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PIOJ Hosts Workshop to Strengthen Capacity of Agencies

December 3, 2009

The Key Point:

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) is taking action to strengthen the capacity of its public sector partners and stakeholders to implement, monitor and evaluate frameworks at the national level, with a view to generating results, by organising two workshops on results-based management (RBM).

The Facts

  • Some 23 public sector officers from 14 Ministries, agencies and departments, are currently participating in the first of two five-day workshops, being hosted by the PIOJ at its Oxford Road offices, New Kingston. The workshop, which commenced on November 30, will last until December 4, and is being sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC), in collaboration with the Canadian Co-operation Fund (CCF) of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
  • The workshop is expected to guide the PIOJ, ministries, departments and agencies in understanding and applying results-based management principles, tools and techniques towards implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan (NDP) and other strategic planning frameworks.

The Full Story

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) is taking action to strengthen the capacity of its public sector partners and stakeholders to implement, monitor and evaluate frameworks at the national level, with a view to generating results, by organising two workshops on results-based management (RBM).

Some 23 public sector officers from 14 Ministries, agencies and departments, are currently participating in the first of two five-day workshops, being hosted by the PIOJ at its Oxford Road offices, New Kingston. The workshop, which commenced on November 30, will last until December 4, and is being sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC), in collaboration with the Canadian Co-operation Fund (CCF) of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The workshop is expected to guide the PIOJ, ministries, departments and agencies in understanding and applying results-based management principles, tools and techniques towards implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan (NDP) and other strategic planning frameworks.

President of the United States-based International Development Evaluation Association, Dr. Ray Rist, heads the list of trainers and facilitators, who will explore a range of areas. These include an introduction to: ‘Ten Steps to Building a Result-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System’; presentations on ‘Monitoring and Evaluating Good Practices’ and ‘Lessons learned for Country Experience’; and discussions on ‘First Principles of Performance Management’, ‘Managing for Results’, and Anti-corruption.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director, Plan Development Unit at the PIOJ, Mrs. Leila Palmer, noted that while new to Jamaica, RBM has been incorporated in a number of countries, particularly developing nations, for a number of years, pointing out that the PIOJ has been seeking to strengthen capacity in RBM, since approval of the last medium term framework in 2004.”

“Our experience, from the medium term monitoring then, has shown that RBM requires a fundamental paradigm shift in how sector agencies operate, and major modification of the business culture and processes. So, we are talking about moving from a kind of process oriented culture to one that is results-based, and results-driven,” the Director informed.

Additionally, she pointed out that RBM requires strong support and commitment from the highest level of management. “If RBM is to be integrated into institutional practices, then senior management, directors and professionals must provide sustained direction,” she added.

Mrs. Palmer stressed that RBM is heavily dependent on line ministries and sector ministries and agencies for quality and timely sectoral data, and monitoring arrangements, pointing out that “we have been liaising with key sector agencies to provide indicator data, to satisfy specific reporting requirements.”

She pointed out that the NDP, which is premised on a results-based oriented approach to monitoring achievements, outcomes and performance indicators, will be monitored using RBM annually and every three years, “over the long term.”

In his remarks, Programme Officer of the CFTC, Mr. Adeyemi Ogunmefun, who is also one of the trainers, spoke of the timeliness of the RBM workshop, noting the increasing demand for results by the Executive Committee for work undertaken by the Secretariat among the 53 member countries. He pointed out that the issue of RBM “cuts across every area of the government.”

“So, whether we are in health, education or economic planning, the question is always ‘what happens as a result of that (undertaking)?’ If we have trained 100 young people in the area of small enterprise development, what does that translate to? If we have supplied drugs to the hospitals and the health services, how does that reduce incidences of diseases that we know abound. These are the questions that RBM brings about,” Mr. Ogunmefun said.

Development Officer at CIDA, Ms. Sekeywi Carruthers, who highlighted the importance of the partnership with the PIOJ and CFTC, said the agency viewed RBM as “an integral part of development, and achievement of our goals.”

“It is especially important at this time when Jamaica finds itself facing increasing challenges finding enough funding for our development objectives. RBM is certainly the approach that will make all the difference in our success rate, by increasing efficiency and impact towards achieving the national development plan,” she said.

In his remarks, Dr. Rist pointed out that “organisations that don’t have good data are organisations that are in trouble.” Pointing to the abundance of data that countries and organisations have long collated, Dr. Rist said progressions from monitoring to securing results from the data was imperative.

At the conclusion of this week’s workshop, each participant will receive a certificate that can be used as the basis for further professional development in RBM. The PIOJ will stage a second workshop, involving different participants, from December 7 to December 11.

Last Updated: February 25, 2020

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