KASYP Batch 12 - 3rd Training Module - Regionalprogramm Politikdialog Asien
The core topic for 12.3, State of Local Governance and Development in Asia: A Regional Perspective was delivered by Dr Marcelin Pandin, ASPAC Adviser of United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific. Dr Marcelin Pandin not only delivered and shared his experience of the importance of urban development, but he also prepared questions to engage the participants. Through his well-designed session, the participants shared the issues they faced such as the political issues and the lack of foresight in urban development. Overall, the session was well received as the participants were engaged and learnt from each other’s sharing.
Meanwhile, elective topics covered Malaysia’s local politics and local development, and topics on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and gender. Penang Institute, KAS PDA’s local partner, delivered two elective topics on Malaysia – The Politics of Federalism in Malaysia and Local Government and Development/Local Politics in Penang. They were delivered by Dato’ Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Executive Director of Penang Institute, and Ms Ong Siou Woon, Chief Operating Officer of Penang Institute. These two sessions provided the historical context necessary to understand Malaysia’s politics and its impacts on local development for participants who were not familiar with Malaysia. The session on Malaysian Politics – 1 Pandemic and 3 Prime Ministers by Ms Miriam Fischer, Resident Representative of KAS Malaysia and Ms Noor Netusha Nusaybab, Project Assistant of KAS Malaysia, further shed light on the current state of democracy in Malaysia and how it was impacted by the pandemic. The exchange between KAS Malaysia and KASYP batch 12 was beneficial to both parties as the engagement strengthened the network between KAS Malaysia, KAS PDA, and the participants.
The other elective topics focused on the SDGs and gender. Localising SDGs and the Role of Local Leaders by Ms Norliza Hashim, Chief Executive, Urbanice Malaysia Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cities and Community Well-Being, highlighted the importance of urban development for achieving the SDGs, especially for cities to manage and adapt to climate change. For gender related topic, we visited the Penang Women’s Development Corporation (PWDC) where Ms Ong Bee Leng, CEO of PWDC, shared on the topic of Role of Gender Responsive and Participatory Budgeting (GRPB) in the Provision of Public Services. Penang is the first state in Malaysia to focus on gender related issues and PWDC successfully navigated the local politics and placed gender-issues on the policy agenda and achieved milestones for their activities.
KASYP collaborated with the United Nations Project Office on Governance and introduce disaster risk management framework to the participants. The simulation workshop, Exercises in Tackling Governance Issues in Local Municipalities – From Public Service Provision to Disaster Risk Management, was conducted in hybrid mode by Ms. Ana Cristina Thorlund, Governance and Public Administration Expert. The session was opened by Mr Bokyun Shim, Head of UNPOG/DPIDG with keynote speaker by Mr Saber Chowdhury, MP of Bangladesh. The two-day hybrid workshop discussed the role of youth politicians in building resilience to systemic risk to make tangible progress to the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development. Ms Ana Thorlund introduced the diagnosis tools for urban resilience and the participants acquired the ability to develop a local urban action plan based on the gaps they identified when they apply the diagnosis tools on the case studies. The hybrid workshop was successfully conducted with KAS PDA staff facilitating the process in Penang while Ms Ana Thorlund deliver the content via Zoom.
For the leadership training component of the programme, Dr. Ryan Guinaran delivered the final session on bridging democratic leadership which is the session on co-creation. Co-creation is about sharing the responsibilities of finding solutions to societal problems with your stakeholders. In order to arrive at effective solutions, innovation through collective action is the key element in problem solving. The process should be guided by the principles of transparency, accountability, participation and resource-sharing. To achieve this, the participants underwent workshop on adaptive leadership, design-thinking and the six thinking hats exercise.
Mr Rey Padit an alumnus of KASYP and Programme Manager for Political Co-operation, KAS PDA shared his learning and experience running as candidate for his local election in Salcedo, Philippines. As a fellow KASYPER and young politician, his sharing session was relatable with the participants.
For participants to complete their entire KASYP training, they will have to submit their modular assignments via the online learning management system. These assignments offer the participants opportunity to apply their learnings and help them in their political career.
