1bOyPlb

the global magazine from Cardno’s Emerging Markets Division 

edition 13 

WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT

Editorial 

I am advised there is an old African proverb that 

claims it takes a whole village to raise a child. 

In the global village of the 21st century, 

collaboration remains crucial to overcoming the 

challenges faced by developing countries. 

A whole-of-government approach is required 

to solve complex issues and allow stakeholders 

to tap into an extensive range of ideas, 

knowledge and expertise. 

It also ensures better outcomes throughout 

entire communities, helping with job creation, 

education and training, health improvements, 

as well as sustainable and effective economic 

growth. 

In this issue of Cardno Connect, we explore a 

number of projects where collective decisionmaking 

between various government agencies, 

aid organisations, healthcare providers, 

religious groups and private companies is 

crucial to success. 

The stories cover a range of topics, including 

fighting disease, vocational education, access 

to legal representation, people-trafficking, 

travel, trade and investment in large-scale 

projects. 

Cardno plays a key role in fostering and 

facilitating partnerships at all levels of 

government and within the private sector, 

focusing on policy development, program 

management and service delivery. 

Our global team works diligently across a 

number of market areas and our projects 

are staffed with a combination of local and 

international experts and professionals. 

We also provide many additional services to 

those outlined in this issue. These include the 

development of roads and bridges, water and 

wastewater infrastructure, as well as power 

and energy solutions across the globe. 

I’d particularly like to acknowledge Cardno’s 

Emerging Markets team for their innovative 

contributions to delivering lasting solutions for 

sustainable growth in developing countries. 

I hope you enjoy the issue. 

Andrew Buckley 

Managing Director and CEO, Cardno 

The search for a more comprehensive or 

integrated approach to resolving the most 

pressing global concerns should be understood 

in the context of an increasingly complex and 

interdependent international development 

system. In recent decades, the scope of issues 

facing the international community has often 

been of such a scale that no single agency, 

government or international organization could 

confront them single-handedly. 

In response, a wide range of organisations— 

governmental and non-governmental, regional 

and international—have developed specialised 

capacities aimed at managing different aspects 

of these issues. Together, they are working 

to respond with a broad range of interlinked 

initiatives. 

The rationale for an established wholeof-government 

approach is greater 

effectiveness. It is driven by the assumption 

that a government’s domestic and foreign 

engagements will have a more meaningful 

and sustainable impact when the various 

government entities involved pursue a 

common strategy, have a shared understanding 

of the problem, a common theory of change, 

and an agreed-upon plan of action. 

Along these lines, we take this opportunity to 

highlight Cardno’s commitment to promoting 

the need for coherence, cooperation, and 

coordination across all sectors of international 

development. 

In this issue of Cardno Connect, we showcase 

economic reform in Serbia, government 

transparency in Indonesia, and sustainable 

multi-sector tourism in Namibia. We also 

explore policy reform in Papua New Guinea, 

private sector development in South Africa and 

vocational training in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 

among other stories. 

I sincerely hope you enjoy this engaging issue 

of Cardno Connect. I hope it helps to foster 

dialogue and actions to understand that the 

greater the coherence achieved among the 

different parts of the international development 

system, the more meaningful, effective and 

sustainable the overall impact is likely to be. 

Jean-François Floury 

General Manager, Emerging Markets Division 

ii

Cardno Connect 

edition 13 | quarter four | 2013 

WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT 

This edition and past editions of Cardno Connect 

are available from our website: 

www.cardno.com/emergingmarkets 

Please send enquiries or comments to: 

cardnoconnect@cardno.com 

Copyright for photos is held by Cardno unless 

otherwise credited. 

All material in Cardno Connect is subject to 

copyright and may not be reproduced in part or 

in whole without written permission from the 

publishers. © 2013. All rights reserved. 

Participants in a course in Accra, Ghana 

learn the correct use and dosage of 

effective medication during three days of 

training. With Global Fund support, more 

than 7800 pharmacists and chemists who 

sell anti-malarial drugs in Ghana received 

training through courses like this between 

2005 and 2011. 

Copyright: The Global Fund / 

Nana Kofi Acquah 

Editorial and production 

Helen Cumming, Desktop Publisher 

Jean-François Floury, Strategic Adviser 

Kathy Franklin, Copy Editor 

Carolina Ravinskas, Managing Editor 

In this issue 

3 Helping Kenya Meet its Millennium 

Development Goals 

Elisabeta Pop 

6 Transnational Cooperation 

to Combat Trafficking in Persons 

Samiha Barkat 

8 US Commits to HIV Response in 

Rwanda through 

Whole-of-Government Approach 

Vance Whitfield 

11 Africa Inclusive Industries 

Programme 

Eldana Djumalieva 

13 E-Public Launch Improves Local 

Government Information-Sharing and 

Civic Engagement 

Aloysius Wiratmo 

21 Educating Future Leaders and 

Building Human Resource Capacity 

in Timor-Leste 

Fiona Hamilton 

22 Modern Vocational Education 

Training Councils 

Jasenka Kratovic 

24 Improving Access to Justice 

in Papua New Guinea 

Eliza Hovey 

26 Joining Forces to Fight HIV and AIDS, 

TB and Malaria 

Thomas Ingvoldstad 

28 NoticeBoard 

14 Supporting the First Adventure Travel 

World Summit in Africa 

Leila Calnan and Andriy Shevtsov 

18 Improving Government Management 

and Coordination to Achieve Reforms 

Joe Lowther 

1 

1

Helping Kenya Meet its 

Millennium Development Goals 

Taking the first steps towards joint 

programming and the implementation of 

Kenya’s Second Medium-Term Plan 

Elisabeta Pop 

In response to the Busan high-level forum agreements, the European Union (EU) 

has pledged to support the aid effectiveness agenda through joint programming. 

Since April 2013, Cardno has supported this process in Kenya in consortium with 

the French company AETS to help the EU and member states maximise their 

contribution to the implementation of Kenya’s development plans. 

The strategic development framework in Kenya 

Since 2004, Kenya has received aid at a level between 4–6 percent of its gross 

national income, constituting around 20 percent of central government expenditure, 

and around 40 percent of the development budget. While this does not make 

Kenya an aid-dependent country, it is clear that aid remains very important to its 

development. Total aid provided to Kenya is close to US$2.5 billion, with the EU 

having provided one third, followed closely by the US Government. Improving the 

effectiveness of EU support could improve effectiveness overall, as well as assist in 

moving the aid effectiveness agenda forward in Kenya as a whole. 

Kenya has a consistent set of long-term over-arching development plans, including 

Kenya Vision 2030 (launched in late 2007), which is aimed at creating a newlyindustrialised, 

middle-income Kenya. The objective is to provide a high quality of 

life for all Kenyan citizens in a clean and secure environment, whilst also aspiring 

to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Kenya Vision 2030 is based 

on economic, social, and political pillars and a series of cross-cutting sectors, 

implemented through medium-term plans. The first medium-term plan covers the 

period 2008–2013, and the next one (recently finalised) covers the period 2013–2017. 

These five-year rolling plans have been formulated by the Government of Kenya 

(GoK) in a participatory manner, involving development partners. A results framework 

is in place for the plans and annual progress reports have been produced. 

Moving towards joint programming 

Cardno consultants have been assisting the EU Delegation to Kenya, as well as 

interested member states, in making progress on the following three components of 

joint programming in the context of the second medium-term plan: 

> > a joint analysis of and joint response to identified priority sectors of intervention; 

> > an in-country division of labour for participating development partners, including 

figures on the financial allocations per sector and partner; and 

Opposite: Woman selling grains at the market in the town of Meru, which is the business and agricultural 

centre for north-eastern Kenya. Almost two percent of EU development partner support between 

2011 and 2012 was trade-related. 

3

Within the framework of a water project supported by an EU member state, a local farmers’ 

cooperative was established in Meru region to produce certified organic products, including 

carcade (a tropical flower that is often made into tea). 

Cows in Gatunga, Tharaka district—one of the districts that has benefitted from EU 

member state aid related to rural development in semi-arid areas. 

> > the gradual alignment of donor cooperation 

cycles with the medium-term plan 

timeline for preparation, implementation 

and evaluation. 

Consultations held with EU development 

partners indicate that eight bilateral donors – 

including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, 

Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK 

– as well as EU institutions – such as the EU 

Delegation, European Investment Bank, and 

the Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid 

and Civil Protection – have shown interest in 

participating in joint programming. Meanwhile, 

countries with small and primarily humanitarian 

aid-focused programs – such as Belgium, 

Austria and Norway – are less interested. 

Switzerland is interested in principle, but has 

not yet decided to join. Other key non-EU 

development partners – in particular the African 

Development Bank, United States Agency for 

International Development, World Bank and 

the Australian Government – are also interested 

in following the process and identifying 

opportunities for possible complementarity and 

joint programs. 

The aid effectiveness agenda in Kenya 

Cardno assessed the implementation of 

Kenya’s first medium-term plan during a project 

mission in April and May of 2013. The results 

show that positive achievements have been 

made in the areas of macro-economic stability, 

overall economic development, education, 

health and – to a certain extent – governance. 

However, there have been disappointing 

developments in other areas, such as an 

increase in corruption, a deteriorating business 

climate, excessive population growth, slow 

poverty reduction, continued environmental 

degradation, and lack of observation of 

land rights. 

The first medium-term plan did not include a 

specific chapter on aid effectiveness, which 

was addressed in the Kenya Joint Assistance 

Strategy (endorsed one year earlier in 2007 by 

the EU and nine member states). In spite of the 

Strategy’s recommendations for alignment and 

harmonisation of donor practices, as well as a 

commitment to improve the division of labour 

for participating development partners, so far, 

the majority of aid provided to Kenya has not 

been implemented through GoK’s channels, 

and aid in general is still very fragmented. 

This situation led the development partners 

and GoK to decide, in November 2012, that 

a section on aid effectiveness would be 

included in the second medium-term plan. As 

part of that exercise, the definition of sectors 

between Kenya Vision 2030 and the second 

medium-term plan would be harmonised; 

implementation plans would be agreed 

between development partners and GoK; 

and development partners would limit their 

interventions to fewer sectors or projects. 

In June 2013, Cardno analysed aid disbursed 

to Kenya in 2011 and 2012, mapping EU and 

member state support across sectors and 

thematic areas. This analysis confirmed that: 

> > only a third of the projects reviewed were 

being implemented through GoK; 

> > only 15 percent of the programs reviewed 

were being implemented using GoK 

systems (partially because relevant GoK 

sector programs function poorly); 

> > aid was being distributed to more than 380 

programs without a common framework 

that would promote complementarity and 

avoid duplication; and 

> > some key underperforming areas under the 

first medium-term plan did not receive EU 

support. 

The fact that most EU aid is currently 

concentrated in approximately half of all 

sectors clearly indicates that increasing the 

effectiveness of these sector programs could 

make a real and positive difference to the 

overall effectiveness of aid in a relatively short 

period of time. 

France, the UK, and Germany are the largest 

bilateral EU development partners, and the 

joint weight of the EU institutions is also 

relevant, as half of EU support comes in the 

form of soft loans (that is to say loans with 

below-market rates of interest). This should be 

taken into account by future joint programming 

planners, considering that the relative weight of 

loans and grants may change as Kenya slowly 

reduces its aid dependency and soft loans 

become more prominent. 

Concrete steps 

for a successful process 

Based on the above findings, Cardno drafted 

a preliminary joint programming roadmap for 

the process, covering a four-year planning 

cycle; this roadmap was discussed with the 

EU and member states during a workshop 

in September 2013. The roadmap has two 

components: 

> > The first relates to the joint programming 

process itself, the division of labour, 

4

Papaya is grown widely in Kenya on small-holdings as a domestic fruit and small-scale cash crop. Creation of irrigation 

systems through water projects funded by EU development partners has supported papaya cultivation. 

a common results framework, a 

risk management plan, and a joint 

communication strategy; 

> > The second addresses the means by 

which the EU and development partners 

can improve aid effectiveness and the 

functionality of programs. 

In general, it is expected that the EU and other 

development partners will strengthen their 

support for the work on aid effectiveness 

being carried out by GoK and that they will 

coordinate their actions across the sectors in 

which their aid is concentrated. This will result 

in increased use of Kenyan systems, improved 

alignment and harmonisation, better sector 

outcomes, and provision of more effective aid 

in the targeted sectors. The EU and member 

states agree that the division of labour should 

be implemented through a gradual process that 

combines new forms of EU joint programming 

collaboration as on-going interventions run 

their course. Hence, the division of labour can 

be planned in a short-term phase (covering this 

first joint programming exercise, corresponding 

to the second medium-term plan cycle), and a 

longer-term phase (with a 10-year perspective). 

This phased approach can further rationalise 

EU development cooperation, providing the 

flexibility needed to account for changing 

circumstances and development needs in 

Kenya. 

The next step consists of preparing a joint EU 

response to Kenya’s second medium-term 

plan, involving a Joint Cooperation Strategy 

and a final roadmap. A conclusive workshop 

will be organised in late 2013 to present the 

joint response to the EU and member states, 

the possible non-EU development partners 

involved, and GoK. The document should 

finally be endorsed by the Heads of Mission of 

all participating EU and member states, as well 

as by GoK. 

Based on the findings summarised above, and 

successful examples of such programs in other 

countries (e.g. Ghana, Ethiopia), there is clearly 

a basis for advancing with joint programming 

in Kenya, as long as EU joint programming is 

complementary to the existing aid architecture 

established between development partners 

and GoK. In addition, a clear commitment 

is needed from the EU and development 

partners to support GoK in advancing the 

aid effectiveness agenda in practice. For its 

part, GoK will commit to active involvement 

in the process only if it receives accurate and 

timely information regarding EU and member 

state objectives, as well as the expected 

benefits and general implications of the joint 

programming process. CC 

Elisabeta Pop is the Framework Manager for Cardno 

Emerging Markets, based in Oxford, United Kingdom. 

Aid effectiveness 

The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) 

of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation 

and Development (OECD) launched the Paris 

Declaration in 2005, an international agreement 

to which over one hundred signatories committed 

their countries and organisations to increase 

efforts in five core principles: 

1. Ownership: Developing countries set their own 

strategies for poverty reduction, improve their 

institutions and tackle corruption. 

2. Alignment: Donor countries align behind these 

objectives and use local systems. 

3. Harmonisation: Donor countries coordinate, 

simplify procedures and share information to 

avoid duplication and reduce transaction costs. 

4. Results: Developing countries and donors shift 

focus toward development results, and results 

are measured. 

5. Mutual accountability: Donors and partners are 

accountable for development results. 

The Accra Agenda for Action was drawn up by 

DAC in 2008 to: take stock of progress and set the 

agenda for accelerated advancement towards the 

Paris targets; and build on the commitments agreed 

in the Paris Declaration. In particular, it defines 

the process of division of labour through which aid 

effectiveness is increased by reducing duplication 

and fragmentation of initiatives, and improving 

complementarity of donors’ initiatives. 

The Busan Partnership for Effective 

Development Cooperation was signed at the 

Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness 

in 2011, with the aim of reviewing progress 

on implementing the principles of the Paris 

Declaration. 

5

ASEAN-endorsed ARTIP training materials 

Transnational Cooperation 

to Combat Trafficking in Persons 

Cardno is implementing the Australian Government’s new regional antitrafficking 

initiative, which works with the Association of South East Asian 

Nations and partner countries to strengthen cross-border collaboration 

between governments in the battle against human trafficking. 

Samiha Barkat 

Thousands of men, women and children are 

trafficked each year for sexual and labour 

exploitation. Trafficking was previously 

portrayed as only a sexual exploitation issue, 

but more people today are being trafficked for 

forced labour in factories, sweatshops, and 

farms, as well as for domestic servitude. 

Victims of human trafficking are denied basic 

dignity and human rights and are often not 

able to escape their situation. Further, there is 

a real risk that they might find themselves in 

vulnerable positions without proper travel and 

work documentation and may be prosecuted 

as illegal migrants. 

An effective criminal justice system has 

an important role to play in the prevention 

of human trafficking and the protection of 

its victims. 

Traffickers operate with a high level of impunity 

in many countries. In addition, victims often 

aren’t able to access legal aid, counselling 

and welfare services, and may not even be 

aware of their rights. It is therefore critical that 

there be significant cooperation within and 

across countries—between governments, 

non-government organisations, and donors— 

to fight human trafficking. This will ensure a 

holistic and coordinated response to trafficking 

in persons (TIP) that emphasises prevention, 

prosecution, protection and policy. 

Trafficking is usually transnational in nature. 

Therefore, effective mechanisms and a 

legal basis for cooperation across national 

borders need to be strengthened. Crossborder 

coordination and cooperation between 

governments is imperative so that if a victim is 

trafficked, say from Cambodia to Thailand, law 

enforcement authorities (specialist and general 

law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges) in 

both countries are able to officially collaborate 

to build a case against the offenders and 

effectively progress that through the criminal 

justice system. 

The Australian Government recently awarded 

Cardno the Australia–Asia Program to 

Combat Trafficking in Persons (AAPTIP), 

which is a five-year (2013–2018) AU$50 

million initiative that aims to reduce the 

incentives and opportunities for trafficking 

in persons in the Association of South East 

6

ARTIP Training Course for judges and prosecutors on the 

Criminal Justice Response to trafficking in persons 

One of the training facilitators at the ARTIP Training Course for judges and 

prosecutors on the Criminal Justice Response to trafficking in persons 

Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. AAPTIP 

focuses on the prosecution pillar of antitrafficking 

at the national and regional levels, 

and builds on the two previous initiatives, Asia 

Regional Cooperation to Prevent People 

Trafficking (ARCPPT; 2003–2006) and Asia 

Regional Trafficking in Persons (ARTIP; 

2006–2013), also funded by the Australian 

Government, which strengthened the criminal 

justice response to human trafficking in 

Asia. AAPTIP’s focus on the prosecutorial 

response to trafficking is helping to ensure 

that traffickers don’t operate with impunity 

and that victims are able to access legal aid, 

counselling and welfare services and give 

evidence in trafficking trials. In successfully 

managing both ARCPPT and ARTIP, Cardno 

assisted the Australian Government program to 

build the capacity of law enforcement officers, 

prosecutors and judges, and set international 

standards for the basic building blocks of a 

functioning criminal justice system. 

