General Personnel Council graduates first group of PA civil service leaders – UNDP/PAPP press release

PRESS RELEASE

Under the auspices of H.E. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad

The General Personnel Council Graduates the First Group of Civil Service Leaders

Ramallah, February 04th, 2010 – The General Personnel Council (GPC), in cooperation with the Government of Italy and the United Nations Development Programme held a graduation ceremony for the first group of Palestinian civil servants to complete the Civil Service Leadership Development training programme. The 200 trained personnel, 46 of whom are women, represent a new generation of civil service leaders.

The main objective of the programme is to train 1200 senior civil servants (800 in the West Bank and 400 in Gaza) in leadership and administrative competencies to enable them to implement professional development plans at their workplace, discuss jointly problems and solutions, deliver better services and guide change within their organizations. It will also facilitate senior civil service career development through on-the-jobtraining, coaching and mentoring, thus allowing the civil servants who attend the leadership development programme to improve their approaches towards work.

Dr. Jehad Hamdan, Director of the GPC expressed his thanks to the Government of Italy and UNDP for supporting this programme and added “This programme is geared towards preparing Palestinian managerial leaders to rise to the needed level of responsibility and public service. It is in line with the General Personnel Council’s strategic plan and the13th government plan – Establishing the State: Ending the Occupation”.

Since February 2009, Civil Service training was carried out in conjunction with Birzeit University’s Centre for Continuing Education/Unit for Learning Innovation. Trainees have a mixture of face-to-face and online training sessions.

“The Italian Government is considering supporting the next phase of this initiative, possibly with greater involvement of the most prestigious Italian academic institutions specialized in the Public Administration sector”, said Mr. Luciano Pezzotti, Italian Consul General in Jerusalem.

By supporting such initiatives, UNDP is manifesting its role in state building, not only in the occupied Palestinian territory but all over the world.

“This programme marks a great step forward for Palestinian civil service. Automation and new equipment are very useful but by far the most important asset of a service or business is the quality of its staff” said Mr. Jens Toyberg–Frandzen, Special Representative of UNDP. “We believe that the Civil Service Leadership Programme is an important part of the reform process and will ensure that senior civil servants are provided with the necessary skills to carry out their roles effectively to support the goals of the Palestinian Authority” he added.

The ceremony, which took place on February 4th, 2010 at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, was attended by H.E. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Dr. Jehad Hamdan, Director of GPC, Mr. Luciano Pezzotti, Consul General of Italy, Mr. Jens Toyberg-Frandzen, UNDP Special Representative of the Administrator as well as representatives from other national and international partners and civil society organizations.

For further information, please contact:

In Jerusalem: Dania Darwish, Communications Officer, Tel. +972-2-6268229 – e-mail: dania.darwish@undp.org, Conal Urquhart, External Relations Advisor, Tel. +972-2-6268200 – e-mail: conal.urquhart@undp.org

In New York: Sausan Ghosheh Communication’s officer, Tel. +1 (212) 906-5382 – e-mail: sausan.ghosheh@undp.org. For more information on UNDP/PAPP see http://www.undp.ps .

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