Success Story: Tatweer Procurement Workshop
Enhances Skills and Knowledge of Ministry Officials
Civil servants apply procurement training
for immediate benefits at ministries
March, 2007
Back at his desk at the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, a
radiant smile spreads across Hassan Bashir’s*
face as he begins to describe the changes in
policy and procedure his ministry has
undergone in only a few short weeks.
The changes, Mr. Bashir explains, are due to
the skills he and his colleagues acquired at a
recent Tatweer workshop on procurement
methods and practices.
“Before the workshop, it was generally
assumed that the lowest bid was the best,” said
Mr. Bashir. “Now we are conducting cost-quality
analysis, but what is even more important is
that our supervisors are buying into the
methods we’ve learned.”
The procurement workshop, held in Baghdad,
was hosted by Tatweer, the USAID-funded
National Capacity Development (NCD) program
in Iraq. Tatweer’s objective is to assist the
Government of Iraq in improving the
effectiveness of its operations, management
and policy-formulation processes.
Four weeks earlier, Mr. Bashir had participated
in the Tatweer workshop, which was designed
to improve the skills of junior- and senior-level
civil servants in managing the governmental
procurement process.
The issue of government procurement had long
been cited as a major obstacle to completing
reconstruction projects.
While security remains top of everyone’s mind
throughout Iraq, some organizations struggle to
improve and develop their capacity to provide
essential goods and services to the citizens in
spite of the security situation.
“If we can show the average citizen that we are
able to deliver, this will help solve the issue of
security,” said an employee from the Ministry of
Water Resources.
Now a month later, Mr. Bashir and his
colleagues from 10 key ministries are returning
for an advanced level workshop on government
procurement and to reflect with the instructor
and course developer on the impact the earlier
course has had on their ministries.
“I could tell that after decades of isolation, these
employees were thirsting for information,” said
the instructor, a Canadian citizen of Iraqi
decent.
Currently just a section of the workshop,
feasibility studies, was singled out as a major
area of concern since it is a requirement under
Iraq’s current government procurement
legislation, Coalition Provisional Authority
(CPA) 87.
“Even with the security situation being what it is
today in Baghdad, the participants are showing
up to the session eager to learn. I think this
alone demonstrates an enormous level of
commitment by these civil servants, as well as
courage,” he said.
For more information on Tatweer, visit www.tatweer-iraq
*Name has been changed.
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