops as well as for pictures from the seminars: