Our team was busy during the summer months. From open trainings, and tailor-made trainings, to several missions abroad, The Hague Academy stayed active supporting professionals who strive to improve local governance worldwide. We want to share with you an overview of our activities during the last couple of months.
In October:
Partos Innovation Festival 2019
On Friday, October 11th, The Hague Academy joined to celebrate innovation and inclusion in development cooperation at #PartosInnovationFestival. The Academy was part of the Exhibition Market, where we had the chance to get to know other organisations and to share our work in Local Development worldwide. Later on in October we also received exciting news. We are now officially members of Partos, the largest cooperative of development organizations in the Netherlands. We are looking forward to exchanging and cooperating with other members! (Read full article here: www.partos.nl/actueel/nieuws/artikel/news/welcome-new-partos-member-the-hague-academy).
Open training: Local Economic Development
20 professionals from 15 different countries gathered in The Hague with a shared interest in mind: strengthening the economic capacity of local and regional communities. For two weeks, the participants also engaged in field visits to get acquainted with different international LED practices. They visited the SDG House, the Amsterdam Economic Board, and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.
Shiraka programme: ‘Eco-system for Entrepreneurs’
Our expert trainers conducted 1-day workshops in Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco, to kick-off the Shiraka programme ‘Eco-system for Entrepreneurs’. During the meetings, civil servants, entrepreneurs and eco-system experts got to know the details of the programme and got acquainted with each other. The programme aims to provide civil servants in the MENA region with knowledge and skills to facilitate an ‘enabling’ environment for entrepreneurs in their home countries. The Shiraka Training Programme is an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, implemented by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
Matra programme: ‘Integrity & Anti-corruption’
We were pleased to welcome in The Hague a group of 27 civil servants from different public institutions in Ukraine. The intensive 1- week exchange visit was part of the MATRA project “Promoting Integrity & Anti-corruption in Ukraine” (funded by the Dutch Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken). The project’s implementation started in 2017 and it aims at increasing the practice of good governance in Ukrainian public institutions, with a focus on integrity, transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption.
Throughout the week, the participants learned from Dutch practices and established relationships with Dutch colleagues in several networking activities.
Shiraka programme: ‘Local Governance’
We officially kicked-off the second part of the Shiraka training on Local Governance. Earlier this year, a group of 23 civil servants from 9 countries in the MENA region gathered in The Hague for the first part of this programme. The group was now in Tunisia sharing knowledge and skills that will enable them to lead and inspire the modernisation of local governance in their home countries.
*The programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and commissioned by The Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
Tailor-made Training: ‘Localising the SDGs’
A group of development professionals from Pakistan, Ghana and Afghanistan arrived in The Hague for a 1-week training on Localising the SDGs. The group discussed how donor and development agencies can support a multilevel governance approach to deal with future development challenges. Jean Bossuyt, renowned decentralisation and local development expert, conducted a session on what is a Political Economy Analysis (PEA) and why is it needed. Participants visited Oss for a day, to learn from the Dutch experience localising the global goals. The city received the award of “Most inspiring Global Goals municipality” in 2018.
Open training: ‘Conflict, Rule of Law & Local Security’
Our open training on Conflict, Rule of Law & Local Security took place in The Hague! For two weeks, participants from 10 different nationalities followed a diverse programme of presentations, simulations and study visits. We were happy to host them!
In November:
Shiraka Programme: ‘Social Affairs & Employment’
We were in Hammamet, Tunisia for the second part of the Shiraka programme on Social Affairs & Employment. Twenty participants from nine different Arab countries discussed social affairs and employment policies in the MENA region and went on study visits to a.o. the Tunisian Ministry of Employment and the Ministry of Women and Family Affairs.
Open training: ‘Climate Adaptation & Local Resilience’
For two weeks, a group of 18 participants from 15 different countries shared their experiences with Climate adaption during our open training in Climate Adaptation & Local Resilience. They learned from sustainable neighbourhoods, green buildings, urban farming and projects to adapt to rising sea levels and heavy rainfall, and returned home with new insights and inspiration.
Open training: ‘Gender Responsive Governance’
22 professionals from 16 different countries arrive in The Hague for our open training on gender Responsive Governance. The participants went on several study visits, including the Dutch House of Representatives, the Gender Platform Wo=Men and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. During a session on Social Accountability, participants participated in a Community Score Card (CSC) simulation exercise for Gender-Based Violence (GBV) service provision in Rwanda. Developed by CARE Malawi, CSC is a participatory tool that engages service users (citizens), service providers and authorities in assessing the quality and effectiveness of public services. The participants split into ‘Government/Service providers’, ‘Community’ and ‘Facilitators’ to simulate a meeting where they scored GBV services and agreed on a joint action plan for improving the service