On AAPTIP, Cardno’s key role is to provide 

high-quality, tailored capacity development 

and institutional strengthening support. This 

support will assist the ASEAN Secretariat 

(ASEC), and partner country governments 

of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, 

Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to strengthen 

their criminal justice response to trafficking by: 

enhancing regional and national investigative 

and judicial cooperation on trafficking cases; 

strengthening legislative frameworks; providing 

adequate support for victim–witnesses; 

and expanding the evidence base for policy 

development and decision-making. The 

Program requires effective collaboration and 

partnership between governments, relevant 

national ministries (Ministries of Justice, 

Public Security and Home Affairs), the civil 

society and other regional bodies, such as 

ASEAN, working on TIP issues to achieve this 

common goal. 

Under Cardno’s management, ARTIP worked 

with counterparts to identify obstacles to 

cross-border cooperation. We found that 

there was strong political will for improving 

such cooperation and two ASEAN countries 

(Singapore and Malaysia) were willing to 

push this further. ARTIP worked with the 

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime 

to organise an ASEAN workshop, Criminal 

Justice Responses to TIP: International 

Legal Cooperation, which brought together 

officials from all 10 ASEAN Member States 

with international experts and major policy 

figures, including the UN Special Rapporteur 

and the US TIP Ambassador. This resulted 

in agreement on a set of principles for 

cooperation and a request to develop an 

ASEAN Training Program on International 

Legal Cooperation. This will continue to be a 

major focus of AAPTIP. As the Implementation 

Service Provider for AAPTIP, Cardno will 

support the program in building on the 

achievements and lessons learned from ARTIP, 

thereby bridging the cross-border cooperation 

gap in country response to TIP. 

A new area of work on AAPTIP will be to 

improve the management of victim–witnesses 

at all stages of the criminal justice process. 

This will involve a significant commitment to 

building formal partnerships and arrangements 

between governments, justice agencies, 

and the civil society responsible for providing 

victim–witness support services. AAPTIP 

national staff and regional advisers will 

coordinate and promote dialogue at the 

national and regional levels to ensure 

harmonisation of key contributions of victim– 

witness support services. 

Human trafficking, the criminal and illegal 

trading of human beings for the purpose 

of exploitation and financial gain, is a global 

phenomenon affecting women, men and 

children. The nature and scope of human 

trafficking is evolving and new trends are 

constantly emerging (e.g. organ trafficking). 

Cardno continues to keep abreast of 

the latest developments in this field and 

our Program advisers, both national and 

international, provide an invaluable resource 

for governments, NGOs and others to combat 

human trafficking. We are proud to have a 

continued role in supporting the Australian 

Government to build sustainable capacity 

of criminal justice systems across the 

ASEAN region. CC 

Samiha Barkat is a Consultant for Cardno, based in 

Melbourne, Australia. 

7

Health clinician enters mother’s medical data using electronic medical 

record software. Photos: Roger Solomons, Jembi Health Systems 

Rwanda’s Rwamagana District Ruhunda Health Centre is operating within 

the newly installed Open Health Information Exchange (OpenHIE) system. 

US Commits to HIV Response in Rwanda through 

Whole-of-Government Approach 

Strengthening Rwanda’s national health system through health informatics 

Vance Whitfield 

The Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) and other US Government agencies such as the 

US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) are currently employing a whole-of-government framework—a collaborative, 

intragovernmental approach—to address major public health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS 

Relief (PEPFAR) was created in 2003 to 

provide an emergency response to the 

global AIDS epidemic, earmarking billions 

of US foreign aid dollars annually to combat 

the disease. In 2009, PEPFAR rolled out 

its Phase II, which targeted assistance to 

countries building a long-term sustainable 

response to HIV and AIDS. 

A key element of PEPFAR’s Phase II relies on 

shared responsibility that is inherent within the 

whole-of-government approach—collaboration 

and commitment between the US Government 

and partner countries, as well as key 

stakeholders from civil society, faith-based 

organisations, local health centres, private 

sector foundations, down to beneficiaries such 

as people living with HIV and AIDS. Phase II 

of PEPFAR encompasses investing in the 

principle of ‘country ownership’—motivating 

countries to lead, manage, coordinate and 

(increasingly, over time) finance the efforts 

needed to effectively combat HIV and AIDS. 

Cardno’s Public-Private Partnerships 

in PEPFAR Countries Project 

Another key component of the whole-ofgovernment 

framework is the private sector. 

In particular, PEPFAR relies on OGAC’s Private 

Sector Engagement Team to develop and 

implement private sector mobilisation through 

public-private partnerships (PPPs). The goal 

of these PPPs is to maximise the efficiency of 

US funding by leveraging the resources and 

expertise of the private sector. In 2009, CDC 

awarded Cardno a cooperative agreement 

to manage a portfolio of global health PPPs. 

CDC sought Cardno’s technical expertise to 

ensure that public and private contributions 

to PEPFAR’s PPPs were efficiently managed 

and administered in target countries. The 

CDC’s Public-Private Partnerships in 

PEPFAR Countries Project (CDC P4) provides 

specialised support to these PPPs, including 

fund management, technical support for 

monitoring and evaluation, PPP development 

and management, strategic communications, 

and knowledge management. 

The Open Health Information Exchange 

(OpenHIE), one of the PPPs managed by 

Cardno under CDC P4, has been particularly 

successful in using a whole-of-government 

approach to achieve its strategic objectives. 

Formerly known as the Health Informatics PPP, 

the OpenHIE partnership aims to reinforce 

country-led processes to build interoperable 

and sustainable health information systems 

in low-resource settings, with the ultimate 

goal of improving access to quality health 

care. In 2011, OpenHIE selected Rwanda 

8

Health centre worker operates the web-based open 

source shared health records database. 

to pilot a suite of eHealth applications under 

the partnership’s Rwanda Health Enterprise 

Architecture (RHEA) project. 

Although pregnancy and birth-related disease 

and deaths in Rwanda have been reduced in 

recent years, the Government of Rwanda and 

its US counterparts saw a need to improve 

the care and treatment available to mothers 

and infants. In 2012, for every 100,000 live 

births, 340 Rwandan mothers died. According 

to UNAIDS, in 2012, Rwanda registered 1000 

new HIV infections among children, and only 

75% of all infants born to an HIV-positive 

mother were tested for HIV within the first two 

months of life. 

As part of an effort to reduce these rates, the 

RHEA project established a strong relationship 

with the Rwandan Ministry of Health’s eHealth 

Coordination Unit and local government-run 

care and treatment sites for mothers and 

children. The RHEA project was originally 

funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and 

International Development Research Centre, 

and draws its strength from an array of 

partners that support its operations. These 

partners include Rwanda’s Ministry of Health 

(MoH), CDC, the World Health Organization 

(WHO), OGAC, and several non-governmental 

organisations such as Jembi Health Systems, 

Regenstrief Institute, InSTEDD, and 

OpenMRS. Through the RHEA project, the 

Rwanda Health Information Exchange (RHIE) 

was created. 

RHIE is a web-based open source platform 

that links patients, health care providers, and 

health care facility registries to a single shared 

health record repository on an interoperable 

platform with universally recognised 

definitions and activities. Once installed, it 

can be accessed from various point-of-care 

applications. Community health centres will be 

able to verify patient identity, greatly improving 

the accuracy of obstetrical care and treatment. 

The RHIE will allow both doctors and nurses to 

access more reliable patient records, enabling 

them to increase the chances of preventing 

mother-to-child transmission of HIV. RHIE is 

currently being piloted by the MoH, and will 

be installed in 14 local health centres and one 

hospital across two districts in Rwanda during 

the pilot phase (2011–2014). Following the 

pilot, the vision is for MoH to adopt RHIE on a 

national level, thus promoting sustainability and 

country ownership. 

As of October 2013, seven health centres 

in Rwamagana District have already been 

connected to the health information exchange, 

and the impact has already been noted 

in community health facilities. Solomon 

Uyisenga, Director of Antenatal Care at the 

Ruhunda Health Center, has observed a 

marked improvement in the efficiency of 

service delivery to patients. The now-readilyaccessible 

electronic health records are a 

significant change from the less efficient— 

often untraceable—paper records that were 

previously used. The new system helps nurses 

and doctors access a patient’s record through 

a quick search or by scanning a barcode. 

Mr Uyisenga also notes that the new system 

will enhance the clinic’s ability to project the 

number of patients that can be expected in the 

clinic on a particular date. 

In Rwanda and other PEPFAR-targeted 

countries, Cardno will continue to play a 

pivotal role in strengthening and extending 

PEPFAR’s whole-of-government framework 

to allow more people to benefit, due to the 

additional resources brought to partnerships 

by the private sector. Doing so can increase 

efficiency, increase effectiveness and 

harness the comparative advantages of all 

partners. This approach will also continue to 

be a fundamental tool to build the capacity 

of local country partners and ensure country 

ownership and shared responsibility among 

multiple partners. CC 

Vance Whitfield is the Senior Program Associate / 

Communications Specialist for the CDC’s Public-Private 

Partnerships in PEPFAR Countries Project (CDC P4), based 

in Washington, DC 

The Open Health Information Exchange (OpenHIE), a PPP 

managed by Cardno, has been particularly successful in using a 

whole-of -government approach to achieve its strategic objectives. As 

part of this effort, the [initiative] established a strong relationship between 

the Rwandan Ministry of Health’s eHealth Coordination Unit and the local 

government-run care and treatment sites for mothers and children. 

