For effective aid utilization:

Sound project management, a must

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

An effective implementation of a project is the only way to bring effective aid utilization and is a way to recover from the crisis minimizing financial losses and wastage to achieve maximum benefits, Colombo Plan, Secretary General Patricia Yoon Moi Chia said at the inauguration of Project Management Seminar at Hotel Hilton yesterday. The seminar was organized by Colombo Plan Secretariat.

She said this is crucial to Sri Lanka since resources have to be allocated for the development of North and East as part of the national re-construction effort after the war.

She said managing a project is a daunting task and the success or failure of a project depends on the skills and capabilities of the project manager and his team.

The ongoing turmoil from the global financial crisis faced by member countries represented at the seminar is one of the driving factors for countries to ensure that every development cent counts.

“One cannot deny that in spite of billions of dollars of aid and loans are poured in certain countries, in a single minded attempt to jumpstart their development and this has not worked out,” Chia said.

However, Chia hoped that the capacity building effort of the Colombo Plan will create a cycle of prosperity just like a project cycle, by enriching the skills of the people in the forefront of development.

The Project Management Course was the first activity of the Colombo Plan for the 2010, the first of an expected 70 planned activities.

Twenty three participants from 10 developing member countries, Afganistan, Brunei, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fiji, Malaysia, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Phillippines participated.

The course is implemented as a direct response to the stated needs of member countries of the Colombo Plan, highlighted in the 2007 Needs Survey and retreated during Colombo Plan Desk Officers Meeting in August 2009 with the objective is to build capacity in efficient project management by introducing the concepts and skills required.

Australian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Kathy Klugman was the chief guest.