Accra, Almaty, Hanoi, Lima, and Ouagadougou – It was an early and very inspiring back to school season this year for several dozen mid-career professionals from around the globe, as our Executive Master in Development Policies and Practices (“DPP”) kicked off its 2015-16 programme concurrently across five regional hubs, with intensive training that spanned the month of August.

Converging upon these cities from across Latin America, anglophone & francophone West Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, the 60 participants of our new intake represent 33 countries and come from a broad range of public, private and civil society organisations.  Participants took about a month’s leave of absence from their professional roles in order to attend the first module, offered “in-region” by the Graduate Institute in collaboration with local partner institutions.

 

Cross-Sector Regional Learning Communities
A dozen professionals joined in each location of the DPP, creating diverse, regionally-based learning teams.  As part of the admissions process, applicants identified a strategic project for their organisation, company or community—for whom they will apply their newfound skills from this first module, as they conduct an applied professional thesis during the next phase of their degree experience.

Organisations represented in the groups include various local offices of well-known international NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières (Myanmar) and the Aga Khan Foundation (Kyrgyzstan), as well as International Organisations like UNAIDS (Sudan) and UNHCR (Kenya).  In total, they include dozens of national NGOs, private companies, government and development agencies spanning the global South, from Latin America to Southeast Asia that focus on various policy, programme and research areas ranging from rural development to health and education.

The Executive Master DPP operates with the generous support of the Swiss Confederation, Republic and Canton of Geneva and private foundations.  The Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC) has been a longstanding partner of Executive Education, for example, collaborating with the Institute and local institutions to foster learning in these five regional hubs.  The SDC provides regional expertise and insights, its local networks and significant tuition support for participants.  Several of this year’s participants across the regions are working on initiatives at organisations which are also directly supported by the SDC.  A sampling of thesis projects that they will pursue during their programme for their respective organisations include:

• Practice of ecological agriculture in Chad: challenges and prospects (SWISSAID)
• The role of financial services for sustainable agricultural production in small and medium scale farms (Swiss Cooperation Office for the South Caucasus)
• Comparative analysis of the loan operation in farmers' groups (Fastenopfer)
• Strengthening financial inclusion to enhance the developmental impact of remittances flows in Ghana (SECO)
• Impact of SIFA device on improving the living conditions of students in Niger (Swisscontact)

Global Curriculum, Local Context
Designed as a global programme that is also customised for the regional context, the DPP curriculum blends theory and practice.  While the first module in August included a common topics and skills-building sessions from a parallel, global curriculum (delivered across locations in English, French and Spanish), it also integrated studies that focused on particular nuances and challenges for development unique to the regional context.

In Ouagadougou, for example, the francophone Africa group explored emerging issues in the economic policies of Africa, with a case analysis of agricultural policy in Mali and Niger.  In Accra, the anglophone participants studied aspects of good governance and the challenges for governing natural resources in a way to benefit the development agenda.  In Hanoi, the cohort focused on social inequalities and rural development;  while in Almaty, the programme expanded upon traditional concepts of security issues by analysing a broader dimensions of fragility.  And in Lima, a course was tailored for the Latin America group to study Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

In the learning design, about half of the module’s sessions are delivered by instructors  from our regional partner institutions, with the remainder of the sessions given by the Graduate Institute and DPP faculty staff, who manage the overall learning experience and travel between Geneva and the various regions.  “This provides an ideal blend of global perspective and local context”, says Dr. Alex Freire, Programme Director.  “It allows us to teach elements that are globally applicable, while also keeping our content relevant to the region.  And it gives our instructors access at the forefront of development in the various regions the DPP programme serves.”
 

Making an Impact at Home
Now for the Fall term, the cohorts are returning to their full-time positions in their home countries, to begin to apply concepts learned and conduct a professional thesis project on behalf of their organisation, in the second phase of the programme.  A distance learning platform keeps them connected, as the groups will concurrently pursue an online course in Gender and Development.  In early 2016, groups will reconvene together in Geneva at Villa Barton, for additional learning that integrates a South-South collaboration guided by Institute faculty, exchanging expertise from the field.

The Executive Master DPP has several hundred alumni living and working worldwide, continuing to make an impact in their home context.  For additional information about the degree programme, visit the DPP home page.