In Acord Newsletter Issue 1: February 2001

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Article 10:
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1. People in Acord

2. Gender Training in ACORD: the missing dimension

3. Workshops and Training Diary

Guilherme Santos, Country Coordinator for Angola attended the recent World Social Forum in Brazil to coincide with the World Economic Forum.

n Limya Faris has taken over from Asha El Karib as Country Coordinator for Sudan. Asha is now Research Officer (Gender) based in Khartoum.

n Mark Adams, National Coordinator for Southern Sudan will be leaving ACORD in March.

n Sam Aisu, Country Coordinator for Uganda, has left ACORD.

n Cecily Bryant, Senior Programme Officer at the Southern Africa desk, London, has left ACORD to join CARE US as Assistant Country Coordinator in Haiti.

n Hayley Wilkes, Funding Officer supporting Eagle and West Africa in the Funding Department, London has left ACORD. The post is now held by Samy Adouani, previously Funding/RAPP Administrator, London.

n Jaqueline Sibanda, Regional Administrator at the East Africa and Great Lakes desk, London, has left ACORD.

n Fati Aboubacrine has been appointed as Gender Officer in Kidal.

Gender Training in ACORD: the missing dimension

By Angela Hadjipateras, Research Officer, ACORD

Gender training is viewed by most ACORD programmes as a high strategic priority and consistent with the aims of the change process. There exists within ACORD a significant in-house gender training capacity and ACORD’s own Gender Training Modules are used in 50% of the countries where ACORD works. On the other hand, both the political will and leadership and the organisational culture required for the pro-active promotion of gender equality within ACORD are either weak or absent at all levels of the organisation.

These were the major conclusions of the Gender Training Consultation that was carried between June and August 2000. The consultation was aimed at finding out about field attitudes and practices in relation to gender training as the basis for developing ACORD’s future strategy in relation to training as an integral part of our commitment to gender equality. One of the major concerns was whether ACORD should be developing its own in-house gender training capacity by investing resources in the revision and extension of the Gender Training Modules. Former ACORD employee, Tamara Underwood, developed a detailed questionnaire and spoke to a total of 37 ACORD staff, as well as to members of the Gender Committee and other NGOs.

The X Factor
While there was a general consensus among respondents that gender training is an essential part of any strategy aimed at promoting gender equality, many also expressed the view that gender training alone can not achieve the desired results. Cecile Mukarubuga, Regional Research Adviser for the Great Lakes region, expressed this view in the form of an equation: Gender Equality=Gender Policy + Gender Training plus X. Elements of the so-called ‘X factor’ include: a high level of commitment; increased training capacity; systematic budgeting for gender training and other forms of staff support; systematic collection and monitoring of gender-disaggregated information; and the promotion of women to positions of influence. In sum, a multi-faceted and multi-directional approach.

Recommendations
Based on the consultation findings, the report recommends that ACORD should:

• Recognise and commit itself to addressing organisational blockages and resistance to working for gender equality.

• Recognise the role of gender training in both addressing these blockages and facilitating the acquisition of skills and tools for the promotion of gender equality.

• Adopt a strategic and systematic approach to gender training for all staff.

• Retain and develop its existing in-house gender training capacity.

• If the Gender Training Modules are revised, this should be done in a participatory manner involving all field staff.

The full Consultation report in English or French can be obtained from the London office.

Workshops and Training Diary

Social Exclusion Training
March 2001
Tanzania, London

HIV/AIDS Workshop
26 - 30 March 2001, Johannesburg
ACORD staff from 15 African countries will be participating in the Africa-wide HIV/AIDS workshop in Johannesburg from 26 - 30 March 2001. The workshop will focus on ACORD's experience of HIV/AIDS work and its possible role in further contributing to reversing the current trend, especially in Southern Africa.

The workshop will also provide ACORD with the opportunity to determine its HIV/AIDS Research and Advocacy agenda and to reorient its initiatives in order to contribute to the global HIV/AIDS concerns and debates.

ACORD intends to hold a follow-up meeting to develop its relations with partners and other like-minded organisations and individuals, and to launch its expanded programme and HIV/AIDS Research and Advocacy Plan.

Sahel I Workshop
28 March - 2 April 2001, Ouagadougou

Micro-finance Workshop
June 2001, Horn of Africa
ACORD's Horn of Africa programmes will be holding a four-day Micro-finance workshop in June to build on their regional experience.

The workshop will be aimed at identifying areas of collaboration between the programmes, sharing expertise and enhancing learning within the region. The workshop will also seek to link ACORD's knowledge of micro-finance with the external world, establish a Horn Micro-finance network and use the forum as a lobbying platform.

The twenty participants will include programme and Secretariat staff as well as two members of the Senior Management. The venue is yet to be confirmed.

Gender & Conflict Workshop
June 2001, Windhoek
(to be confirmed)

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