NATIONAL SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT

THE NSG AND UNICEF

PARTNERSHIP ON A POSITIVE RISE

From 26th February to the 08th March the National School of Government (NSG) in partnership with the National University of Singapore and UNICEF hosted the second cohort of the Executive Course for Evaluation Leaders (ExCEL) Training Programme for senior government leaders and UNICEF partners.

In October 2023, the first cohort of the programme in partnership with the NSG visited the organisation.

The two-week training programme was attended by over fifty delegates from South Africa and various other countries including Brazil, Angola,

Lesotho, Mozambique, Uganda, Liberia, China, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and North Macedonia. The inaugural cohort of the programme in South Africa in October 2023 was attended by a total of 42 participants from countries such as Zimbabwe, The Kingdom of Eswatini, Kenya, Brazil and Singapore. Participants from the different countries, who are specialists and experts in the field of Monitoring and Evaluation, converge for the two weeks to learn how to improve their evaluation skills as managers in their different capacities.

This innovative programme is crafted for thought-leaders and decisionmakers to improve programmes and policies in their countries and contribute to building a culture

of evaluative thinking around the achievement of sustainable results.

The Programme is intentionally designed primarily for senior government officials and UNICEF staff to expand networks and communities of practice in evaluation at national and regional level, fostering a holistic, collaborative, and impactful approach to evaluation, and enabling participants to become evaluation champions and to promote a culture of evaluation.

Learning Objectives

• Culture Building: Promote a culture of culture-based policy making and a greater appreciation of evaluation to achieve sustainable results.

• Capacity Building: Enhance skills and expertise necessary to lead more robust evaluations and related initiatives at national and regional level.

• Confidence Building: Increase confidence to guide evaluation work in the country and inspire others to use evaluation for learning and improvement.

• Network Building: Strengthen national and regional networks and communities of practice amongst evaluation leaders and champions in government.

During the two week period the course covers topics such as:

• Enabling Environment

• Importance of Evaluation Culture for Senior Leaders and Managers,

• Unique Contribution of Evaluation to Better Policies and Programs,

• Enabling Environment: Importance of Evaluation Culture for Senior Leaders

• Managers, The Role of Theory of Change in Evaluation amongst others.

ExCEL focuses on the leadership aspects of evaluation, with dedicated sessions on managerial and soft skills. It is run

as a workshop, with highly interactive sessions. A series of lectures are delivered to introduce the participants to the topics, but most of the sessions are used as engagement platforms for cases studies, exercises, and group work.

In order for ExCEL to be fully relevant to participants’ day-to-day work, the Course includes a “Practicum”, conducted by Country Delegations (partners and UNICEF staff from each country) who are guided through a series of steps to an Action Plan.

During these Practicum Sessions, Country Delegations prepare a short presentation to share the learnings on methods, findings, achievements, and challenges. During the last day of the Course, Country Delegations present their Action Plan to their peers and the Faculty.

After the 10-day ExCEL Course, Country Delegations continue to work on their Action Plan in their own locations, supported by both UNICEF and the University of Singapore.

About the National School of Government

The National School of Government (NSG) is mandated with the responsibility of ensuring that public servants comply with the provisions of established legislation, regulations and systems, and can exercise proper discretion and innovation in solving routine and complex delivery problems.

To this end, the NSG is tasked with ensuring that all public servants’ participate and complete education, training and development initiatives, as per relevant legislation and Cabinet directives. The NSG is furthermore expected to ensure service delivery impact by supporting institutional performance.

CONTACT DETAILS

Switchboard: +27 12 441 6000

General Facsimile: +27 12 441 6030

Contact Centre: +27 86 100 8326

E-mail Address:

contactcenre@thensg.gov.za