NIGSD holds 1st introductory webinar for African leaderships entitled "The Journey of Excellence for the Egyptian Government"

- Under the auspice of H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, the first introductory webinar was held for the leaders of the African continent under the title "The Journey of Excellence for the Egyptian Government", in cooperation with the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development.The webinar witnessed the attendance of Engineer Khaled Mostafa, General Supervisor of the Egypt Award for Government Excellence; it was moderated by Dr. Dmitry Bouzidayev, Head of the United Nations Capital Development Fund Office in Uganda.
Egypt’s Minister of Planning Dr. Hala El-Said said that the goal to be achieved through the Egypt Award for Government Excellence is to work to spread the culture of excellence and quality within the administrative apparatus.She added that Egypt Award for Government Excellence aims to support institutional competitiveness and to work in a team spirit while making a shift in institutional performance and developing and developing human capabilities.During the symposium, Mr. Khaled Mustafa explained that the “Egypt Government Excellence Award” was launched in 2018 under the patronage of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to reach efficient and effective governmental administrative entities that apply the concepts of governance.Mustafa pointed out that the main objective of this annual award is to encourage the spirit of competition and a culture of excellence at the level of institutions and individuals by promoting the spirit of innovation and creativity.Mostafa said that the Egypt Government Excellence Award is based on several pillars, most notably transparency and the efficiency of institutions, which depend on achieving quality, excellence, and efficiency within institutions, in addition to the pillar of institutional development, government services development, and capacity building.On the vision of Egypt’s Award for Government Excellence, Mustafa explained that the vision lies in reaching distinguished government institutions and bodies in all aspects of performance to improve the quality of life for the Egyptian citizen and to enhance the leadership and competitiveness of the Egyptian state.Regarding the message of the Egypt Award for Government Excellence, Mostafa indicated that the award seeks to build capacity and the culture of excellence between government institutions and stakeholders to achieve the quality of life.He added that the message also aims to enhance leadership and competitiveness for Egypt through active participation in shaping an ecosystem that achieves sustainability of performance excellence and shed light on best practices that support innovation to change the future.Mustafa noted that the award relies on a set of values represented in transparency, which seeks to uncover all necessary procedures and enhance accountability and governance for all procedures, in addition to enhancing the value of cooperation and working as a team with clear goals and results through an understandable work system.Mustafa indicated that the state aims to support excellence in the Egyptian society, shed light on successful examples of institutions and individuals in the government sector, and build a new institutional model that applies the concepts of governance and sustainability in the state's administrative apparatus.The General Supervisor of the Egypt Awards for Government Excellence added that the award is divided into two main categories, and into 7 sub-categories, the first category is "Institutional Excellence Awards” that contains the Distinguished Governmental Institution Award, the Excellence in Providing Government Services Award, the Governmental Websites Award, the Award Creativity and institutional innovation.The Individual Excellence Awards include the Distinguished Leadership Award, Distinguished Employee, and Distinguished Work Team.On the institutional excellence awards, Mr. Khaled Mustafa indicated that it supports the standards of the government excellence system and the development of government programs, and the institutional excellence leadership mechanism to enable institutions to understand, develop and adapt to change.It also focuses on the philosophy of improvement and development to achieve distinguished government performance, achieve better citizen satisfaction, and keep pace with the best international practices in the innovation system.The Individual Excellence Awards encourage competition and excellence at the leadership level in government, honor distinguished leaders, and motivate everyone to raise performance levels and follow quality and excellence standards.Mustafa added that the award takes into account the different leadership levels and roles, with a focus on leadership fundamentals in planning, leadership, and anticipating the future.Concerning the Innovation and Creativity Award, Mustafa pointed out that it aims to encourage ministries and government institutions to adopt creativity in their departments, operations, activities, and services.He also explained that the award focuses on evaluating the best creative idea that contributes to solving an administrative problem within government agencies scientifically and soundly while reducing the timing and procedures of the work cycle.
The symposium was attended by 60 leaders and officials from ministries representing 20 African countries: Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, Liberia, Gambia, Niger, South Sudan, Chad, Congo, Zambia, Morocco, Lesotho, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Togo, and Senegal.It witnessed a great response and interaction by representatives of African countries.The attendees asked a variety of questions about the objectives of the Excellence Award and the target groups, the return on the employee, and the country from this award.The questions also included inquiries about the conditions, criteria of each award, and questions about the resident teams and the conditions that must be met by them.