MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS REFORM PROGRAM |
The Foreign Minister wishes to have a lean but effective and efficient organization that meets the current and future needs of Afghanistan. The plan for reform will aim to develop the Ministry so that it can continue to support and maintain the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as an independent and democratic state in increasingly complex regional and global environments. The Foreign Minister is very committed to reform and revitalize the working structure of the Ministry and in order to become a highly professional and effective ministry both in terms of bureaucracy and policy making. These massive efforts include an initiative to modernize and make more efficient and effective administrative procedures at the Ministry in order to make its a more productive and transparent bureaucracy.
To achieve this ambition, the reform process has to be holistic and based on sound scientific methodology. Above all the active participation of the Ministry’s personnel is essential to achieve this goal.
Minister Dr. Spatna has taken a number of pivotal steps, including establishing of an Expert Commission comprising of Ministry’s officials and international consultants, who will study the current structure and procedures of the Ministry and will recommend a new structure and also ways to improve the efficiencies of the Ministry’s bureaucracy. The commission’s report will also include a long-term plan for the Ministry’s reform process.
In order to coordinate and also share ideas with our international partners, a steering committee has been established under the chairmanship Dr. Moradian, Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister. The first meeting of the committee was held on March 18th and the second one is due to be convened on Wednesday 25th April 2007.
The Commission’s Proposed Timetable |
Background and Phase 1
The Asia Foundation, with funding support from USAID, is supporting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their overall effort to create a modern and professional ministry within three to five years.
The Foreign Minister will also present the first results of the process to the parliament this summer. An international consultant is currently working for 12 weeks to develop draft terms of reference and a strategy for the reform process over five years, including a new organization structure. His report will also propose how the Ministry’s reform programme should be integrated into the overall Public Administration Reform Process (PAR) through the new Civil Service Reform Project. The consultant’s recommendations will be based on a critical review of the current situation as well as interviews and consultations with Ministry staff and a survey by letter of Afghan missions abroad, foreign embassies and other ministries in Kabul. This initial consultancy work (Phase 1) will be completed by 26 May. This will be followed by a six month Phase 2 process. Phase 2 is an essential step needed to prepare the Ministry to start Phase 3 (Civil Service Reform Project).
The three phases of the reform plan will recommend actions to improve the effectiveness and performance of the following key areas, as well as addressing other important issues:
• Organizational structures and staffing of the Ministry and its missions abroad
• Management and administrative organizations and procedures, including finance and procurement, delegation of authority and performance management
• Human resources management: merit based appointments, recruitment, training promotion, performance appraisal, career management, HR management information system
• Implementation of the new pay and grading system
• Training and education in languages, diplomacy, IT, administration, management and other important skill areas
• Information and communications technology including IT strategy, structure, project management, user training and capacity building of ICT specialists
• External and internal communications, document handling and archiving
• Security, including physical and information security
• Work processes, including visas, passports, procurement and many other important services
The Ministry’s staff in Kabul, the provinces and abroad will be kept informed of the planning and progress of these reforms as will the NGOs and donors that provide support to the Ministry in discrete areas such a training and ICT. The approach to reform is holistic and evolutionary in nature, covering all aspects of the Ministry’s activities. Organisational reform, the improvement of capacity and of work processes and services will take up to five years to complete. The reform process comprises short, medium and long term components designed to ensure that improvements are made effectively and that they meet the changing needs of Afghanistan. USAID have provided funding for Phase 1 of the reform process – the 12 week review of the Ministry and the production of a proposed new organisation together with a strategy and program for reform. The Ministry is receiving support from several donors for projects aimed at capacity building and improving effectiveness in discrete areas.
Phase 2
The Phase 2 work by national and international consultants over six months, supported by MOFA staff, is necessary to produce detailed job descriptions for the new structure of the Ministry, its regional offices within Afghanistan and missions abroad, and to support the implementation of the new organization. This comprehensive review of the new structures against existing and proposed jobs is needed in order to gain approval for the new organization and post structure from the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC) together with budgetary approval for any additional expenditure that this will entail. The Phase 2 team will start work also on reviewing and improving key processes where this would result in significant improvements in effectiveness and efficiency. A high priority is the strengthening of the human resources management unit and the implementation of the many HR regulations, policies and procedures already in existence. This is an essential step in order to start implementing the main aspects of the reform, including recruitment, transfer, promotion, career planning and performance management, all based on merit.
