UNDESA representatives and those from various government agencies are attending a capacity building workshop that will help enhance and boost service delivery in the public sector.

The workshop is being held under the theme 'Foresight and Systems Thinking for Strategic Planning and Financing for Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] in Seychelles.'

It is being facilitated by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), through its division for public institutions and digital government and its Financing for Sustainable Office (FFSDO), in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

In his opening address, the Minister for Finance, National Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan, said that this workshop is not just a formality but a commitment to empowering officials from line ministries, equipping them with the skills to navigate the intricacies of planning and budgeting.

 "By embracing systems thinking and strategic foresight, our aim is to fortify collaboration across ministries for more effective resource allocation and short to long-term planning," he added.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), "strategic foresight is a structured and systematic way of using ideas about the future to anticipate and better prepare for change. It is about exploring different plausible futures that could arise, and the opportunities and challenges they could present."

Maryana Labonte, senior economist at the Ministry of Finance, said, "This is a workshop that is promoting coordination and collaboration and ensuring that resources are effectively used and allocated efficiently."

She added that at the moment, a lot of the departments and agencies tend to work independently of each other, which is what this workshop aims to rectify.

The participants in the workshop are from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Trade Division, and Immigration Department among others.

The workshop will help contribute to a more coherent, participatory, prioritised and evidence-based governance framework in support of the planning and implementation of Seychelles' National Development Strategy.

This will include the financing strategy that will help increase the country's resilience and inclusive sustainable development.

This workshop comes after a training of trainers programme that took place earlier this month.

Hassan said, "In addition to strategic foresight let us embrace the transformative potential of systems thinking. It is the key to unraveling the intricacies of our interconnected world."

He explained that the the policies and actions taken by the government resonate beyond conventional boundaries and through understanding the systemic nature of our challenges, solutions that transcend the superficial and address the very roots of our complex issues can be made.