9

Africa Inclusive Industries Programme 

Working in partnership with governments at all levels 

Eldana Djumalieva 

Cardno is assisting the African Development Bank (AfDB) in promoting 

greater inclusiveness around its private sector investments, by assuring 

a ‘spill over effect’ on the local economies of its large industrial projects 

in oil, gas, mining, and agri-business. 

AfDB strives to create sustainable livelihoods 

by ameliorating living conditions, social 

capital and cohesion and social opportunities 

that expand beyond direct, project-specific 

employment. Through these project objectives, 

the implementation effort will include review 

and support of community development 

initiatives, which target the construction and / or 

rehabilitation of socio-economic infrastructure, 

improvements in the quality and outreach of social 

services, and enhancements in the livelihoods 

(in the formal and informal sectors) throughout 

surrounding communities. 

Cardno Emerging Markets, through its UK office, 

manages the implementation of the Inclusive 

Industries Programme (IIP)—funded by the 

AfDB and the Fund for African Private Sector 

Assistance—which is a large and ambitious 

program spanning six countries in Africa. We have 

teams in Ethiopia, Gabon, Liberia, Mozambique, 

Nigeria, and South Africa, working on the design of 

tailored pilot projects that would foster the linkages 

between small local businesses and large industrial 

enterprises. Linkages are regarded as a major 

vehicle for promoting inclusive growth, allowing 

small businesses to upgrade their technology and 

managerial know-how, achieving higher production 

efficiency, job creation, and income generation. 

Private sector development is recognised as 

an important driver of economic growth and a 

fundamental ingredient in poverty alleviation. Our 

work therefore intrinsinctly involves consultations 

and work with all levels of government. 

For example, in one of the six IIP countries, South 

Africa—where the pilot SME linkage program 

is being designed around a project of mining, 

processing and smelting of manganese ore—our 

team works in close consultation with the national, 

provincial, and local governments in order to ensure 

overall project objectives of socio-economic benefit. 

National government 

The mining project’s operations are carried out 

against the backdrop of the approved national 

Opposite: Cardno expert inspecting community assets; part of the Inclusive Industries Programme agri-business project in Liberia. 

11

David Burton, Area Manager for Cardno Emerging Markets Europe, Middle East and Africa, 

planting a tree in Mozambique as part of an IIP forestry project. 

Department of Mineral Resources Social 

and Labour Plan, which aligns the mining 

project development goals with the 

government’s socio-economic objectives. 

This planning document forms part of the 

overall environment within which the pilot 

SME linkage program is to be designed and 

will operate. 

Provincial government 

The direction and focus of the IIP pilot 

project will be influenced by the economic 

strategy and development imperatives 

of the provinces where it will be 

implemented. The strategy and objectives 

are outlined in a Provincial Growth and 

Development Strategy. 

Local municipalities 

South African municipalities have a 

constitutional mandate for service delivery 

and development, and their Integrated 

Development Plans play an integral part 

in prioritising local developmental needs. 

In view of this, our team has conducted 

detailed discussions with the district 

municipality and local municipalities that are 

relevant to this pilot. 

Tribal authorities 

Although their role in relation to 

development is not constitutionally 

delineated, tribal authorities play an 

important developmental role—especially in 

rural areas such as the IIP regions of focus. 

Potential land for development and business 

opportunities falls under the jurisdiction of 

the tribal authority, which grants a Permit To 

Occupy. Our team will continue to work in 

close consultation and collaboration with the 

tribal authorities. 

Ultimately, the pilot SME linkage program 

will encompass the whole-of-government 

approach, involving the provincial and 

local governments to make sure that the 

project design integrates mechanisms for 

community participation, ownership, and 

oversight—with the overarching objective 

of ensuring the social acceptability and 

sustainability of the proposed interventions 

over the long term. CC 

Eldana Djumalieva is a Senior Manager for Cardno 

Emerging Markets, based in Oxford, United Kingdom 

12

Women from the Perempuan Maju Bersama (Women Grow Together) community centre in West Nusa Tenggara receive birth certificates for 

their children as a result of public information requests to the local government civil registry office. Photo: Nurjannah for AIPD 

E-Public Launch Improves Local Government 

Information-Sharing and Civic Engagement 

Province of West Nusa Tenggara leads the way to greater freedom of 

information in Indonesia 

Aloysius Wiratmo 

On 17 September 2013, just a few hours after 

his inauguration as the re-elected governor of 

West Nusa Tenggara Province, Dr H.M. Zainul 

Majdi launched E-Public, an online information 

and documentation management system. 

E-Public is an Information Communications 

Technology tool developed by PATTIRO 

(Centre for Regional Information and Studies), 

with funding from the Australian Governmentfunded 

Australia–Indonesia Partnership 

for Decentralisation (AIPD), managed by 

Cardno. E-Public enables local governments 

to collaboratively share information internally 

and respond to information requests from 

local communities. 

Four local government departments 

(Education, Health, Planning, and 

Communication) in West Nusa Tenggara have 

successfully applied this tool as a pilot. As 

one of the first actions of his second term in 

office, Governor Majdi will roll the system out 

to the rest of his departments. Subsequently, 

the national Ministry of Home Affairs plans to 

roll out the system nationally, to accelerate the 

functioning of public information services by 

government agencies at the sub-national level. 

E-Public is a first in Indonesia. It strengthens 

the public information system by encouraging 

local government officials to provide public 

information in a quick, accurate, and simple 

way as mandated by the 2008 National Law 

No. 14, Public Information Transparency Law. 

Beyond this legal compliance, Governor Majdi 

emphasises the need to see E-Public as a 

benefit to the local community. In his remarks 

at the launching ceremony, he stated, “We 

should not be afraid of public information 

transparency. Aside from our duty to 

implement this law, we have a duty to connect 

to the community and get their inputs to solve 

challenges and problems on the ground”. 

The Governor also expressed his gratitude for 

Australian Government and PATTIRO support 

through the AIPD program for the realisation 

of the E-Public application, which is a priority 

program for his ‘first 99 days’. 

The Australian Government, through the 

AIPD Deputy Program Director, Daniel 

Hunt, appreciated the strong commitment 

of West Nusa Tenggara’s Government to 

the implementation of public information 

transparency. “With this E-Public launch, 

hopefully West Nusa Tenggara will be a 

leading example among local governments in 

Indonesia,” Hunt said. 

Since the Public Information Transparency Law 

was fully implemented in 2010, communities 

have been gradually learning to exercise their 

rights to access public information. These 

actions develop from simple issues citizens 

face daily. For example, a community centre 

called Perempuan Maju Bersama (Women 

Grow Together) asked the local government 

civil registry office for information about the 

procedure to get birth certificates for their 

members’ children. Birth certificates are 

a prerequisite for school registration, but 

certificates can be difficult and expensive to 

obtain. As a result of this public information 

request, twenty children from 13 families 

obtained their birth certificates with ease and 

at a low cost; 57 more families will soon be 

added to this list. 

Another example came from Sigerongan 

village in West Lombok province. The villagers 

disputed the genuine ownership of a piece 

of land classified as government land. They 

requested that the local government asset 

management office provide a status of 

the land. The villagers’ motivation was to 

encourage the local government to properly 

manage this asset for the benefit of the 

local community. 

E-Public, at the end of the day, is an information 

access and transparency tool for both local 

communities and local government agencies. 

Together with other current tools, E-Public can 

enrich a clear two-way communication channel 

between local communities and government 

agencies. Such communication is expected to 

lead to effective citizen participation in public 

policy development and implementation and 

to greater government responsiveness to 

community needs. CC 

Aloysius Wiratmo is the Communications Specialist for 

AIPD based in Jakarta, Indonesia 

13

Supporting the First Adventure Travel 

World Summit in Africa 

Over 650 adventure travel professionals from 

60 countries descend on Namibia 

Leila Calnan and Andriy Shevtsov 

From 26–31 October 2013, more than 650 adventure travel 

professionals from 60 countries gathered in Namibia for the Adventure 

Travel World Summit (ATWS), a five-day international conference aimed 

at promoting sustainable tourism, providing a platform for adventure 

travel operators to network with global partners. 

ATWS Delegates enjoy the sunset in the canyon, hiking up 

the hillsides in the desert outside of Swakopmund, Namibia. 

Photo: Garth Reckers 

14

Organised by the Adventure Travel Trade 

Association (ATTA), a global membership 

organisation of more than 1000 tourism 

businesses around the world, this was the 

first time ATWS was hosted on the African 

continent since the Summit’s inception in 

2005. Similarly to major international sporting 

events, several countries competed to host 

the event, and Namibia was eventually 

selected as the winner for 2013. The 

country’s commitment to conservation and 

the support from the Cardno-implemented 

North American Destination Marketing 

(NADM) Campaign, funded by the Millenium 

Challenge Corporation’s Compact with 

Namibia (MCA‐Namibia), played a major role 

in the ATTA’s decision to host the Summit 

in Namibia. 

