The Duke Center for International Development (DCID) within Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy concluded its 2016 summer open enrollment programs on Friday, Aug. 12. This year, approximately 100 officials representing 28 countries participated in the five short-term training programs, which cover topics such as project appraisal, tax analysis and local government financial management.
For the first time this year, participants representing Kosovo, Seychelles and Uruguay joined the programs.
The final program of the summer, Budgeting and Financial Management in the Public Sector (BUDGET) ended Friday with a certificate ceremony at the University Club.
“There are three types of people in this world: people who watch things happen, people who wonder what happened, and people who make things happen,” said Rudolf Zimmermann (pictured left), BUDGET graduate and deputy finance director of Ghana’s National Health Insurance Authority. “Today [DCID] has made things happen. We are grateful to our teachers and lecturers who have equipped us with new skills and knowledge, and we promise them that as we go back, we will make a difference in our careers.”
In addition to BUDGET, DCID hosted the following programs this summer:
- Project Appraisal and Risk Management (PARM)
- Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting (TARF)
- Transfer Pricing: Policy and Practice
- Fiscal Decentralization and Local Government Financial Management (PFD)
Samantha Torrance, TARF graduate and senior manager of revenue reform for East and Southern Africa at Adam Smith International, said she enjoyed learning about issues affecting different regions of the world where she did not have as much exposure.
“The structure of the program and the mix between theoretical and practical teaching has been really useful,” she said. “The professors have been particularly good at explaining the concepts and keeping things interesting with examples and anecdotes from their years of international experience.”
DCID has trained more than 1,400 government officials through its summer open enrollment programs since they launched in 2002. Learn more.
