Nepal Administrative Staff College (NASC) and Policy Research Institute (PRI) have jointly organized the seven-day training course entitled “Innovating Public Policy: Use of Evidence (InnoPolE)” on 8th Ashadh 2079, Wednesday at NASC. The objective of the training is to build on the concept of the “Policy Innovation Lab (PIL), a concept central to which is to bring innovation in policy-making through engagement contestation, evidence and iterations. 

The training program was inaugurated with the presence of Executive Director (ED) of NASC, Dr. Rajan Khanal; Executive Chairperson (EC) of NASC, Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti; Department Head of Government and Development Management Learning Group (GDMLG), Mr. Trilochan Pokharel; Center Chief of Center for Development Policy and Management (CDPM), Mr. Ishwari Prasad Ghimire; representatives from PRI. Moreover, 20 Class-II Officers from different government organizations were there. 

Mr. Ishwari Prasad Ghimire, facilitated the program by welcoming the participants and shared the rationale behind designing the training course. Mr. Trilochan Pokharel, further elaborated on the detailed course contents and their relevance on allowing the decision makers for a rational decision. Furthermore, he explained about the 4Cs framework of the training course in terms of context, competencies, contents and conveyance which aims to provide opportunities for engagement and contestation for the participants. 
Dr. Upreti from PRI mainly talked about the loopholes on policy making process in case of Nepal. Stating this problem, he further stressed on the framework developed by the PRI which aim to developed the effective policy making process. Following, Dr. Rajan Khanal welcomed all the nominated participants. During his inaugural speech, he explained about the demand of data and evidence in public decisions and during policy making. He expressed his hope that through this training program will enhanced the competences of the mid-level government officials to apply innovating approaches in policy making through the use of data and evidence. 

The training program is being facilitated by the Mr. Trilochan Pokharel, Mr. Rajendra Adhikari, Mr. Jham Kumar Biswokarma, and Ms. Shobha Poudel. Similarly, it is being managed by the course coordinators: Mr. Ishwari Prasad Ghimire, Ms. Roshani Bhujel and Mr. Ganesh Sah. 

Photo: Bimal C. Sharma/PRI