18 Officials Graduate with Executive Master Degree in Development Policies and Practices
9 June 2016, Bangkok, Thailand – 18 Afghan government officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Civil Service Commission, and the Office of the President of Afghanistan, completed the final module of the Executive Master Degree programme in Development Policies and Practices (DPP) and received their degrees at a graduation ceremony at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok. Mr. Alex Mejia, senior manager of UNITAR’s Decentralized Cooperation Programme, extended UNITAR’s congratulations to the graduates and emphasized the impact of their achievement for their careers and their country. Dr. Alex Dormeier, Director of the programme at the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies of Geneva (G. I.), the implementing partner of this project, presented the diplomas accrediting the participants as graduates from this prestigious university in Switzerland.
The Afghan DPP master’s degree programme was developed in joint cooperation between UNITAR and the G. I., with the support of the Ministry of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The three modules of the programme were hosted in Abu Dhabi, Kabul and Bangkok, and also comprised e-learning classes facilitated from Geneva. The programme was implemented over a year of academic activities and also complemented with several study-visits to government entities to observe best-practices on policy-making and policy-implementation. This UNITAR-led programme has completed its third year and is a unique collaboration which emphasizes training in development and public policy in a conflict-country.
The programme seeks to build capacity of Afghan governmental officials to advance sustainable development in a manner appropriate for the Afghan cultural, social and political reality. In particular, the programme includes training designed to enhance leadership skills, analytical capacities and organizational effectiveness in the public policy realm. The programme includes three learning modules and the completion of a professional thesis on how to improve the efficiency of the Afghan public sector. Each thesis is expected to be implemented in Ministries of the Afghan Government upon return of the graduates to Kabul.
UNITAR wishes to express its appreciation to the Hon. Eklil Hakimi, Minister of Finance of Afghanistan, for his tangible support to this unique programme and unwavering commitment to capacity-building in Afghanistan.
Photo: Students gather in Bangkok for the Executive Master Degree in Development Policies and Practices (DPP) graduation ceremony.