Namibia is one of few countries in the 

world with environmental management 

mandated in its Constitution. Nearly half of 

the country—that is, over 350,000km 2 —is 

within a conservation area, managed by local 

communities. ‘Our constitution promotes 

the protection of environment, biodiversity 

and natural resources for current and future 

generations,’ said Namibian Minister of 

Foreign Affairs Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, in 

her speech at the summit. Conservation is 

the main reason over 130,000 tourists visit 

Namibia every year. Due to its conservation 

efforts, Namibia now has the largest 

free-roaming population of black rhino, an 

expanding population of lions, and the biggest 

cheetah population in the world. 

Hosting such a major international tourism 

event in Namibia brings many benefits to the 

country, where tourism is recognised as one 

of the fastest growing and most sustainable 

industries. The income generated through hotel 

accommodations, craft and food sales, media 

placements and private sector sponsorships 

contributes significantly to the economy of the 

country, where more than 300,000 people are 

involved in the tourism sector. It is estimated 

that the long-term benefits from this event to 

Namibia will be worth over US$5 million—not 

including the future streams anticipated from 

sales between Namibian and North American 

tour operators. In his remarks at the summit, 

Shannon Stowell, President of ATTA, said the 

Summit placed Namibia on the world tourism 

map, which will attract new customers to 

Namibia and promote sustainable adventure 

travel and responsible investments into 

the industry. 

In addition to providing critical support in 

preparation of the winning bid to host the 

ATWS in Namibia, Cardno staff served as 

core coordinators of the Secretariat for Team 

Destination Namibia, a multi-agency body 

tasked with preparing for the ATWS, serving 

as the liaison between Team Destination 

Namibia and the ATTA. Coordinating an ATWS 

event is a massive undertaking, requiring new 

levels of public-private partnerships, including 

strengthening the collaboration between 

government agencies and private industry 

counterparts. 

As stated by Eline van der Linden, 

MCA‐Namibia Deputy CEO, ‘I believe we 

collectively managed to capture the adventure 

travel world’s attention and appreciation for 

community-based conservation-driven tourism 

in our beautiful country Namibia. Thank you 

Team Destination Namibia. MCA‐Namibia 

is proud to be associated with ATWS.’ 

Cardno’s NADM Team supported the working 

partnership between the Namibia Tourism 

Board and the Ministry of Environment and 

Tourism, with Namibia’s tourism industry 

associations—including the Hospitality 

Association of Namibia (HAN), Tour and Safari 

Association of Namibia, and numerous private 

tour operators and accommodation providers. 

Supporting and strengthening the public and 

private partners involved in the ATWS has 

been critical to the Summit’s success. Cardno’s 

NADM team supported the public and private 

partners’ joint organising efforts through 

numerous tasks: developing an online booking 

portal for delegates to register; securing private 

industry sponsorships for key Summit events; 

organising a ‘Women in Tourism’ event; 

organising ‘clean-up campaigns’ around the 

country prior to the Summit; targeting and 

inviting key media to the Summit; and many 

other activities. 

Cardno’s work on the Namibia 

NADM Campaign 

Cardno’s North American Destination 

Marketing (NADM) Campaign is a four-year, 

US$5 million MCA-Namibia funded initiative. 

Its goal is to raise awareness of Namibia’s 

natural beauty and tourism offerings and 

to increase North American tourist arrivals 

through a targeted, innovative destination 

marketing campaign. NADM is implementing 

an extensive public relations and media 

outreach campaign aimed at increasing 

awareness of Namibia as a destination in the 

North American press through online, print, 

and broadcast outreach channels. Cardno is 

providing technical assistance and training to 

the Namibia Tourism Board and the Namibia 

tourism industry, developing online marketing 

tools and strengthening business linkages 

between Namibian and North American 

15

Above: As part of the ATWS in Namibia, participants were offered 

over 50 pre-Summit adventures to select from, including mountain 

biking excursions. 

Opposite clockwise from top left: 

Deadvlei in Soussusvlei, Namibia, an entire protected desert 

in the south / central part of Namibia. The region is an iconic 

international tourist destination. 

ATWS opening night dinner in the Namibian desert outside of 

Swakopmund; a spectacular evening with over 900 guests. 

Photo: Chantalle Thygesen 

Communal Conservancy members perform for ATWS delegates 

during the opening night sundowner event in the desert. 

Photo: Kristen Gill. 

Cardno’s marketing efforts to the North American market help 

bring tourists to Namibia – like visitors to the San bushmen, to 

experience their community-based tourism offerings. 

ATWS President Shannon Stowell parachutes in tandem down to 

the Dune Dinner event, bringing champagne to welcome nearly 

1000 delegates. Photo: Martindell 

tourism business partners. To date, NADM 

has trained over 600 Namibian tourism trade 

representatives, secured over 300 major media 

placements, worked with over 9000 media 

representatives, conducted familiarisation trips 

for numerous US and Canadian journalists and 

travel trade representatives, and organised two 

US / Canada road shows for major Namibian 

tour operators. CC 

Leila Calnan is the Team Leader for the MCA-Namibia 

NADM campaign, based in Windhoek, Namibia. Andriy 

Shevtsov is a Senior Development Specialist for Economic 

Growth, with Cardno Emerging Markets, based in 

Washington, DC. 

17

BEP experts provide training on program budgeting. 

Improving Government Management and Coordination 

to Achieve Reforms 

Building the Serbian Government’s management capacity to implement 

economic reforms 

Joe Lowther 

Since the fall of the Milosevic Government in 2000, Serbia has strived to transition to a market 

economy. Much of the effort has involved reforming commercial laws and regulations so that they 

enable private sector growth, and Serbia now has a fairly modern commercial law framework, with 

some notable exceptions. 

But businesses in Serbia still suffer from 

massive red tape, with confusing and costly 

regulations, and a government bureaucracy 

that acts as an obstacle to private sector 

growth rather than an enabler. This is 

reflected in the annual survey of 1000 

Serbian businesses conducted by the 

USAID-funded Serbia Business Enabling 

Project (BEP) implemented by Cardno. The 

most recent survey found that 94 percent 

of respondents are negatively impacted by 

administrative burdens. 

The government is aware of these problems, 

but has not been able to properly address 

them. Many inside and outside the government 

blame ineffective management and inadequate 

human resources for the situation. This not 

only hinders the government’s ability to move 

to a service-oriented approach for its citizens 

and businesses; it makes it difficult to properly 

develop and implement legal and regulatory 

reforms. In addition, successive Serbian 

government administrations have failed to 

develop and communicate a reform strategy to 

the public, leaving everyone in the dark about 

government reform priorities and actions. 

Under BEP, Cardno is helping the business 

community and government identify, plan 

and implement vital economic policy and 

business environment reforms. These 

include construction permitting—where the 

World Bank ranks Serbia 179th out of 184 

countries—as well as inspections, labour law, 

access to finance, and government budgeting. 

All of these require government institutions 

to put forth a sophisticated and coordinated 

management effort. Based on diagnostic 

studies, Cardno’s team found that current 

structures and human resources within our 

government partners will preclude successful 

reform. Thus, the team has developed an 

innovative holistic approach to developing and 

implementing the reforms that are crucial to 

transforming Serbia’s economy. 

Diagnostics 

Led by Cardno’s Director of Economic Growth, 

Tony Sinclair, the Cardno team has developed 

18

USAID Business Enabling Project launches its Management Assistance Program 

and Government Internship Program at the Serbian Parliament. 

BEP roundtables led to a consensus on inspections reform. 

an organisational diagnostic that has been 

applied to several of our government partners. 

The analysis covers organisational structure, 

staffing and processes, and provides specific 

recommendations for improvement. These 

organisational diagnostics are complemented 

by technical diagnostics—including analyses 

and roadmaps that the team develops for each 

reform—such as the Roadmap to Construction 

Permitting Reform. 

Management Assistance Program 

The Cardno team developed Management 

Assistance Program (MAP) to provide 

government partner institutions with executive 

coaching and tailored management training. 

Executive coaching is offered to leaders 

in government institutions that Cardno 

works with, including assistant ministers 

and department heads. Coaching includes 

one-on-one sessions between the sector 

leader and an experienced coach, to identify 

key challenges and facilitate changes that 

are crucial to improve sector efficiency. 

Management training targets professional staff 

in partner sectors, and is closely connected 

to executive coaching of sector leaders. Only 

when combined can these two program 

components produce tangible results. The 

basic training package includes: strategic 

management; cost-benefit analysis for public 

administration; communication and public 

performance skills; and project and change 

management. MAP has already resulted in 

improved communication, better planning, and 

more efficient execution of complex tasks. 

Technical training 

Cardno’s team has developed a technical 

training program with each government 

partner to ensure that staff have the technical 

background and tools needed to properly 

develop and implement reforms. For example, 

Cardno expert Majda Sedej has worked 

with international experts and the Ministry 

of Finance to develop a training program for 

the Ministry’s Budget Department that will 

enable them to undertake the very challenging 

series of budgeting reforms that are due to be 

implemented by 2014. 

