By Staff Reporter
The Namibian government is set to adopt the Commonwealth’s state-of-the-art SMART software to improve government performance.
In a press statement sent to Caprivi Vision, issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Over 100 Political Office Bearers from Namibia, including cabinet ministers, briefed on Government Performance Management ahead of the country implementing the Commonwealth’s state-of-the-art SMART software.
Namibian Political Office Bearers (POB) took part in a virtual four-hour briefing on government performance management was conducted by the Commonwealth Secretariat on 17 June 2022, was attended by senior public officials including cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, regional governors, and executive directors.
The briefing was led by Professor Prajapati Trivedi, the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Implementation and was aimed at “Reviewing the key concepts relating to Government Performance Management; Sharing international experience and best practices relating to the design and implementation of an effective Government Performance Management System (GPMS); and Introducing the Commonwealth’s state-of-the-art software, SMART (Strategic Management and Accountability for Results Toolkit), as a tool for GPMS. SMART is proprietary software developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat to help public services to prepare their Commitment for Results (CFR) documents.”
Speaking at the opening of the briefing, Mr. I-Ben Nashandi, Executive Director at the Prime Minister’s Office noted that Namibia has recently revised its government performance management policy and is planning to adopt the Commonwealth Secretariat’s SMART software to automate government performance management.
On his part, Professor Trivedi lauded the government of Namibia for its exemplary leadership and commitment to strengthening government performance management, a key determinant of the comparative and competitive advantage of a nation. “This briefing today is testament to the government’s commitment to forging a ‘Whole of Government’ approach to improve public service performance and service delivery, and achievement of national development goals,” Professor Trivedi added.
At the conclusion of the briefing, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, Minister of Health, expressed his deep appreciation to the Commonwealth Secretary-General and the Secretariat staff for supporting Namibia’s efforts to further strengthen its government performance management system as part of the wider national reform agenda.
“It is my government’s goal to align Namibia’s Government Performance Management System to the Generally Accepted Performance Principles,” he added.
This briefing follows a five-day intensive training programme, conducted in February 2022 by the Secretariat, on Government Performance Management for more than 200 senior government officials from Namibia.
And last month, during the Secretariat’s Biennial Pan-Commonwealth Meeting of Heads of Public Service/Cabinet Secretaries, more than 250 top civil servants from across the Commonwealth unanimously endorsed the adoption of a sixteen-point Generally Accepted Performance Principles (GAPP) as a guide for governments to design an effective Government Performance Management System.
The adoption of the GAPP principles is a culmination of a long consultative process that began two years ago with the launch of a series of Advanced Online Training Programmes in Government Performance Management run by the Commonwealth Secretariat. So far, more than 2,000 senior officials and public servants from 44 Commonwealth countries have benefitted from this programme.
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal sovereign states, with the combined population of 2.5 billion, of which more than 60 per cent is aged 29 or under.
The Commonwealth Secretariat supports member countries to build democratic and inclusive institutions, strengthen governance and promote justice and human rights. The Commonwealth work helps to grow economies and boost trade, deliver national resilience, empower young people, and address threats such as climate change, debt, and inequality.
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