UCLG Africa, Partner of the Virtual Hackathon organized by the African Public Sector-Human Resource Managers Network (APS-HRMnet)

From 15th to 17th August, 2023, UCLG Africa, through its African Academy of Local Governments (ALGA), co-organized a Virtual Hackathon of the African Public Sector Human Resources Managers Network (APS-HRMnet) on the theme “Fostering Innovation in Africa: The Role of Human Resources Practitioners”, in partnership with UN-DESA, the Kenya School of Government and Uganda Chapter of the APS-HRMnet

About 80 participants responded to this online event, among which Human Resources Managers from the 5 African Regions.

The Hackathon was marked by opening speeches, including that of the Representative of UCLG Africa, namely Mr. Morris Mbolela, Deputy Secretary General of UCLG Africa, as well as the participation of:

  • The Vice-President of APS-HRMnet, Najat Zarrouk, Director of Development, Knowledge Management and the African Academy of Local Governments (ALGA of UCLG Africa);
  • The Regional Vice-Presidents of the Network.

After the opening, an inaugural conference on “Human Resources Measurement and Analysis: Implications for Human Resources Practitioners”, was organized and moderated by Dr. John Mary Kauzya, Former United Nations Official, Senior Expert in Public Administration and Governance from Uganda, as well as the several working group sessions in a sub-regional manner (Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern African, West Africa).

For the Representative of UCLG Africa, beyond the institutional, legal, financial and technical aspects, the sustainable development, in its various dimensions, of any country depends above all on the human potential of its institutions and organizations. It is therefore crucial that these institutions and organizations have human resources and collaborators who work and carry out their activities and fulfill their functions in a favorable, facilitating, attractive and motivating environment. The Global and African Agendas for sustainable development place people at the heart of this dynamic of transformation for the World we want and the Africa we want. UCLG Africa in the same spirit, gives a strategic importance to the management of human resources, in its vision, mission, priorities, governance, organization, activities and services.

He added that a set of standards of excellence in human resources at the sub-national level was elaborated by this Organization; an initiative that has been widely shared with UCLG Africa members and partners.

Ms. Savia Mugwanya, President of APS-HRMnet, recalled that this Hackathon was an opportunity offered to participants to discuss the challenges facing the management of Human Resources in Public Administrations in Africa, in particular concerning Measures and Human Resources analyses regarding the collection and use of statistics targeting Public Administration Staff.

This Hackathon made it possible to generate ideas and design solutions over a very short period of time and at the same time prepare for the 8th Annual Conference of APS-HRMnet, planned to be held in November 2023 at Kenya School of Government, in Kenya.

As a reminder, the African Network of Public Sector Human Resource Managers (APS-HRMnet) aims to promote and strengthen excellence, integrity and professional standards in the practice of human resource management in Public Sector Institutions in Africa.

The Virtual HR Hackathon was organized based on the following mode of operating:

Mode of Operation for the Virtual Hackathon
Focus of Innovation:
Process, Approach, Service that supports bring HR Metrics and Analytics to the forefront of Strategic Institution management and decision making
Plausible Innovation Proposal: 
Beneficial to the institution/clients; Adds value to what exists; Cost saving; can be replicated at large scale
Assessment:                               
Panel comprising the founder members, Dr. Savia Mugwanya, President of APS-HRMnet and Dr. Zarrouk Najat, UCLG Africa and President of IASIA
Recognition & Celebration:                                
Participating Countries and names of their representatives to be recognized with a plaque

To be named and awarded at the APS-HRMnet Conference in November 2023