Internships 

BEP’s Government Internship Program 

provides trained young professionals to work 

with our government partners for six months. 

Due to the training and mentoring provided 

through this program—in addition to the 

50 percent unemployment rate for Serbians 

under 30 years old—the program has attracted 

top graduates who bring new skills to our 

government partners. Cardno is working to 

institutionalise this program within the Serbian 

Government. 

Strategic communications 

Cardno’s team provides assistance to the 

government in communicating its reforms 

to the public—particularly what reforms are 

taking place and why. Cardno provides strategy 

advice and content for communications 

activities using various channels, including 

roundtables with stakeholders; public service 

announcements on television; print media 

materials; and social media engagement. 

Technical assistance 

All of these programs facilitate the technical 

assistance that is the heart of BEP. Cardno 

experts are constantly working with our 

government partners to implement reforms. 

This includes daily consulting on strategies, 

legislation, processes, human resources, and 

communications. 

This approach and these programs have made 

BEP extremely effective. As stated in USAID’s 

Independent Evaluation of the Business 

Enabling Project: ‘There is wide agreement 

among stakeholders, confirmed by available 

data, that this is an excellently managed 

project, even exemplary in providing not just 

highly appreciated know-how and expertise 

in improving operational processes, but also 

sincere dedication to achieve effective and 

sustainable results. In particular, stakeholders 

value the demonstrated flexibility of the 

BEP team in responding to the needs of 

beneficiaries and partner organisations.’ cc 

Joe Lowther is Cardno’s Chief of Party for the USAIDfunded 

Business Enabling Project, based in Belgrade, 

Serbia. 

19

Oscar Beram (left) and Caetano Pinto. 

20

Educating Future Leaders and 

Building Human Resource 

Capacity in Timor-Leste 

Three of Cardno’s staff receive post-graduate 

scholarships to Australia and New Zealand 

Fiona Hamilton 

Oscar Beram Araujo, Caetano Gomes Pinto, 

and Antonio da Cruz were nervous leading 

up the announcement. ‘The scholarships are 

very competitive and there were some really 

strong applicants in this round,’ shared Oscar. 

‘An Australian or New Zealand scholarship is 

life-changing’. 

Oscar, Caetano, and Antonio work in Timor-Leste as 

Cardno staff on the Australian Government-funded 

Interim Support Services for the National 

Program for Suco (Village) Development 

(PNDS). All three applied for scholarships to study 

undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in 

Australia and New Zealand. 

Oscar shared his aspirations: ‘I want to study a 

Master’s Degree in International Development 

so that I can grow my skills and contribute more 

effectively to the development sector. I hope to be 

able to engage in the long-term development of my 

nation so that Timor is a great place for my children 

to grow up.’ 

Timor-Leste experienced wide-spread destruction, 

loss of life, and displacement when it fought 

for its independence from Indonesia. Since 

independence was restored in 2002, the nation 

has been focused on developing its institutions 

and providing basic services to its people. Timor- 

Leste is one of the poorest nations in Asia, and the 

development process is fraught with challenges. 

PNDS has played an integral role in providing aid, 

and partnering with the Timorese Government 

for long-term development and nation building. 

Caetano said, ‘The scholarships program is integral 

to the partnership between the Australian and 

Timorese Governments and to building human 

resource capacity in the long-term. We youth want 

to be involved in building our nation but need the 

right opportunities to develop our skills. We want 

to ensure that Timor’s development has strong 

foundations and that we can reduce poverty.’ 

After a grueling selection process, Oscar, Caetano 

and Antonio received the news they were waiting 

for: all three were successful in their scholarship 

applications. Oscar will be studying a Master’s 

program in International Development at Massey 

University in New Zealand; Caetano will be studying 

Marine Engineering at the University of Tasmania; 

and Antonio will be studying Civil Engineering at 

Queensland University of Technology in Australia. 

A total of 50 scholarships were awarded from 

approximately 1600 applications. 

‘I couldn’t believe it when I received my acceptance 

letter,’ Oscar shared. ‘I am nervous and excited 

all at once! I am looking forward to this new 

journey and I hope to make my country proud.’ The 

entire Cardno team in Timor-Leste is proud of the 

achievements of the three staff members, and wish 

them the very best as their studies begin next year. 

Congratulations! CC 

Fiona Hamilton is the Logistics and Office Manager for the Cardnomanaged 

PNDS Support Program based in Dili, Timor-Leste. 

21

At the Prevent Travnik plant, trained workers make covers for automobile seats. 

Photos: Jasenka Kratovic, Public Communication Adviser, USAID-Sida FIRMA Project in BiH 

Modern Vocational Education Training Councils 

Providing the blueprint for change in investment, training and jobs 

Jasenka Kratovic 

Cardno’s USAID and Sida-funded economic development program in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) 

has hit on the right formula for success in training the local workforce, facilitating coordination efforts 

between municipalities and private companies to support new investment in impoverished areas. 

The approach has already resulted in nearly 1500 new jobs. 

Through the BiH Fostering Interventions 

for Rapid Market Advancement (FIRMA) 

program, Cardno has been working sideby-side 

with municipalities of Sanski Most, 

Kalesija, Tuzla, Teslić, Tesanj, Prnjavor, 

Travnik, Prijedor and Gorazde to establish 

Vocational Education Training (VET) Advisory 

Councils—the first of their kind in BiH. In two 

cantons, Bosnian–Podrinje and Tuzla, the VET 

Advisory Councils have also been established 

at the cantonal level, which enabled all 

interested parties to influence wider territory 

in a more systemic way, leaving a space to 

influence enrollment policy, VET governance 

and financing. 

While public systems for vocational training 

exist in BiH in varying degrees, these have 

largely been remnants of an outdated 

approach to training. Direct cooperation 

between vocational schools and labour market 

stakeholders has been sporadic, at best. 

Meanwhile, as technologies advance and 

markets evolve, the employee skills needed by 

domestic and foreign companies are changing, 

and educational curricula and programs need to 

adjust accordingly. 

Cardno established the first formal VET 

advisory council in BiH almost four years ago 

in the municipality of Tesanj. The Tesanj VET 

Advisory Council is a modern VET system that 

brings together local entities—companies, 

technical schools, education ministries 

and employment agencies—and enables 

employers to directly influence the design of 

the VET school’s curricula and adult training 

programs to better respond to labour market 

needs. In late 2011, Cardno’s FIRMA project 

signed partnership agreements with the 

Tesanj municipality, vocational schools and 

companies, as well as the Federal Employment 

Bureau, to provide adult and formal education 

programs for mechatronic technicians and 

welders. The companies committed to 

employing all those who complete the training. 

‘All of us put in some effort to get to this 

point, but without the FIRMA project bringing 

all parties together, this would not have 

happened,’ said Muharem Saracevic, principal 

of the Mixed Secondary School from Tesanj, 

after the signing ceremony. 

Cardno leverages funding to develop 

curriculum and creates 600 jobs 

Cardno has similarly applied its experience in 

the VET concept in the Gorazde municipality. 

Prevent Gorazde, a local automotive 

manufacturing company, asked for help setting 

up a new factory in Gorazde, which is located 

in eastern Bosnia—an area often overlooked 

by investors since the 1992–1995 war. The 

company needed qualified workers trained to 

sew covers for automobile seats at the plant. 

Cardno facilitated a partnership agreement 

among the local municipality and cantonal 

Ministries to develop a new curriculum and 

undertake training of 600 local workers. 

22

Signing the agreement to train, certify and employ welders in Tesanj 

VET Training: Future mechatronic technicians get 

trained in the Mixed Vocational School of Tesanj 

‘Different stakeholders with different backgrounds and interests have gathered to 

formalise something that none of the partners alone would have been able to do. 

This is a great example of how all of us—government, companies and employment 

agencies—can work together in the development of employment programs.’ 

Through these collaborative efforts, the 

company was also given land for the factory, 

while the local municipality reduced permit 

costs and sped up the permitting process. The 

trained workers were then employed at the 

modern, state-of-the-art production facility, 

which today employs more than 1000 people 

from both BiH entities, Federation of BiH and 

Republika Srpska. 

Cardno replicated this model, again in 

partnership with Prevent, in the Travnik 

municipality. In collaboration with the public 

sector stakeholders, 250 new workers were 

trained and employed. 

‘Different stakeholders with different 

backgrounds and interests have gathered to 

formalise something that none of the partners 

alone would have been able to do.This is a 

great example of how all of us—government, 

companies and employment agencies— 

can work together in the development of 

employment programs,’ Alma Delizaimovic, 

Minister of Education from the Bosnian– 

Podrinje canton, commented on the 

establishment of activities for the VET Council 

in this canton. CC 

Jasenka Kratovic is the Public Communications 

Advisor on the USAID–Sida FIRMA Project, based in 

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Cardno’s work on the BiH FIRMA Project 

The USAID-Sida Fostering 

Interventions for Rapid Market 

Advancement (FIRMA) project, 

implemented by Cardno, is a 

five-year project to support 

sustainable economic growth, 

employment expansion, and 

increased household incomes 

in BiH. FIRMA focuses on 

three sectors of the economy: 

wood processing, tourism, and 

metal processing. To ensure 

sustainability and effectiveness, 

Cardno works with a network 

of local partners—development 

agencies, chambers of commerce, 

business associations, and 

business service providers. 

