Government of Iraq and U.S. Embassy Participate in Iraq-wide OSTP Conference: “Excellence – The Way to Build a Prosperous Iraq”
On October 11, 2010, Kaizen’s Organizational Self-Assessment and Transformation Program (OSTP) office of the USAID/Tatweer Project brought together approximately 300 OSTP participants and supporters from 17 teams across 10 Government of Iraq (GoI) ministries and executive offices. The summit was held to discuss results achieved through the use of this program since its implementation in 2006, and to chart the future for bottom-up, internally driven and ongoing organizational reform within GoI.
Ali Al-A’laq, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Secretariat, gave the keynote address followed by a subsequent address made by Ambassador Peter Bodde, Assistant Chief of Mission for Assistance Transition at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Both speakers stressed the central role OSTP has in the continued independent and sustainable development of the GoI’s capacity in public administration. Kaizen’s OSTP continues to provide direct support to Iraqi-led teams to conduct self-assessments of their organizations’ capabilities in human resources, finance, leadership, knowledge management, and process functions; and, to identify, prioritize and implement change initiatives.
The “Excellence – The Way to Build a Prosperous Iraq” Conference’s primary objective was to build momentum for existing GoI OSTP teams as they transition from USAID/Tatweer support to internally supported initiatives. To do so, the conference provided a forum for GoI OSTP teams to showcase their successes to their organizations’ leadership, established the foundation of an Iraq-wide OSTP community of practice, and fostered inter-team knowledge sharing.
The focal event of the conference were presentations by GoI OSTP teams highlighting implementation successes, lessons learned, and plans for future activities. Included in these presentations was the Ministry of Agriculture team which initiated a customer feedback survey for the Baghdad Agricultural Directorate to improve its service delivery; the Ministry of Water Resources team which deployed a ‘Government Services Culture of Excellence’ communications campaign resulting in greater awareness in the Ministry for the necessity of more citizen-centered, results-focused, and transparent services for Iraqis; and the Ministry of Oil North Refineries Company (NRC) team which initiated and implemented strategic planning activities that produced an official Vision, Mission, and Values statement that will guide ongoing NRC activities.
Kaizen’s OSTP activities through the USAID/Tatweer Project will continue through the end of 2010. Until then, OSTP will continue to support ongoing GoI OSTP change initiatives, particularly emphasizing activities that foster the sustainability of the program in Iraq. Towards this end, OSTP will strengthen the GoI-wide OSTP community of practice by facilitating cross-ministry issue-based focus groups, and supporting high-impact change initiatives. Furthermore, OSTP will continue to support the Ministry of Oil’s newly formed OSTP division that will expand OSTP activities to address all administrative directorates and operating companies.
Kaizen’s OSTP is an externally supported, but internally driven, organizational development program that has been implemented across the Middle East. It has proven highly successful in Iraq, Jordan and with the Palestinian Authority.
