HOW TO BE A BETTER POLICY ADVISOR, Sarajevo 2007

ReSPA (The Regional School of Public Administration) organized, in September 2007 in Sarajevo, a NISPAcee training course “How to be a Better Policy Advisor” for participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYROM, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.

ReSPA is a joint initiative of the European Union and the OECD, principally financed by the EU. The initial concept of ReSPA was developed with the objective of boosting regional co-operation in the field of public administration, strengthening administrative capacity and developing human resources in line with the principles of the European Administrative Space (Sigma Paper No. 23).

The introduction was made by Mr. Niko Grubesic, Assistant Minister in B&H’s Ministry of Justice, member of the ReSPA Steering Committee, Ms. Inga Stefanowicz, ReSPA representative and Ms. Elena Zakova, NISPAcee representative. The training course was successfully led by a team of NISPAcee international trainers – Mr. Alfredas Chmieliauskas (Lithuania), Mr. Gyorgy Gajdushek (Hungary) and Ms. Lesya Il'chenko-Syuyva (Ukraine).

The objective of the training course was to provide participating public officials from the Western Balkan region with an opportunity to increase their knowledge and develop their skills in the design of public policy advice and the establishment of channels for its delivery to their respective governments.

At the request of the ReSPA team at the OECD, the initial training module “How to be a Better Policy Advisor” had to be tailored by NISPAcee trainers for the participants. For a target audience of public officials, certain academic parts of the original module were substituted with key elements of change management, project management, team building and policy paper writing skills (alternatives, formulation and evaluation).

The positive feedback from participants and their evaluation of the course indicates that this kind of training is very much needed and appreciated in the NISPAcee region. The participants confirmed in their evaluations that the training course brought them new information and a better understanding of issues in the area of policy making and advice and also opportunities for further personal development. The course also served as an excellent forum for participating officials from the respective countries to share experiences, learn more about each other’s countries and institutions and establish new ways of co-operation.

Participants

Jetmira BERDYNA, Office for Coordination of International Cooperation and Regional Dialogue - OPM, Kosovo

Milica BUKVIĆ, Human Resource Management Office, Serbia

Natasa DJAK, Central State Office for Public Administration, Croatia

Enkela DUDUSHI, Department of PA, Ministry of Interior, Albania

Amra HODZIC, Directorate for European Integration, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jasmina JOTEV, Sector for Regional Development, Republic Development Bureau, Serbia

Zoran MAGDELINIC, Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro, Montenegro

Hasan METUKU, Legal and Coordination Department, Council of Ministers, Albania

Jelena NIKOLIĆ, Ministry of the Foreign Affairs, Serbia

Biljana NIKOLOVSKA ZAGAR, Civil Servants Agency, FYROM

Senad OPRAŠIĆ, Environment Protection Department, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Olja PETRUSEVSKA – TOMEVA, Sector for economic-social affairs, Secretariat for European Affairs, FYROM

Jandre ŠARIĆ, Ministry of Justice, Croatia

Nada ŠKRELIĆ, Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Bosnia and Herzegovina