Cardno applies a comprehensive 

approach to address the needs 

of the sectors, both in the formal 

and non-formal educational 

systems. By working closely 

with employment institutions, 

the project team supports 

improvements to regular labour 

market surveying methodologies 

to obtain information on industry 

needs. Through our implementing 

partners, the project encourages 

dialogue between industry and 

formal educational institutions for 

improvement of curricula. Cardno 

supports business development 

service providers to develop 

training programs that are 

responsive to market demands 

in wood processing, tourism, 

and metal processing. These 

workforce development activities 

will increase the employability 

of the labour force, addressing 

a key obstacle to enterprise 

competitiveness and effectively 

reducing unemployment. 

23

Morning in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea 

Improving Access to Justice 

in Papua New Guinea 

Linking government database systems to 

create better outcomes for citizens 

Eliza Hovey 

Cardno’s PNG–Australia Law and Justice Partnership, a unique 

and exciting program, is a crucial component of the Australian 

Government’s direct investment in law and justice reform in 

Papua New Guinea. 

The PNG–Australia Law and Justice 

Partnership (PALJP) builds on more than 10 

years of Australian Government support to the 

Government of PNG’s law and justice sector, 

which included the Cardno-managed Law 

and Justice Sector Program (2003–2009). 

Building stronger institutional systems through 

targeted twinning arrangements is central 

to the program’s success, so this approach 

has been sustained throughout the life of the 

partnership. Specifically, PALJP works with key 

national-level justice agencies across PNG to 

strengthen the sector’s foundations, based on 

the theory that this will lead to improvements 

in service delivery and positive outcomes for 

the citizens of PNG. The partnership’s basic 

principles include: working through 

a sector-wide approach; building and 

supporting PNG government ownership 

and leadership of activities; and working 

with the Government of PNG (GoPNG) 

systems—a whole-of-government 

approach. This approach is underscored 

by contemporary thinking about aid 

effectiveness when PALJP was being 

established, and it has been reflected in 

the partnership’s work to date. 

The partnership has achieved some 

significant results from the twinning 

approach. The Case Management 

System (CMS) is the database used to 

track and manage legal claims in the 

24

Law Graduates from 2013 may soon have the opportunity to use the Case Management System 

‘The lawyers now understand and value the CMS and they use it 

every day to help prioritise their own work. My team’s work is now 

seen as important to the office, not just something that happens in 

a back room that no-one really understands.’ – CMS Unit Manager 

Solictor-General’s Office (SGO). Linda Dalton, 

a CMS Adviser engaged by Cardno, recently 

completed a three-year commitment working 

with her counterparts in the SGO CMS Unit. 

The SGO is responsible for processing civil 

legal claims made against the state by citizens 

who feel they have been subjected to unlawful 

action by government officials. Claims can 

cover anything from excessive use of force, 

to unjustified detention, to unfair contracts. 

Just a few years ago, the backlog of claims 

was so substantial that claimants could wait 

up to three years or more for court-awarded 

compensation to be paid. These types of 

administrative burdens have an important 

impact on how members of the community 

experience the justice sector and, in turn, 

shape community perception of service 

delivery and of the government more broadly. 

Linda’s role at the SGO was to support 

improvements to both the IT database and 

the management practices that depend on 

it. She worked with the team on cleansing 

data, producing templates and running regular 

reports. Consistent with PALJP’s approach to 

national capacity building, Linda coached and 

mentored national lawyers on how to get the 

most out of the system, so they could continue 

taking advantage of the improvements after 

her departure. Her GoPNG counterpart, the 

CMS Unit Manager, explained the difference 

that the Australian Government, and the 

Partnership, has made: ‘Before we had 

Australian Government assistance, we only 

relied on people complaining about how long 

it was taking to settle their claims and receive 

proper compensation to guide us. Now the 

improved CMS is up-to-date and we can easily 

generate reports on the time each claim is 

taking and where it is up to in the system.’ 

Linda’s management and capacity building 

of local staff meant that results were seen 

quickly, with lawyers working through the 

backlog of claims and using the CMS to 

effectively manage their caseloads. Now 

that the CMS Unit is properly staffed, it can 

stand alone, having the skills and templates 

in place to train new staff. The impact can 

be observed both upwards and downwards. 

Reducing the backlog of claims means that 

community members have had their overdue 

claims resolved. At the same time, staff were 

able to accurately calculate the government’s 

outstanding debt, and the Solicitor-General’s 

Office successfully applied for an increased 

budget from Treasury to settle the overdue 

claims. The success of twinning arrangements 

such as these, where local ownership can 

be clearly observed and obvious progress 

made, is testament to PALJP’s achievements 

and GoPNG’s progress in the area of 

law and justice. 

Indeed, PALJP can be a challenging program, 

spanning several justice sub-sectors and 

regions. Reform is often a rocky road, and 

positive impact can sometimes be difficult to 

gauge. Good results in PALJP are inextricably 

linked to PNG’s broader achievements in 

law and justice. PALJP has demonstrated 

that targeted measures can achieve tangible 

and important improvements in government 

service delivery. The capacity building approach 

supports the development of local staff, and as 

a result, improves community perception of the 

important work of the SGO. CC 

Eliza Hovey is the Deployment Manager with the Cardnomanaged 

Australian Civilian Corps Deployment Services 

Program, based in Melbourne, Australia 

25

Hospital visited during an on-site Data Verification assignment led by the Cardno Local Fund Agent team in Guyana. 

Joining Forces to Fight HIV and 

AIDS, TB and Malaria 

Global Fund grants foster local ownership and 

participatory decision-making through countrylevel 

multi-stakeholder partnerships 

Thomas Ingvoldstad 

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis 

and Malaria (the Global Fund) is an international 

financing institution that provides grant funding 

to more than 140 countries around the world. 

The Global Fund relies on voluntary financial 

contributions, and although its primary donors 

are national governments, it also receives 

significant contributions from the private 

sector, social enterprises, philanthropic 

foundations and individuals. As of December 

2012, pledges from the public sector totaled 

US$28.8 billion, representing 95 percent of 

all pledges to the Global Fund since its 

inception in 2002. 

The monies raised by the Global Fund 

are primarily channeled to low- and 

middle-income countries (as defined by 

the World Bank) based on a combination 

of highest disease burden and lowest 

ability to pay. The Global Fund’s demanddriven 

approach ensures that the money 

is going where it is most needed. One 

of the core principles of the Global 

26

The Cardno Local Fund Agent team in Guyana visited a mining camp to verify that bed nets funded by the 

Global Fund were in place and being used properly 

Fund is to fund programs developed by the 

recipient countries themselves, in line with 

their own national strategic health plans and 

priorities. A substantial proportion of Global 

Fund financing is implemented through 

national government structures such as health 

ministries, while in other countries funding is 

funneled through civil society organisations. 

Central to the Global Fund’s grant making 

process, and to the Global Fund’s commitment 

to local ownership and participatory decisionmaking, 

is the Country Coordinating 

Mechanism. These country-level multistakeholder 

partnerships develop and submit 

grant proposals to the Global Fund based 

on priority needs at the national level. After 

grant approval, they oversee progress during 

program implementation. Country Coordinating 

Mechanisms include representatives from 

both the public and private sectors—including 

governments, multilateral or bilateral agencies, 

non-governmental organisations, academic 

institutions, private businesses and people 

living with the targeted diseases. 

Unlike other bilateral donors such as USAID 

and the EU, the Global Fund does not have a 

country-level presence outside of its offices 

in Geneva, Switzerland. Instead, it hires Local 

Fund Agents (LFAs) to oversee, verify and 

report on grant performance within recipient 

countries. LFAs assess the capacity of 

nominated recipients to implement grants, 

while also performing routine reviews to 

verify reported expenditure and programmatic 

performance to ensure that reported costs 

are reasonable and allowable, and the that the 

programmatic implementation is progressing in 

accordance with set targets. 

Cardno has provided LFA services to the Global 

Fund since 2003. Currently, Cardno serves 

as the LFA in Malawi, Mongolia, Guyana 

and Suriname, as well as for the multicounty 

grants of COPRECOS and CARICOM in the 

Latin America and Caribbean region. In the 

past, Cardno has served as LFA in Papua New 

Guinea, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Guatemala, 

OECS, CRN+, and for the Lutheran Federation. 

In 2013, Cardno became one of the first 

companies to be contracted by the Global 

Fund to provide Fiscal Agent services, a new 

measure put in place by the Global Fund in 

select countries. Cardno currently serves 

as Fiscal Agent in Sierra Leone and Guinea, 

where our teams are tasked with overseeing 

the accounting and financial management 

functions for multiple grant programs. Our 

teams work closely with the finance units of 

the grant recipients to ensure sound fiscal 

accountability and compliance with established 

procedures and policies as well as Global 

Fund regulations. Our teams also provide 

technical assistance to improve the systems 

and procedures in place and provide capacity 

building to ensure sustainable improvements in 

the finance units of the grant recipient. 

