Burkina Faso

Ecole Nationale D'Administration Et De Magistrature (ENAM). ICDG helps ENAM—The National School of Administration and Law—enhance its capacity to train civil servants from Burkina Faso and eight regional countries by offering pre- and in-service public administration education and training. ICDG also organizes seminars on the decentralization initiative now occurring in the country. In 2002, ICDG’s Dan Durning and Njeri Marekia-Cleaveland met with ENAM director, Professor Moctar Tall, who expressed his interest in an ICDG-ENAM collaboration in capacity building for his school. In May 2006, Tall and one of his school's faculty members visited ICDG for 10 days, during which time the two institutions formally agreed to collaborate in training faculty and civil servants from Burkina Faso and neighboring countries.

University of Ouagadougou Law School. ICDG assists the University of Ouagadougou in the development of political science courses and teaches an online courses on comparative public administration and policy analysis. In February 2002, Professor Kourita Sandwidi, director of public law for the University of Ouagadougou, visited ICDG. He requested the center's assistance in starting a department of political science within his law school. From June 27 to July 1, 2002, ICDG's Dan Durning and Njeri Marekia-Cleaveland visited Burkina Faso to discuss the creation of such a department. In 2003, the dean of the law school visited ICDG for two weeks, during which time he developed course materials for teaching a comparative course on public administration. Proposed ICDG-University of Ouagadougou activities included:

• ICDG advice and input on course development;
• short-term faculty exchanges to enhance capacity development;
• research and course development in comparative politics, government and public policy; and
• other joint research into such topics as alternative dispute resolution, land tenure and land use, and African customary law.

An ICDG-University of Ouagadougou partnership would build on prior linkages between the African university and the University of Georgia. Several Burkinabé scholars have studied agriculture at the University of Georgia, and The Dean Rusk Center—International, Comparative, and Graduate Legal Studies has had contacts with the the University of Ouagadougou Law School. In addition, the city of Decatur, Georgia, is a sister-city of Ouagadougou.

Center for Democratic Governance (CDG). ICDG and CDG, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that was started in Burkina Faso with United Nations Development Programme assistance, collaborate in training election workers, heads of NGOs, and female members of the legislature. CDG works with political parties to promote dialogue among them, and it also trains election workers. During Durning and Marekia-Cleaveland’s trip to Burkina Faso, they met with CDC’s director, Professor Augustin Loada, who later visited ICDG.

Benin

Ecole Nationale D'Administration Et De Magistrature (ENAM). As with its work with ENAM in Burkina Faso, ICDG helps ENAM enhance its capacity to train governmental officials involved in Benin's decentralization program. ICDG has hosted two faculty members from ENAM and sent one University of Georgia faculty member to conduct training there.

Kenya

Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA). ICDG and KIA entered into an agreement to enhance its capacity and to train government officials. In 2002 and 2003, Marekia-Cleaveland met with KIA’s director and some of his faculty and staff, and in 2004, the director and one of his faculty members visited ICDG. During that time, they learned about training opportunities at the University of Georgia and around the state. Proposed activities included training KIA faculty at ICDG and in Kenya and joint training of senior local authority personnel in Kenya.

Georgia African Immigrant/Refugee Project

University of Georgia Student Service Learning Project in Decatur/Clarkston/Stone Mountain. Collaborating partners include refugee resettlement organizations, immigrant associations, and local schools. University of Georgia students work with youths as tutors and mentors and also with refugee families in literacy and public health activities. The majority of participating students receive course credit from their academic departments. Learn more about volunteering and to complete a volunteer application.

University of Georgia Summer Academy on Leadership and Civic Engagement for African Refugee and Immigrant Youths. The first academy was held in June 2006 and involved 24 youths, 14–17 years of age. ICDG proposes to hold the academy annually. The youths worked with five full-time University of Georgia students as well as faculty and community members on a range of issues.

Training Activities for African Immigrants. The first training took place at ICDG in April 2006. It focused on community leadership and involved 30 participants from eight African countries and represented various organizations in Georgia, including Women Watch Africa, Peach-Care, International Rescue Committee, Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta, Refugee Family Services, Segal Radio, and Somali Bantu. Proposed follow-up activities include training and workshops on small business development, immigrant youth issues, and grant writing.

[Photos from the Africa program]