Photo by Tobias Nii Kwatei Quartey on Unsplash
Sustainable development organizations are aware that they cannot tackle major development challenges alone. They know it is necessary to engage all the actors and sectors involved to achieve long-lasting goals. By joining resources, capacities and expertise, organizations can create stronger inclusion and guarantee leaving no one behind.
GlobalCAD has launched a training programme on Effective Partnerships Management for UNCDF. The aim of this initiative is to support UNCDF regional teams to build effective partnerships that contribute to increasing resources to promote an Inclusive Digital Economy in four regions: West and Central Africa, East Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
The training program consists of three modules addressed to Country and Segment Leaders, and Regional Hub Managers. Given the current COVID-19 situation that imposes travel restrictions, the trainings are being delivered using distance learning techniques that promote interaction among participants through live exercises.
The first module was focused in understanding the partnerships life cycle, aligning the vision, and assessing their needs and resources. The second one was aimed to identify and evaluate current partners while defining potential ones for each regional office, and reviewing different engagement strategies. Finally, the third module describes how to articulate the identified potential partnerships and defining strategies for upscaling with a sustainability approach.
More than 30 participants from the four UNCDF regional offices have participated in the two online trainings delivered in February and April. These trainings have highlighted the importance of having an aligned vision while working with partnerships, the relevance of sharing knowledge and practices among regional offices, the need to diversify partners and thematic, and integrating a regional approach as unified regions with clear responsibilities and roles.
Once the training is completed, GlobalCAD will support global and regional teams in the four regions mentioned before to put together stakeholder maps at the regional and global level.
The project will finalize with a Stakeholder Strategic Workshop convening key stakeholders identified during the mapping exercise in order to start implementing the potential partnerships identified. If the COVID-19 situation allows it, parallel workshops will be performed in Dakar, Kampala, Bangkok and Suva. Concerning the global hub, it is expected to be conducted in Brussels. To conclude the project, GlobalCAD will provide guidelines and tools for systematizing stakeholders mapping and partnerships implementation processes.
This is one of the several training projects that GlobalCAD has implemented throughout the last ten years with international organizations and UN agencies, such as the online course on the UN Sustainable Development Goals for the PhD Program on Environmental Sustainable Development with UNDP and the University of Bahrain; a training and mentoring program on partnerships in the Southeast of Mexico with the Kellogg Foundation; and an online course on social entrepreneurship for Junta de Extremadura in Spain.
By Rosario Uriarte
