DUBAI // The public sector across the region is failing to perform because civil servants are not well-trained, the dean of the Dubai School of Government said.
“Nowadays, we see glaring examples of what is needed in the public sector domain everywhere in the Emirates,” Dr Tarik Yousef said.
“There are some institutions that are barely able catch up with the realities that are unfolding. You cannot hope to modernise, grow, and integrate into the world economy... unless you have effective public sectors.”
The school was created by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2005 to foster good governance.
Dr Yousef said his institute improves public sector performance throughout the Arab world through better training and courses for public officials. The school is in talks with a number of government agencies in the UAE about training for civil servants.
The first step, he said, was to focus on transparency. “A good public sector has accountability. Accountability requires transparency, it requires openness. That’s the only way to ensure you are able to correct what you are doing wrong and to improve on what you’re doing right.”
Two years ago, the school began training programmes for government officials and chief executives on topics from leadership to negotiation. The courses, many taught by top Harvard lecturers, have been attended by more than 1,000 people.
In March, the Dubai school launched an executive diploma in public administration, in collaboration with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, the first such programme in the region.
In the same month the school signed an agreement to provide leadership training for Egyptian civil servants, and has since signed a similar contract for Syrian civil servants.
“It’s an indicator of the changing centre of gravity in the Arab world, not only on the business and commercial side but also on the learning, education, and intellectual end. No one was betting on the Gulf assuming leadership in any domain,” Dr Yousef said.
Two years ago, with just a handful of employees, the school began offering courses for executives. Today, with 27 research fellows on staff and a host of visiting staff from its partner, the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, it is on its way to becoming a fully functional graduate school, with the first class of students to start in January.
The Dubai school counts the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, the World Bank, the UN Development Programme and the Brookings Institution among its collaborators in research and training.
The school is looking toward further expansion, with a masters degrees in public policy to begin next year.
Dr Yousef considers the research of the school’s fellows of particular significance and hopes it will introduce more Arab voices into debates about the Arab world. Their work covers a number of different topics. For example, a recent study conducted by the Wolfensohn Centre for the school found that housing reforms in Egypt in the past few years is linked to an increase in the number of young men who are getting married.