Sixteen executives from the civil service, comprising of 11 women and five men, attended the final component of Australia Awards short course, ‘Women in Executive Leadership Development Programme’ in Thimphu from May 21 to 23.

A press release from Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) stated that the programme was delivered to selected high caliber civil servants.

“The objective of the course was to strengthen the leadership capabilities of civil service executives to enable them to initiate changes to working environments, which would in turn support women to undertake executive leadership roles at local and central government levels,” it stated.

University of Queensland delivered the programme that included online learning, course delivery in Australia, and a final in-country workshop in Bhutan.

The press release stated that a unique feature of the short course was participants having to develop individual return-to-work plans.  “These are structured activity plans that describe how recipients will apply their newly acquired skills and knowledge to a specific project or set of activities.”

It also stated that during the in-Australia course delivery, participants had the opportunity to strengthen their plans by integrating new knowledge and insights obtained from the course with the help of course leaders, industry experts and mentors. “Participants then implemented their plans at their own workplaces in Bhutan, and shared the outcomes and learning with their peers at the in-country workshop.”

Australia Awards are prestigious international scholarships, fellowships and short courses funded by the Australian Government.

Short courses offer the next generation of global leaders an opportunity to undertake short-term study, research and professional development opportunities in support of key development and foreign affairs priorities.

Staff reporter

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