Together with the CCM, the Local Fund Agent 

work and Fiscal Agent work performed by 

Cardno serves a critical role in the oversight 

and successful implementation of Global Fund 

grants. CC 

Thomas Ingvoldstad is a Senior Manager for Cardno 

Emerging Markets, based in Washington, DC. 

27

NoticeBoard 

Cardno Emerging 

Markets’ activities 

around the world 

Cardno’s Business Enabling Project in Serbia takes part in the 

walk for Breast Cancer awareness on 12 October 2013. 

Australian Staffer 

Selected as 

White Ribbon Australia 

Youth Forum Delegate 

Teea Maddigan, Cardno Consultant in the 

Melbourne, Australia office, has been selected 

as a delegate to White Ribbon Australia’s 

first Youth Forum. White Ribbon Australia is 

a male-led non-profit organisation working to 

end violence against women and girls, and 

promote gender equity, healthy relationships, 

and a new vision of masculinity. The Youth 

Forum, supported by the Telstra Foundation, 

consists of 10 young Australians aged 18–24; 

it was established to assist in developing 

White Ribbon’s youth engagement strategy to 

stop men’s violence against women. Forum 

members are conducting consultations with 

their community networks and evaluating 

White Ribbon’s current youth programs in 

order to develop their own campaign targeted 

at youth groups. The Youth Forum will present 

their findings and proposed campaign to the 

White Ribbon Australia Board in February 2014. 

Mongolia Local Fund Agent 

Team Leader Receives 

Medal of Friendship 

The Medal of Friendship is the highest honour 

granted by the Mongolian Government to 

foreign citizens, recognising their contributions 

to the development of Mongolia. For the past 

two years, Dr Indermohan Narula has served 

as Cardno’s Team Leader for the Mongolia 

Local Fund Agent project, funded by the Global 

Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. 

As the Global Fund’s Local Fund Agent in 

Mongolia, Cardno ensures that recipients of 

performance-based grants have the capacity to 

implement programs and can properly account 

for monies spent. Over the past decade, 

Dr Narula has spent the majority of his time 

living and working in Mongolia. His work for the 

Mongolian health sector has previously been 

recognised by the Government of Mongolia 

with the following honours: Outstanding Health 

Worker of Mongolia, 2005; President’s Gold 

Medal for Outstanding Services to the People 

of Mongolia, 2007; and Honoured Medical 

Doctor of Mongolia, 2008. 

Uganda Project Named 

‘Commended Finalist’ at 

2013 GBCHealth Awards 

Conference 

Cardno’s Uganda Health Initiatives for 

the Private Sector (HIPS) program (funded 

by USAID) was the recipient of a Business 

Action on Health Award as a ‘Commended 

Finalist’ during the 2013 GBCHealth Awards 

Conference. The HIPS program was 

formally recognised and commended in the 

Workplace / Workforce Engagement: Special 

Focus on AIDS, Tuberculosis, or Malaria 

category. The conference cited Uganda HIPS 

as a program that exemplifies the powerful 

impact that the private sector is making on 

global health. The Uganda HIPS program 

(2007–2013) was designed to partner with 

the Ugandan business community to provide 

health services to company employees, their 

dependents and surrounding communities. The 

HIPS program engaged companies in various 

industries to expand access to HIV and AIDS, 

TB, malaria, reproductive health and family 

planning services. USAID Administrator Rajiv 

Shah, along with the heads of the Global Fund, 

UN Foundation, and others were in attendance 

for the conference, and formally recognised 

all Business Action on Health Awards winners 

and commended companies during the event. 

28

The White Ribbon Australia Campaign is endorsed by many prominent 

Australian TV, sporting, and media personalities. 

Cardno’s Washington DC office participated in the Society for International 

Development (SID) Career Fair on 2 October 2013. 

USA Staffer Receives 

Master’s Certificate in US 

Government Contracting 

Congratulations to Rachel Sitta, Contracts 

Manager in the Washing, DC office, who 

recently completed her Master’s Certificate 

in US Government Contracting. To receive 

the certification, Rachel completed seven 

required courses on contract management 

principles, practices and US Government 

regulations over a five-year period. This 

qualification demonstrates her mastery 

of the core principles, regulations, and 

procedures that govern today’s US Federal 

Government procurements and programs. The 

certification program is backed by The George 

Washington University School of Business in 

Washington, DC. 

Cardno’s Papua New Guinea 

Office has Relocated 

Cardno’s staff in Papua New Guinea recently 

relocated, consolidating the Physical 

Infrastructure and Social Infrastructure 

technical practices into a single corporate 

office. The unified country presence is part of 

a greater Emerging Markets Division strategy, 

allowing external clients and partners to 

work more closely with a fully integrated and 

focused consulting services business office. 

Serbia Project Staff 

Participate in the 

Country’s First Breast 

Cancer Awareness Walk 

Cardno staff from the Serbia Business 

Enabling Project participated in Serbia’s 

first Breast Cancer Awareness Walk, titled 

A Million Reasons Why. The event raised 

awareness about the importance of regular 

examinations and early treatment. Additionally, 

the event raised money to support Serbia’s 

National Association of Cancer Survivors, an 

organisation committed to assisting those 

affected by cancer as they navigate the health 

care system and deal with the emotional 

challenges of a diagnosis. 

Cardno Participates 

in Recruiting and 

Networking Events in 

Washington, DC and 

Nairobi, Kenya 

On 2 October, Cardno was a major sponsor 

of the annual Society for International 

Development (SID) Career Fair in 

Washington, DC. Eight Cardno volunteers 

worked at our booth, recruiting young and 

mid-career professionals in the international 

development sector while providing career 

advice and information on Cardno. More than 

584 professionals seeking jobs attended 

the event. Paula Feeney, Senior Advisor for 

Business Development and Marketing, in 

Cardno’s Washing, DC office, moderated a 

panel at the Career Fair, focused on mid-career 

international development professionals. 

On 16 and 17 October, Cardno participated 

in the first-ever Devex Partnerships Forum 

and Career Fair in Africa, which took place 

in Nairobi, Kenya. Cardno was one of 44 

exhibiting organisations, with nine Cardno 

representatives in attendance, including 

David Burton, the Emerging Markets UK Area 

Manager, and Beatrice Kinyanjui, the Emerging 

Markets East Africa Business Unit Manager. 

The first day, which featured 100 East African 

organisations, focused on localisation, 

investment in partnerships, and preserving and 

promoting African priorities. Day two hosted 

350 mid- to senior-level job seekers. This event 

was a productive forum for Cardno to raise our 

profile in East Africa, especially with Nairobi 

acting as a hub for activity in the region. The 

event also presented Cardno staff from our 

various offices with the opportunity to network 

and build relationships with potential local staff 

and partners. 

29

About Cardno 

Cardno is a professional infrastructure and environmental services company with expertise in the development and 

improvement of physical and social infrastructure for communities around the world. 

Cardno’s team includes leading professionals who plan, design, manage and deliver sustainable projects and community 

programs. 

Cardno is an international company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: CDD). 

About Cardno Emerging Markets 

Cardno Emerging Markets believes innovation is informed by the past – not limited by it. We have decades of experience 

in over 100 countries working on projects ranging from expanding trade and investment opportunities to increasing girls’ 

enrolment in schools to improving access to health care to rehabilitating water systems and roads. Every project – no 

matter the size, donor or country – receives a rigorous approach informed by past work but tailored for a sustainable and 

effective solution. 

cardnoconnect@cardno.com 

www.cardno.com/emergingmarkets 

Office locations 

Cardno Emerging Markets has offices in the following locations: 

Australia 

Level 3, 854 Glenferrie Road 

Hawthorn Vic 3122 

Melbourne, Australia 

Tel: +61 3 9819 2877 

Fax: +61 3 9819 4216 

Belgium 

Avenue Louise 479 (Box 53) 

1050 Brussels, Belgium 

Tel: +32 2 282 03 33 

Fax: +32 2 290 15 53 

Kenya 

Kiganjo House, Rose Avenue 

Kilimani, Nairobi, Kenya 

Tel: +254 727 531 247 

Indonesia 

Level 15, International Financial Centre (IFC) 

Jl. Jendral Sudirman Kav. 22-23 

Jakarta 12920, Indonesia 

Tel: +62 21 571 2430 

Fax: +62 21 571 2429 

Papua New Guinea 

Ground Floor, CHM Corporate Park 

Corner Kawai Drive and Waigani Industrial Estate Drive 

Gordons, Papua New Guinea 

Tel: +675 325 4606 

Fax: +675 325 0987 

Philippines 

3 /F 111 Paseo de Roxas Building 

Paseo de Roxas, corner Legaspi Street 

Legaspi Village, Makati City 1229 

Philippines 

Tel: +63 2 892 0350 

Fax: +63 2 817 9978 

United Kingdom 

Suite 3, Oxford House, Oxford Road 

Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 2AH 

United Kingdom 

Tel: +44 1844 216 500 

Fax: +44 1844 261 593 

United States of America 

Colonial Place III, Suite 800 

2107 Wilson Boulevard 

Arlington, VA 22201-3096 

United States of America 

Tel: +1 703 373 7600 

Fax: +1 703 373 7601 

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carbon neutral. Australian made from 50% recycled content and FSC Mixed Chain 

of Custody Certified. Printed on environmentally responsible paper with vegetable 

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