The first group of 15 Afghan civil servants completed the Certificate Programme in Policy Analysis (CPPA) course offered through a partnership between University of Central Asia (UCA) and the Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan.
The University of Central Asia’s Institute of Public Policy and Administration (UCA IPPA) marked the achievements of the first Afghan graduates of its Certificate Programme in Policy Analysis (CPPA) at a ceremony at the Ministry of Finance in Kabul on 18 March 2015.
UCA was established in 2000 by a treaty between the Governments of Kazakistan, Kyrqyz Republic, Tajikistan and His Highness the Aga Khan to promote the social and economic development of Central Asia, particularly its mountain societies.
UCA Director General, Dr Bohdan Krawchenko, said “CPPA offers a rigorous learning experience, bringing together expert instructors and civil servants to study concepts and methods in policy analysis to advance evidence-based policy making.”
The course was offered through a partnership between UCA and the Ministry of Finance fo Afghanistan. “We are pleased to have been able to offer the course to Afghan civil servants in partnership with the Afghan Ministry of Finance,” Dr Krawchenko added.
The ceremony was also attended by Mr Abdul Razak Vahidi, Deputy Minister for Administration and Mr Musa Kamawi, Director of Human Resources of the Ministry of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Mrs Nurjehan Mawani, Diplomatic Representative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN); representatives of embassies and international organizations; government officials; academics; business community; civil society and media.
Deputy Minister Vahidi congratulated graduates and highlighted this programme as valuable capacity building of government civil servants in policy analysis. He thanked the UCA administration and the Aga Khan Development Network for facilitating this opportunity to Afghanistan.
“The Ministry of Finance is expecting all programme participants to maximize this great academic opportunity, utilize the knowledge they have gained for the improvement of service delivery within Ministry of Finance and transfer this knowledge to their colleagues and counterparts and introduce changes,” he added.
“The strength and success of this partnership will not be measured by quantity, but by quality” stated Mrs. Mawani. “Each one of you who has benefited from the IPPA Programme will have a multiplier effect by passing along your expanded knowledge within your institution and beyond. AKDN and UCA are committed to strengthening the capacity of Afghan civil servants and to building a sustainable partnership through exchange of knowledge in the region”.
CPPA is an executive programme designed, among others, for civil servants. In 2014, UCA offered CPPA concurrently for Kyrgyz, Tajik and Afghan civil servants in Bishkek and Dushanbe. Besides building the participants’ technical capacity, the programme was a great platform for regional dialogue and understanding. This Afghan cohort of 15 graduates attended the programme in Bishkek from October 2014 to February 2015.
“The programme gave me the opportunity to gain comprehensive insight into what policy is all about, how it becomes a reality and how it is evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively,” said graduate Mohammad Karim Karimzadah.
The graduates received the professional development Certificate in Policy Analysis and a certificate supplement detailing the programme of studies and learner’s achievement in accordance with European standards. The course is a 25 credit European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) programme.
CPPA is offered within IPPA’s Research and Public Policy Initiative (RPPI), supported by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada and the Aga Khan Foundation, Canada. RPPI aims to ground policy-making processes in Central Asia in sound evidence and policy analysis by building the capacity of researchers to conduct independent and critical studies and by expanding the ability of policy professionals to utilize such research in policy development.
CPPA will be offered again in 2015 to Kyrgyz, Tajik and Afghan civil servants.
