Overview:

The Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IPPIA) at USIU-Africa envisions providing technical assistance and capacity building support for regional, national and local governments. The Institute’s mission will be to improve and transform governance through innovation, research, technical assistance, and training.

To achieve these, the Institute will adopt a multi-disciplinary approach aimed at training high calibre personnel for quality service delivery at local, national and regional levels, with particular reference to the expanded East Africa Region- Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. In this regard, the Institute will adopt an integrative approach that draws on the synergies and wealth of intellect and experience in other schools at USIU and beyond.

The Institute envisages rendering its services far beyond Kenyan boundaries. It is noteworthy that the expanded East African Community has by and large adopted the strategy of devolved governance. Indeed, most of the countries like the newly independent South Sudan already have county governments. The Institute, therefore, seeks to extend its services to such countries both in structuring and capacity building. This proposition is in line with the East African Treaty which seeks to harmonize various governmental services within and amongst member states.

USIU-Africa on the other hand combines the best in Business Management, Information Technology and Social Sciences. It is from these high calibre professionals, who combine both academia and field experience that shall provide the desired teaching capacity. The vibrant multiracial and multicultural student community provides a market ready pool of research assistants to undertake given assignments.

Closer home, the inclusion of devolved government in Kenya’s newly promulgated constitution provides ample opportunities for capacity building and research. Devolved governance portends reliance on qualified human resources to continuously expand their influence, local services delivery and resource base. The Institute shall therefore strategically position itself as a preferred choice for research and capacity building in all of the 47 Counties in dealing with issues of national importance like: transparency and government accountability, inspiring public trust, emergency preparedness, urban policy, refugees, the environment and immigration matters, amongst others. The Institute will seize opportunities for commissioned or/and initiated applied research, surveys, seminars and short term consultancies in the furtherance of its stated mission

Through partnerships and alliances with likeminded institutions of higher learning, research centres, groups and individuals, the Institute will work to establish and enhance quality service outputs and pool requisite human and financial resources. For the first three years of existence, however, the Institute will rely on USIU-Africa and other collaborators for financial support as it gains foothold and recognition for the execution of its mandate. This document outlines the rationale and investment for the establishment of the Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at USIU-Africa.

1. JUSTIFICATION:

The objective of the Institute for Public Policy & International Affairs is to provide technical assistance and capacity building on government services at the; regional, national and local government levels.

A survey of the curriculum in institutions of higher learning in this region show that they do not offer tailored training on governmental services. Instead, government departments tend to conduct out-sourced short-term seminars and workshops for their staff. Graduates from local and other universities working in the civil service often find that they require focused training on government services in order to deliver on their performance targets and deal with emerging challenges in the workplace. In view of the social and political changes taking place in Kenya and in other countries in the region, there is need for a long term and systematic training on government services to enable effective harmonised government services and citizen participation at the respective national devolved levels.

To address the existing and emerging gap, IPPIA shall focus on designing training programs that will offer a platform for government administrators, NGO’s, students and devolved funds managers to offer transparent leadership in transforming key governance functions in their areas of operation.

2. ACADEMIC INSTRUMENTS

IPPIA shall provide training programs that will offer recognized academic and professional certification in various government services at different designated levels. Resources will be oriented towards creating human capital necessary to enable achievement of respective regional national strategic plans like Kenya’s Vision 2030; on social, economic and political pillars. The Institute will deliver training in ways that build on the learner’s experience and working knowledge. Fresh graduates will benefit from a wide array of case studies and mentorship programs to enable them apply innovative solutions to challenges that they encounter in the workplace.

2.1 Profile of the intended clientele
Training programs at IPPIA will benefit persons in the workplace who may not have gone through mainstream academic education for the work they are executing. Included too in this category are those who are working in sectors like the NGO or government. Clientele to be served by the Institute also takes cognizance of states emerging from conflict situations, and are desirous of deploying nationals in various work places. IPPIA will also serve persons who intend to pursue government service as a professional career, as well as researchers in policy and strategic studies. To achieve this IPPIA proposes to avail training and research opportunities to these categories of people in the region. More detailed target qualification criteria will be drawn up in response to need.

2.2 Curriculum and training
Curricula shall be developed and tailored to meet different academic needs and competence. To add credence to the academic work being undertaken, IPPIA shall work hand-in-hand with the department of International Relations at USIU in training and the award of Certificate, Diploma and Degree.

