91 Panamanians Graduate From Public Management Program

The University of Panama’s Center for Public Policy and Transparency (CPPT) graduated as many as 91 students from the International Governance, Political Management and Public Management diploma course, a CAF-funded program aiming to train public officials and other political actors.

The new graduates will join the thousands of officials from central and municipal governments—as well as members of civil society from across Latin America—who have been trained as agents of change in specific issues, such as the design of projects addressing priority needs of communities, providing them with tools and techniques aimed at building consensus, political viability, leadership, public value, budget management and the efficient and transparent use of resources, among other actions to improve the democratic participation of citizens in decision-making and building the development model for local and national governments.

The program has run uninterrupted since 2010 in Panama, and as a result of these efforts, as many as 1,164 participants have been trained, with 830 people obtaining certifications as of 2018. This includes managers, technical team members from national and municipal bodies, leaders of organizations that work with local governments, and citizens committed to the development of their community. In addition, the course was developed simultaneously in the provinces of Chiriquí, Coclé and Panamá in 2019, with 91 students graduating as a result.

CAF Sustainable Development Education Specialist Bibiam Díaz stated in her keynote address that the goal of achieving efficient institutional performance can only be reached by a “strong and ethical leadership,” adding that CAF understands that governance is a responsibility of all actors of society. Díaz also said that, while Latin American countries face countless challenges, “it will be only through the efforts of stakeholders committed to their own citizens and communities that public administrations can be more effective, transparent, accessible and, above all, contributing to the prosperity of our societies.”

Program director and academic coordinator Alma Montenegro de Fletcher said at the graduation ceremony that this educational phase aimed at a sector of the population interested in acquiring knowledge about governance is an effort for the country to overcome all its difficulties, since “anyone in public office must contribute to the general well-being,” which requires “putting the knowledge acquired into practice, as well as the commitment to act ethically and transparently.”

CAF’s Governance and Public Management Program was launched in the year 2000 in response to the need to strengthen Latin America’s institutional development, as well as train public officials to ensure the efficiency of public policy-making and its implementation processes. Since then, more than 25,000 Latin Americans have been trained in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.