Bolivia has 162 new leaders trained in policy and public management

CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, closed the program Governance, Policy Management, and Public Management, held in Bolivia in alliance with the Universidad del Valle, which trained 162 new municipal and departmental leaders.  

The aim of the program, which follows the postgraduate course on Management and Political Governance developed during thirteen years in the country, seeks to guarantee the strengthening of the institutional framework, and improve the quality of the public services offered to the citizenship through staff management at national and subnational government levels. 

The program included the participation of council members, majors, departmental counselors, representatives, presidents of vigilance committees, members of municipal technical teams, leaders of organizations that work with municipalities, as well as citizens who are committed to the development of their communities and officials from the private sector who are interested in this academic/professional sphere. 

Emilio Uquillas, CAF's Director Representative in Bolivia, highlighted the importance of training public officials as leaders . He stated, "Although there are many factors that influence the economic development of a nation, the main element is to strengthen its human capital". In addition, he stated that there is an increasing demand for quality in public services in the region and that, due to this need, through these types of programs the institution seeks to train the human resources that have the possibility of directly influencing public policies to increase the quality of the services. 

At the same time, Carlos Decker, national coordinator of the Governance, Policy Management and Public Management at Univalle, stated that the aim is to have public officials and individuals related to the public sphere offer an efficient service level in time to cover the needs and demands of the population.  He explained, "When citizens receive quality services, they feel motivated to repay, and they do so by paying their duties with the central or municipal government. This is the meaning of public value, a key topic in the program".  

The course uses the methodology of the School of Policy Management at the George Washington University (GWU) in the United States. During 13 years, the training focused on the issue of Governance and Policy Management, graduating 2,445 leaders from national, departmental, and local governments from more than 200 municipalities from eight of the nine departments in Bolivia.  

In 2014, the organizers decided to strengthen the academic plan of the course incorporating the topic of public management in order to strengthen the concepts of governance that enable an association between policy and public to offer timely and specific solutions to the population. 

The 13 modules of the program were taught in the cities of Cochabamba, La Paz, Potosi and Santa Cruz, and in the localities of Machareti in the Chaco Chuquisaqueño and San Julian in the Chiquitania of Santa Cruz. Sixty percent of the participants come from urban areas, and 40 percent from rural areas. 

Miguel Angel Ticona, a student in the last year of the Territorial Planning career at the Universidad Gabriel Rene Moreno of Santa Cruz, stated, "I was surprised to be a leader, allowing a synergy between the public and political spheres to be efficient". 

Auditor Rolando Mamani Condori, official at the Autonomous Municipality of Patacamaya in the Department of La Paz, decided to be a part of the program to apply the new knowledge in his daily duties. 

For sociologist Patricia Gutierrez, independent consultant in the area of Municipal Autonomies, being a part of the training allowed her to prove that management tools may help consolidate processes. She stated, "For good governance, public management and efficient policies are a must in order to consolidate the processes related to autonomy".  

CAF's Governance, Policy Management, and Public Management program is in force in the regional training network with universities in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.