2.3 Governance
With the establishment of County governance in Kenya and other East African Community member countries, IPPIA shall be at the forefront of knowledge dissemination and capacity building for strengthening of key systems for streamlined devolved governance. Focus areas in this regard, will include but not limited to:

2.3.1 Transparency & Accountability

1. Induction and skills upgrading for Foreign Service officials
2. Capacity building for both national and local government officers
3. Strengthening leadership and team development in county and national organizations
4. Financial management (Government Financial Manual)
5. Procurement and stock control
6. Government Rules and Regulations (Government Manual)
7. Cross-cutting strategies for enhanced transparency and accountability
8. Improving organizational structures in local government
9. Conducting and monitoring elections

2.3.2 Citizen participation

1. 1) Sharpening government service delivery to citizens
2. 2) Increasing organizational efficiency
3. 3) Community Based Conflict Management and Peace Building programmes
4. 4) Legal and ethical issues in governmental service delivery
5. 5) Civic Education

2.3.3 Natural Resource Management & Emergency Preparedness

1. Trans-boundary conservation of biodiversity
2. Climate Change in the broad and specific context of Environmental Conservation

2.3.4 Urban policy

1. Urban transport
2. Rural urban migration and the effects
3. Best practices in urban settlement
4. Solid waste management
5. Shelter and slum upgrading
6. Security of tenure
7. Crime and security

2.4 Applied Research and Dissemination of Knowledge
IPPIA shall provide the research framework and opportunity for students pursuing their Master and Doctorate degrees. This will include research findings publication, workshops, seminars, media briefings and publicity.

In carrying out this broad mandate, IPPIA shall rely on the multidisciplinary human resource resident in USIU-Africa and also work with local and international partners for broader scope and benchmarking.

2.5 Peace building and conflict mediation
IPPIA will be a repository of knowledge and best practices in peace building and conflict mediation in Kenya and the region. In relation to this, the main thrust of all interventions and capacity building efforts will dwell primarily on:-

1. Peace and conflict studies with focus on indigenous solutions
2. Negotiation and mediation
3. Humanitarian intervention

3. PARTNERSHIPS & SUSTAINABILITY
USIU-Africa has a good tradition of establishing and working with partnerships. The Department of International Relations for instance, has established good working relations with:

• The Kenya Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affair
• The Foreign Service Institute
• The Kenya Institute for Administration
• The Institute of Diplomatic Studies, University of Nairobi
• Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan
• Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama - Centre for Governmental Services
• Alabama State University
• Secretary of State, Montgomery, Alabama - Director of Elections
• United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC
• African American Institute, New York,
• Bradford University, United Kingdom - School of Peace Studies
• The British Council
• Aalborg University, Denmark - Dept. of History, International and Social Studies

IPPIA continues to seek collaboration and partnerships both local and international as it strives to consolidate its base in terms of sustainable resource mobilization, capacity, research, projects and programs implementation in an on-going process of the Institute’s benchmarking of its quality outputs.
For sustainability, the Institute shall mobilize resources from various sources in accordance with projects and programmes offered. These shall include but not limited to:-

1. Tuition fees levied from proposed programmes
2. Short to long term consultancies for training and research
3. Grants from foundations and corporations
4. Government (regional, national, counties, other levels as stipulated by country specific framework or constitutions)
5. Conferences/conventions/workshops/seminars etc.
6. Sale of publications/periodicals
7. Annual subscriptions from members
8. Commissioned or initiated research/projects/programmes
9. Project; formulation, implementation, supervision or/and evaluation
10. Student study trips

4. STRUCTURE OF THE INSTITUTE
The Institute shall be comprised of the Institute Director, Research Associates and Visiting Research Fellows, supported by a Programme Administrator, Office Assistant and Research Assistants as depicted below:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Institute Director

• The Director shall serve as the link person between the institute, its stakeholders and the University Management. The Director oversees the administrative and programme activities.

Research Associates

• There shall be Research Associates drawn from faculty as so determined from time to time. Together with the Director, the Research Associates shall be responsible for the implementation of the mandate of the institute. Each research fellow shall be in charge of a specific area of operation/interest. H/She shall be expected to mentor upcoming research assistants and/or internship students. Time dedication will be governed by seasonal task allocation.

Visiting Research Fellows

• To enrich and bench-mark the work of the Institute, Visiting Research Fellows shall be hosted from likeminded institutions, both local and overseas.

Programme Administrator

• The Programme Administrator shall be responsible or coordination of all aspects of the Institute and serve as the focal point on all administrative matters of the institute and scheduling of all activities. This is a full time position, and the holder of this office should possess a Master’s degree in a relevant field. The position shall be resourced competitively.

Office Assistants

• The Office Assistants, who shall be competitively hired, will be responsible for clerical matters and front office duties of the Institute. These too shall be fulltime positions and the incumbents will be responsible for everyday running of the Institute.

Research Assistants/Interns

• The Institute shall provide mentoring and internship opportunities for research faculty and students. They shall be assigned to specific associate director/research fellows in the actualization of this goal.

This organogram shall be open-ended and thus, capable of accommodating innovations.

• Prof. Martin Njoroge, Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) (mcnjoroge@usiu.ac.ke)
• Dr. Moses Onyango (onyangom@usiu.ac.ke)
• Willsmith Ngare (ngarewillsmith@gmail.com)