His Excellency Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, Minister of Finance of Afghanistan, addressed new graduates of the 2nd Session of the Executive Master in Development Policies and Practices (DPP), in a ceremony that awarded the Master of Advanced Studies degree to nearly 40 participants from three regional centres--including English-speaking Africa and two new DPP programme branches, Central Asia and Afghanistan.
Minister Zakhiwal shared some insights from both his own career as well as a reflection on the ministry's capacity-building. Dr. Zakhiwal shared that through these kinds of investments in the education and professional training, a new cadre of Afghan nationals is emerging, in which Afghans are not only replacing but outperforming their predecessors, who were mostly contracted Western employees, came to Afghanistan in the initial post-war phase.
Several other ambassadors and various officials from Permanent Missions to the UN in Geneva were in attendance, representing the countries of graduates in the programme. Ms. Sally Fegan-Wyles, Executive Director of UNITAR, gave opening remarks on behalf of her organization, which collaborated with the Institute on the customisation of the DPP for the Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan.
The ceremony also celebrated the first graduating class from the DPP's new annual cohort for the Central Asia region, based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and other graduates of the programme’s well-established annual cohort in Ghana (for the English-Speaking Africa participants). A participant-representative from each region gave speeches to reflect on their personal learning and professional development journeys over the course of the DPP.
In a similar diploma ceremony in early February 2014, the DPP’s graduates from Session I (for French-Speaking Africa, Southeast Asia and South America) celebrated their achievements with a keynote address from Professor Jacques Forster, who shared his keen insights in an inspiring speech about the legacy, impact and future challenges for international development and cooperation.
More about the DPP
The Development Policies and Practices programme is designed in a format for development professionals who are actively working in the field, customising our Graduate Institute curriculum for regional application, through a learning platform that build skills and allows for the exchange of best practices. In recent years, the DPP has built strong regional networks of development professionals who remain a resource for each other as a broader alumni community.
The program's in-region learning format allows for applied practice at work, where participants continue their professional development following the first, regionally-delivered module. They carry out applied research projects on behalf of their employers—whether it be a ministry, agency, organisation or company. The Institute’s distance learning platform provides ongoing engagement and support during this applied learning phase.
The Geneva graduation ceremonies were the culmination of a final 3-week module, which brings participants from the regions to the Graduate Institute for a final infusion of face-to-face learning, and allows participants from the various regions to learn together and exchange on their applied research projects.
In total, the DPP has five regional hubs, with options to take the programme in English, French and Spanish, depending on the region of choice. The DPP programme has operated for many years with generous financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Canton of Geneva, the Avina Stiftung foundation and other institutional donors.
While most participants in the DPP come from the region, the DPP also actively supports Swiss participants to attend the programme in the various regions. This brings a direct benefit to those organizations whose Swiss-based employees are also working on development initiatives or projects in collaboration with those out in the field.
Applications for the 2014-15 programme are open through 31 March 2014.
See DPP program website for more details