maurice gervais

The assignment, funded, at first by the Asian Development Bank and, subsequently by the Government of Australia, aimed to help Bappenas prepare a Road Map for the achievement of the country's 2015 Millenium Development Goals. Among the key outputs that were to be produced was an evaluation of the effectiveness of the country's regional capital grants system - the Dana Alokasi Khusus (DAK) - which, hitherto, constituted the main vehicle for funding specific regional government investment expenditures. The consultancy carried out a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the DAK grant system, which had been initiated in 2002.

My first opportunity to work in development occurred when I was recruited by CIDA to become a planning officer in the Asia department, with responsibilities to inform the preparation of new projects for India and Nepal. During the months leading to my assignment in Niger, I helped appraise two projects - a second phase extension of the capacity of an existing hydroelectric dam in Tamil Nadu State in India and a small national airlines project in Nepal.

This assignment was funded by UNDP Lao PDR and consisted of drafting a working paper for UNDP Lao PDR regarding the risks and potential outcomes of the Government of Lao PDR objectives of graduating from Lest Developed Country Status by 2020. A key concern was the need for an accelerated program of governance improvements - particularly focused on public finance management - to allow the country to improve macro-economic and fiscal management as it emerged from a dependence on concessional funding to a reliance on commercial/quasi-commercial external funding. The UNDP had a particular interest in assessing the risks in light of its role in the coordination of donor support and in the management of the graduation process.

This consultancy was funded by UNDP Jakarta. It addressed the issue of discrepancies in the central government's public finance management and accounting framework and that of the regional government PFM and accounting system. Because of the differences in both systems, the Government of Indonesia's (GoI) reporting framework that regional governments had to use could not fully capture expenditure patterns owing to differences in the chart of accounts, making it difficult for the GoI to design effective grants systems and secure needed information to assess expenditure outcomes. The consultancy consisted of designing a bridge to harmonize national and regional government charts of accounts and therefore allow for a uniform consolidation of expenditure reports by the regions, emphasizing the assessment of expenditure outcomes.

Maldives, 2003. The consultancy, supported by the UNDP consisted of providing advisory support to both UNDP and the Government of Maldives regarding the design of UNDP's forthcoming country assistance program (a first visit), followed by two other visits aimed at helping to articulate a strategy for decentralized governance in Maldives.

For the UNDP's Africa Policy Bureau. Prepared an issues paper related to the human development impact of the Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative (HIPC) program.

Upon my return from Cyprus, I was appointed head of a Francotrain program at the Canadian Armed Forces Signals school in Kingston, Ontario. Responsibilities included the delivery of communications training in French to non-commissioned officers and soldiers. The program was being successfully delivered as I left the service.

My first posting as a regular officer was with the 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Infantry Regiment in Valcartier Quebec. The regiment was preparing for a six-month tour of duty as peacekeepers in Cyprus. I was given command of one of the platoons that would be deployed at the fringe of the Turkish enclave surrounding Nicosia and the road leading to the small port of Kyrenia.