Georgia’s policymakers finish training course
Nine graduates focus on public sector reform
By Mary Makharashvili

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 17 2004

The graduation ceremony of the first nine trainees to pass the
one-year Public Policy Knowledge Network (PPKN) training program was
held on Thursday at the Tbilisi Marriott.

The program is part of a four-year project organized by the Georgian
Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) and the
Canadian Bureau for International Education, and financially
supported from the Canadian International Development Agency.

The training is focused on public sector reform and is specifically
concerned with public policy capacity building within the government
of Georgia

More specifically, the project trains officials to deliver practical
assistance, that is, policy analysis, on issues of importance to
government ministries. At the same time, it aims to build public
policy curricula within the major public administration schools of
Georgia.

The curriculum involves specific training in modern academic and
governmental practices of public policy, economics, and
transition-oriented training in public administration.

“This program is very important, because it increases analytical and
managerial abilities, which is very important for the state service.
An understanding of modern management styles in the state sector is
very necessary,” President of GFSIS Alexander Rondeli said in an
interview with The Messenger.

“State service is not paid proper attention. Very often people who
cannot find any other job are employed in the state service. But over
time this should change. Now the state service is becoming smaller
and that is why it should be more effective,” he said.

According to him, the continual changes in the state administration
is a clear sign that Georgia needs better staff.

The nine employees from five state structures, including the
ministries of foreign affairs and economic development began the
one-year training course conducted by foreign experts in October
2003.

“The year-long training held at GFSIS has been very profitable for
me. I learned a lot of interesting things that will be useful for my
future carrier,” said training participant Maia Kurdgelashvili from
the Ministry of Economic Development.

In the current 2004-2005 academic year, Rondeli says 34 officials are
participating in the course. They will be followed by two more years
of trainees before the project ends in spring 2007.

Rondeli says that trainees are chosen who have much to offer and are
considered by their ministries to be future planners and implementers
of strategic policy-making. “It is strategic thinking that is most
lacked by Georgian state employees,” Rondeli says.

Georgia is not the only country in which the Canadian International
Development Agency is implementing this project. It is also
successfully active in Armenia and Azerbaijan.