Institutional Change Executive
Institutional Change Executive
Introduction
In the past two decades, our country has registered a rapid economic and social growth because development forces, led by the government, have worked cooperatively in unison and harmony. In the current process, the changes have benefited more the rural communities than the urban communities. For this, the reason could be, on the one side, the rent-seeking attitude entrenched in urban populations, and on the other, an understanding gap in the guidance given in connection with the benefits that could be obtained if the leadership, implementers and stakeholders of development plans at various levels of the sector were involved in a concerted manner.
So as to enable the urban communities to rip the benefits of the country’s accelerated changes in good governance and development areas as well as to achieve the goal that is set to transform the country from agriculture-led to industry-led economy, it is imperative to be committed to fighting rent-seeking attitudes and practices and build a developmental political economy. In this regard, it has been understood that producing leadership with the right attitudes and skills, realizing the potentials of our development forces that should be engaged in the various urban development areas, and identifying the attitudes and skills of these forces and engaging them in a concerted fight against poverty – our common enemy – with hardly any unnecessary wastage of resources is indispensable. In conjunction with this, our development plans should be met with dynamism through an organized, efficient and effective body which renders good leadership and an urban development force that actively implements the plans.
Thus, the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction has established an Implementation Capacity Building and Reform Management Bureau which is tasked with duties and responsibilities of supervising and supporting the implementation of the process of producing reform management leadership and implementation force with the right attitudes and required skills as well as the establishment of an efficient, clear, and transparent organization and working system both in the Ministry and in the sectors under its authority.
2.1.Duties and Responsibilities of the Bureau
The Bureau has principal tasks of establishing an efficient, transparent and accountable organization and working system as well as building the capacities of the leadership and the implementing body both in the Ministry and the sector offices under its authority. In the light of this, the Bureau, by assessing the existing organizational system, is responsible for designing a model organizational system that will be harmonized across its sectors. Regarding working system improvement, on the basis of the country’s reform direction, the Bureau prepares reform agents and engages them in the implementation process and monitors, supports, and evaluates the process and provides feedback.
The processes of building the capacities of the leadership and the implementing body focus on building the attitudes and skills of these two actors. Accordingly, through training and experience sharing, peer learning, and other similar means, the leadership and the implementing body will be made to have the right attitudes and develop their skills. Besides, by conducting timely performance monitoring and assessment activities, the tasks of identifying and providing support to weak performers and recognizing and encouraging strong ones and models will be done.The Bureau also prepares and implements guidelines and manuals that are capable of improving the systems of leadership and performance and prevailing transparency and accountability.
In order to be able to discharge its duties specified above, the Bureau is organized with two departments:
- Core Capacity, Reform Management and Force Building Department and
- Reform Implementation, Follow-up, Evaluation and Feedback Provision Department.
The duties and responsibilities of the two departments are presented in the following sections.
2.2 Main Duties and Responsibilities of the Departments
2.2.1. Main Duties and Responsibilities of the Department of Core Capacity, Reform Management and Force Building
The Department of Core capacity, Reform Management and Force Building has the responsibility of building the implementation capacities of the leadership and the implementing body. The main activities undertaken by the Department include enabling the leadership and the implementing body to have the right attitudes and developed skills through training and experience sharing, peer learning, and other similar means. The Department also conducts timely performance monitoring and evaluation activities with the purpose of identifying and providing support to weak performers and recognition and encouragement to strong ones and to those that can considered as models.
2.2.2 Main Duties and Responsibilities of the Department of Reform Implementation, Monitoring and Feedback Provision
The Department of Reform Implementation, Monitoring and Feedback Provision is responsible for the preparing of reform agents that will engage in undertaking activities of establishing a transparent, effective, efficient and accountable working system. In connection with this, the office performs supervising, supporting, evaluating and providing feedback activities to the implementation process of the reform agents that are employed in the process. It also identifies and analyses better practices that have been gained in the implementation so as to disseminate them to others and use them as inputs for producing better performance systems. At the same time, a system will be established and implemented with the purpose of improving the level of service delivery and maximizing customer satisfaction in the Ministry. Feedback provision activities will also be done by monitoring customer satisfaction levels.
