BUJUMBURA July 22nd (ABP) – Reforming public services and civil servant training institutions was on the agenda of a seminar which was organized on Thursday July 21 by the National School of Administration (ENA).
That activity is part of the economic and financial governance support project in Burundi (PAGEF); funded by the French Embassy to Burundi, which began in September 2021 with a duration of 18 months, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
It falls within the framework of the accomplishment of the missions of the ENA which are, among others, to participate in the implementation of a national policy in terms of professional training, improvement and continuing education of the managers and agents of the public administration, to ensure the implementation of the performance management policy in the public sector, the director general of the ENA, Dr. Dionise Arakaza said.
The deputy adviser for cooperation and cultural action, Mr. Christophe Reilhac, pointed out that the reform of the civil service in Burundi, as in many countries of the region, is an important subject for the transformation of institutions and contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Moreover, he specified that the fact of supporting and accompanying the public services in their transformation project embraces the challenges of training, sense of public service, management of public finances, modernization and digitalization of administrations.
The large-scale administrative reform was initiated as part of the National Program for Administrative Reform (PNRA) adopted in 2012, noted Mr. Berahino, one of the speakers.
The PNRA, he specified, is one of the provisions for implementing the Arusha Agreements recommending a qualified, efficient and responsible administration which favors the general interest and balances, including between men and women and a transparent administration, concerned with sound management of public affairs.
The PNRA, he continued to say, is the result of the diagnosis established and revealed shortcomings linked to weaknesses in the functions of steering and coordinating government action; the weak development of ICTs within the administration and an administration weakly oriented towards the service to the citizen.
The PAGEF project, implemented by expertise France, has mission to provide support to the Court of Auditors, the Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Employment and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning of Burundi (executives of the OBR).
The modernization of public administration is one of the major strategic objectives adopted by the Burundi government as part of its National Development Plan 2018-2027 (PND Burundi).
Note therefore that the French Embassy in Burundi, through the cooperation and cultural action service, implements many development actions as part of its cooperation mission with the Republic of Burundi.
The main financing instrument is called “Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects” (FSPI) and PAGEF is one of the three ongoing FSPIs, both of which focus on the professionalization of the media (PAPROM) and on support for agro-food industries to fight against malnutrition (PAGRONUT).