Dr. Sher Shah Amin is a deputy programme manager for BRAC Afghanistan. He talked with us about the effects his IMDP training has had in his work. “I’ve worked with BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) in Afghanistan since 2002. I work in different areas such as supervising field workers, policy planning, acting as a liaison with the ministry of health and donors, doing staff appraisals, coordinating different health projects, and representing the organisation at various forums.
I’ve attended two Union courses. The first was a special course on Management, Finance, and Logistics organised as an “In-Country” course in Kabul and the second was Leading Management Teams. The first was a special course addressing issues such as supplies and logistics management. We have more than 100 health facilities in Afghanistan, so if you calculate the consumption rate of medicine, it is very high. We have to match the needs in the provinces with those at the central level. We were facing problems such as shortage of medicines and drugs expiring because of improper management. After attending this course I understand better how to deal with these issues and learned management techniques that helps to prevent these types of problems occurring in the future. The second course had a special advantage in that it was good for a person on several levels. In my case, as I’m coordinating different projects and leading different teams of workers, it is very important for me to understand the role and responsibility of every person in the project.
I primarily work on the central level, and since we have different teams at various levels, we have to understand the attitudes and comprehension of every member of the team in order assign them proper responsibilities. For example, BRAC has several health projects at present in Afghanistan, and because of improper explanation of the project objectives and workers’ roles we sometimes face problems. This is sometimes due to the similarities of different projects supported by different donors which have different requirements.
One important change which has happened in my work since the course is that now I properly explain the projects and the role of each of the workers in the project. Just after returning from the course, I organised an orientation session for the members of a project called the Mobile Health Team. This orientation was very important in terms of fulfilling the requirement of the donor and submitting the quarterly report.” |
