Munazir Mohamed was keen to study in Australia because of the educational prowess to be gained. As a huge fan of cricket, he was also motivated to study in Australia so that he could visit the world-famous Melbourne Cricket Ground! After hearing from an Australia Awards alumnus about her experience, Munazir successfully applied for an Australia AwardsScholarship in 2013 to undertake a Master of Development Studies at the University of Melbourne.
As Deputy Director of Planning for the Provincial Planning Secretariat of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Provincial Council, Munazir’s responsibilities to provide reliable and accurate advice to key provincial decision-makers. In this role, Munazir regularly applies the skills and knowledge gained from his Australian education experience:
“Divisional investment plans, or the rational distribution of resources, is something that I learned in Australia and am now trying to apply at work. The balanced development approach is highly relevant in Sri Lanka, where there is wide regional economic disparity, leading to acute income gaps between families. I believe that the benefits of development should be equitably shared to help minimise this income gap. Otherwise the country will be developed but the gap will remain the same, leading to other social issues.”
Munazir believes in the importance of “letting systems speak for themselves” to more effectively improve community services. Accordingly, he has introduced a database for monitoring work across the province, as well as more cost-effective monitoring mechanisms such as visual reporting on construction work progress. This initiative has helped to greatly minimise costs, expedite progress updates and address practical project monitoring challenges, such as the lack of vehicles and personnel time to visit remote locations.
Munazir has also taken measures to improve the transparency of government work in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province by sharing information more widely across the general public, including displaying approved development programs on institutional websites. His province is also the first to introduce a ‘citizens’ budget’ approach:
“With a citizens’ budget approach, we canpresent key public finance information to the general public. I believe that this will make people more aware of the Provincial Council’s responsibilities and the allocation of available system and service deliveries. This will gradually help people to understand their entitlements and approach the relevant services, while also allowing government services to improve quality. We have already shared the citizens’ budget with the Finance Commission to encourage other provinces to introduce our approach.”
Munazir remains in touch with his University of Melbourne supervisors and professors, including Dr Bart Klem, to develop a resettlement plan for conflict-affected people in Trincomalee District. In addition to this collaboration, he has supported Dr Klem’s research work in Sri Lanka by providing him with a workspace. Munazir also maintains connections with fellow students he met during his time in Australia and has hosted some who have visited Sri Lanka.
Munazir gives credit to his Australian studies for providing him with the capabilities to help gain greater autonomy and trust at work. He believes that his unique work approach has made him a popular and well-known official in the province—thanks partly to his soft skills, new ways of thinking and improved English language proficiency learned in Australia, and partly to his personality and broadminded attitude.
“Scholarships provided to less-developed countries are great opportunities to develop human resources,” Munazir says, commenting that as public servant, his Master of Development Studies “has helped me understand development work from a civil society perspective and to ensure that I shape working relationships with the civil society appropriately.”
Munazir appreciates his Australia Awards experience and aspires today it forward through action: “I believe that I have a responsibility for all that I have gained from [my time in] Australia. In return, I need to do something to improve the conditions of my country. And so my ambition is to become the Chief Secretary of the province one day, so that I can bring about positive change.”
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