The lead international consultant of the Phase 2 team, who led Phase 1, was responsible in 2005-06 to the Director General of the IARCSC for producing or reviewing almost all of the new HR regulations, policies and procedures for the civil service. He and his colleagues also guided and supported the Independent Appointments and Appeals Boards in the introduction of appointments on merit. He has extensive understanding and experience of the many issues involved in implementing these critical aspects of good management of human resources in the civil service.
The work of the Phase 2 team will provide detailed organization structures and job descriptions, together with justification for these changes, sufficient for the IARCSC to approve the Ministry’s completion of the PRR process. A very recent survey by the IARCSC has reported that the Ministry has achieved only part of its PRR program several years after it was agreed. Full completion of PRR is required before the Ministry can approve the new tashkeel and authorise the establishment of a Reform Implementation Management Unit (RIMU) to implement the changes required by the Minister. The IARCSC cannot approve funding for the RIMU process, constituting Phase 3 of the Ministry’s reform in conformity with the Civil Service Reform Project, until successful completion of Phase 2.
Phase 2 will provide also a lead in to the setting up of the RIMU for Phase 3, including the establishment of a more effective HRM unit. Work will start in Phase 2 on training a small internal team within the Ministry to review, analyse and improve key work processes. An initial survey has revealed already that the processing of visa applications for foreign nationals could be greatly speeded, simplified and made more effective at little or no cost. A similar assessment is likely to apply to the issue of passports to Afghans as well as many other key processes within the Ministry and between the Ministry, its embassies abroad and other embassies and ministries in Kabul. The inefficient and very ineffective procedures for the receipt, routing, actioning, recording, follow up, signing and despatch of letters, faxes and other documents is a prime example of a situation where review and simplification of processes would have a major impact on the effectiveness of the Ministry and its many working relationships with outside organizations. It is proposed that the small internal work efficiency team trained during Phase 2 should continue as a permanent part of the Ministry’s tashkeel for as many years as is necessary to reform all areas of work.
It is estimated that the first part of Phase 2 will take three months to complete the work needed to gain approval of the new tashkeel. The second part of Phase 2 will be concerned with setting up the new organization and supporting the recruitment, selection, transfer and appointment of existing and new staff to all posts within the tashkeel, based on merit. The existing HR unit has neither the staff nor the knowledge and experience necessary to achieve these large and complex tasks. They will receive formal and on the job training from the Phase 2 team, including analysing jobs, writing job descriptions and person specifications. The leader of the Phase 2 team is a qualified business psychologist with considerable experience of all aspects of recruitment and selection in developing and developed countries. The Phase 2 team will train and support HR unit staff during these processes. The Phase 2 team will help also to select and train the small work efficiency team, mainly though on the job training. This second part of Phase 2 will take three months. The overall duration of six months for Phase 2 should enable the new tashkeel to be implemented either completely or to a degree sufficient for the RIMU to start its work as Phase 3 (Civil Service Reform Project).
The Phase 2 team should comprise the following:
• 1 translator capable of simultaneous interpretation both ways in English and Dari
• 2 graduate level staff seconded full time from MOFA with sufficient spoken English to communicate directly with the international consultant.
Phase 3
Funding for Phase 3 will be sought separately, in accordance with the rules for the Civil Service Reform Project. The RIMU team as specified by the IARCSC for Phase 3 comprises 4 international and 5 national consultants, 2 translators and 2 other national support staff. The international consultants are to be funded for one year and all other consultants and support staff for two years. The minimum requirements that the RIMU must carry out have been prescribed by the IARCSC in RIMU Implementation Plan as listed below. The MOFA RIMU team for Phase 3 will carry out more extensive reforms in all key areas of the Ministry and its missions abroad, as described earlier in this paper. These activities will be in addition to those required for a RIMU by the IARCSC, as listed below:
• Implement a job evaluation and grading system
• Develop and implement a merit-based and discrimination-free appointment system
• Implement a human resource management information system (HRMIS)
• Operate a monitoring and evaluation system to track continued implementation of the RIMU both during and post project
• Implement a training program to enable effective implementation of RIMU procedures
• Develop and implement a performance appraisal system
We highly welcome any suggestion from other individuals and entities who would like to be a party in our aim in becoming an exemplary Ministry not only in Afghanistan but also in the region. Please send your comments to:
| reforms@mfa.gov.af |