Capacity Development for Civil Servants on Using Security Sector Legislation

24/10/2011 - 28/10/2011

Target country

Mandataire

This is part of a larger project supported by Irish Aid which includes the translation of 20 key Timorese security sector laws into Tetun the lingua franca of Timor-Leste. The translated text will enable access to and understanding of security sector legislation by a broader segment of the population, thus enabling a strong democratic dialogue around security sector development.   

In order to maximize the benefits of the translation, Irish Aid is working with a local NGO Fundasaun Mahein to conduct training for civil society actors on using security sector legislation. ISSAT was requested to provide support through the provision of one advisor to the process with SSR experience and a good knowledge of Timor Leste.

Mandating organisation / agency / department / ministry

Mandate outputs / products

  • Workshop was completed focusing on the process of conducting research with Timorese security sector laws.

Outcome objectives of mandate

  • The training workshop's objective was to increase the capacity of Timorese Civil Society to conduct research on, and thus monitor and advocate on, security sector issues.

Start date

24/10/2011

End date

28/10/2011

Summary

Learning by Doing: Assigning tasks as part of capacity building can have a number of benefits. The most immediate is the development of sustainable capacity, as a process is taught, not just a concept. It further strengthens local ownership as workshop participants have a stake in the exercise. Finally, completed, or incomplete assignments can act as a form of evaluation on political will and ownership. 

Working in a Local Language: Being able to conduct a capacity-building exercise in the audience’s language, as opposed to using translators, helps in sustaining local ownership, keeping a positive relationship between facilitators and participants, and maintains a steady pace of work.

Cours Spécifiques Identifiées

Succès

Time planning: Planning to arrive in advance and staying after the  training gave the trainer the possibility to receive valuable feedback from participants that would not have been possible otherwise. 

Project and Partner Familiarity: The external advisor had a well-established relationship with Fundasaun Mahein and had conducted similar capacity development exercises with the group, allowing a relatively easy setup of this project. 

Local Technology for Communications: The advisor used text messaging to check in with workshop participants as opposed to e-mail since all could be contacted through that method.

Succès

  • Encouraging the female participants: This training took place in a mostly male-dominated environment. The trainer encouraged the female participants to participate in the discussions and debates by directly calling upon them for their inputs.
  • Balanced levels of participation: Males and females were equally represented in this workshop.

Tags

Succès

  • Process:
  1. Frame questions
  2. Discuss how they can be answered (sources, approaches, etc.)
  3. Participants spend a week doing research and preparing answers
  4. Re-group to share answers and the basis for the answers
  5. Review what they did to find the answers
  6. Share and discuss in the group
  7. Refine the answers 
  • Focus on Research Process: Participants were not only asked to provide substantive answers to questions, but also to provide the method which they used to answer the questions, thus building up sustainable research capacity.
  • Learn By Doing: Capacity was built up through workshop participants conducting their own research as opposed to being lectured.
  • Workshop Language: The whole project was conducted in Tetun which helped establish local ownership, facilitated the rapport between the external advisor and workshop participants, and kept a continuous flow of discussion and work through the workshops.

Tags

Défis

  • Relationship Between Local NGOs: Some other NGO participants who were invited to the workshop did not see the point in participating as they considered any work done, to be work done for Fundasaun Mahein  and not for themselves.

Tags

Succès

  • Local Initiative Creates Political Will: The project was requested and designed by Fundasaun Mahein, establishing a very high commitment to participation.
  • Providing sustainability to previous interventions: This initiative builds on previous work and provides continuity to the intervention that resulted in the translation of laws into Tetun.

Tags

Succès

  • Proactive Monitoring of Participants: The advisor had the phone numbers of all workshop participants. This allowed him to send text messages mid-way through the independent work week to check how participants were progressing and reminding them they could receive assistance if they were having problems.
  • Independent Work as a Form of Evaluation: The interest and commitment to the project by local NGOs could, in part, be gauged by how many participants returned to the final workshop to present their work.

Tags

Succès

  • Time planning: Planning to arrive in advance and staying after the  training gave the trainer the possibility to receive valuable feedback from participants that would not have been possible otherwise.
  • Project and Partner Familiarity: The external advisor had a well-established relationship with Fundasaun Mahein and had conducted similar capacity development exercises with the group, allowing a relatively easy setup of this project.
  • Local Technology for Communications: The advisor used text messaging to check in with workshop participants as opposed to e-mail since all could be contacted through that method.

Tags