Max Planck Foundation Technical Advisors complete Training-of-Trainers programme
From 1 until 6 April 2016, the Max Planck Foundation conducted the fourth workshop in a series of Training-of-Trainers (ToT) workshops for Technical Advisors in Nairobi.
The ToT workshops are part of a wider project to assist the Somali federalisation process through capacity building and technical assistance on legal issues of significance to the Somali Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs (MoIFA) and the Boundaries and Federation Commission (BFC) – the two entities spearheading the federalisation process in Somalia. The project is financed by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Max Planck Foundation.
The fourth and final ToT workshop brought together experienced Research Fellows of the Max Planck Foundation and four Somali Technical Advisors embedded in the MoIFA and the BFC. The workshop series is designed to enhance the substantive knowledge of the Technical Advisors on issues of federalism and decentralisation as well as to strengthen their presentation and training skills.
Accordingly, the Somali Technical Advisors were engaged in the analysis and discussions of the law and practice in other federal countries with regard to selected topics relevant for the mandate of different actors and institutions in the ongoing federalisation process in Somalia. Specifically, the fourth ToT workshop provided an in-depth training in relation to multi-level elections and political parties in federal systems; public finance issues from a federal perspective; the organisation and regulation of public administration and civil service in federal countries; the involvement of constituent units in international affairs and, finally, boundary demarcation within a federal framework. The ToT workshop format combined lectures delivered by the Max Planck Foundation Research Fellows with presentations prepared by the trainees and practical exercises, such as case studies. The training materials were specially developed for the ToT programme and adopted a comparative approach, contrasting comparative experiences with current challenges in Somalia.
The Technical Advisors will use the different topical components covered during the recent ToT workshop in Nairobi and transform them into one-day training workshops to be delivered to selected staff at MoIFA and members of the BFC in Mogadishu, Somalia. The embedded Advisors completed ten one-day workshops both for the MoIFA and the BFC in 2015 and have planned an additional ten one-day trainings each in 2016.