Director General of the Institute of Public Administration (BIPA) HE Dr. Raed Mohammed bin Shams stressed on the great responsibility falling on the shoulders of government leaders to achieve the aspirations of the government and citizens, noting the importance of the role of public administration institutions and government training centers in preparing government leaders who are capable of achieving the aspirations of the Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.
This came during chairing the session entitled “public sector in times of crisis: the way to modernity in the instability era” at the 6th annual conference of the Governance Institutes Forum for Training in the Middle East and North Africa region (GIFT-MENA) held in Morocco with the participation of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Mr. Bruno Boizzat, Senior Advisor of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mr. Julio Nabih and the researcher at the International Development Institute Mr. Brian Wilhelm.
Bin Shams added that BIPA attaches great importance to the preparation of government leaders, and that the government action program for the years 2015-2018 and the economic vision 2030 of the Kingdom of Bahrain have stressed on the importance of preparing government leaders in order to raise the level of the government Bahraini leaders to be able to achieve the aspirations of the government and the citizens. Furthermore, BIPA offers two programs i.e. leaders and cadres to prepare government leaders, which both were designed to meet the local needs and develop leadership competencies to cope with the regional and international changes. The trainee will receive, after completing leadership programs, a certificate provided by BIPA and certified by the Leadership and Management Institute in Britain ILM, furthermore the Institute is in the process of launching “takween” program, which is considered a developmental program for preparing a second line of government leaders.
Bin Shams stressed on the great role played by today's public administration institutes and training centers in the Middle East and North Africa region in leadership development and enhancing their capacity to keep up with the modernization, he also pointed out to the need for the cooperation of public administration institutions and government training centers through the exchange of best practices and taking advantage of scientific research in decision-making and building policies.
It is noteworthy that the 6th annual conference of the GIFT-MENA network was held this year under the title “Governance, State Building and the Rule of Law”. The conference has provided opportunities for meeting and interaction between decision-makers, experts, specialists and development partners, to discuss current issues and partnerships which will contribute to the strengthening of public governance in the Arab countries.