From left to right: Sakaria Kone, SBL International Relations Officer, Hon Ali M. Hussein Hassan, Director General of HR, Office of the Somali President, H.E. Mr Augustin Habimana, Ambassador of Rwanda to Burundi, Prof Elmarie Sadler, acting Executive Director and CEO of SBL, H.E. Ambassador Basile Gateretse, AMISOM Senior Political Officer.
From the 14 – 25 January 2013 the Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) completed the training of the second group of Somali Civil Servants in Burundi. The training followed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that was signed in December 2012 between the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the SBL. The SBL offered three training programmes namely: Basic Administrative Training, Practical Diplomatic Training and Protocol and Basic Secretarial Training, customised specifically for Somali Civil Servants. The aim was to empower participants within their specific working environment as wells as add value to service delivery.
The training sessions were officially opened on Monday 14 January 2013 at the Source du Nil Hotel, Bujumbura and were attended by dignitaries from Burundi Government, Federal Somali Government and members of the diplomatic Corps accredited in Burundi. In attendance were Hon Ali Hussein and Director General of Human Resource in the office of the President of Somalia, various Ambassadors to Burundi and the representative of the United State of America’s embassy to Burundi.
In her address Prof Elmarie Sadler, acting Executive Director and CEO thanked AMISOM for giving the SBL, the second opportunity to develop and introduce training for Civil Servants; the first training took place in August 2010. Says Prof Sadler: “You can be assured that the University of South Africa is always striving towards our mandate to be THE University in service of humanity. The Somali Civil Servant training as well as various other programmes that we offer on the African continent give us the opportunity to truly live up to the challenge.” She encouraged students to develop a passion for learning and to use all the opportunities that may come their way.
Ambassador Basile Gateretse, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union for Somalia, expressed his gratitude to the University of South Africa for partnering with the AMISOM in the reconstruction of Somalia. “The SBL is playing a key role in capacitating our Somali brothers and sisters by equipping them with knowledge to put their administration back on its feet.”
In his opening remarks the representative of Somali Government , Hon Ali Hussein, Director General of Human Resoures in the Office of the President of Somalia said that the Somali people are very appreciative of the efforts undertaken by the African Union through its mission to bringing peace and stability. He indicated that it is the wish of the Somali people to have more involvement of South Africa in capacity development in the country. He expressed his gratitude to the SBL for taking the lead in this initiative.
The capacity training for Somalia Civil Servants has given the University of South Africa, particularly the SBL an opportunity to re-affirm the leading role that the University is playing in Africa.
The customised training focused on the following areas:
Administration: Sixty three (63) senior officials from various Somali government departments were trained in Administration and Management with focus on Effective Business Communication, Managing Time for Better Productivity, amongst other relevant administrative modules.
Protocol: Twenty six (26) senior government officials from the office of the President of Somalia and the Foreign Affairs were trained on Practical Protocol with focus on the following areas: Diplomatic Ceremonies and State Visits, Ethics and Etiquette of Protocol, amongst other relevant modules.
Secretaries: Thirty six (36) senior officials from key government departments were trained in Practical Secretarial Duties, which included: Planning, Designing, Managing and Assisting and Managing for better Productivity.
