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Quality and Accountability
Quality and Accountability Hub

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A second virtual Sphere Asia Country Focal Points[1] meeting took place to encourage open dialogue and share new learnings around the application of Sphere and other related Quality & accountability standards among focal points in the region. Hosted in the last week of November by Community World Service Asia (CWSA), which is also Sphere’s regional partner in Asia, the meeting was attended by focal points from China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Wassila Mansouri, Sphere Network and Membership Coordinator, also participated in the meeting to share the new Sphere Strategy 2021-2025, offer advisory support and address any related queries by focal points.

Shama Mall, CWSA’s Deputy Regional Director, emphasised on the importance of these quarterly meetings to establish open communication, exchange best practices and discuss regional challenges. Participants were encouraged to explore creative ways of continuing to promote quality and accountability standards in their respective countries in the face of contextual challenges and changing dynamics. 

“Sphere Standards are being embraced by an increasing international community of trainers and practitioners. Furthermore, we at Sphere have a variety of thematic guides, training packages, learning tools, and online resources that are accessible to all partners and relevant stakeholders to use in their respective locations,” shared Wassila as she discussed Sphere’s key accomplishments over the years. She went on to define the key priorities of the new Sphere Strategy and shared the new governance arrangements.Wassila highlighted the particular attention that is given to increased awareness, uptake, accessibility and localisation in the new strategy through the use of engaging digital platforms, activities and the provision of handbook translations and physical and online trainings. 

Sphere’s fundraising initiative was also introduced to focal points in the meeting. This offers funding to focal points interested in working on initiatives that promote localisation and aims to help increase Sphere Standards ownership and application among members.

Participants recommended developing digital handbook platforms for increased interaction between Sphere, partner organisations, and community members to enhance collaborations and best practises across humanitarian standards. The strategic priorities including encouragement of accountability and learning through a better understanding and articulation of evidence of impact. The focal points were encouraged to share impact based visibility material, such as case studies and videos, map annual review against the strategic priorities and increase external engagement and advocacy with international partners and organisations.

Shama applauded Sphere’s initiative to focus more on supporting focal points, regardless of the fact that resource mobilisation has remained a challenge. She stressed on the need for focal points to identify creative ways of capturing and sharing lessons learned and best practises. It is important for Sphere to promote Sphere more and more with local organisations as well part of their localisation strategy. The focal points can play a vital role in supporting this since we have access to national organisations in our respective countries and regions. 

“Since the Sphere Handbook 2018 was translated into Nepali, the network has distributed over 1500 handbooks to 753 Local Levels in Nepal with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). We have also scheduled trainings with local government officials on disaster risk reduction and management, which will include a focus on the Sphere Standards,” shared Raja Thapa of DPNet Nepal.

“Sphere Community Bangladesh (SCB) went through a rigorous assessment process of humanitarian projects. In the previous year, we reviewed a range of emergency response projects after the occurrence of cyclone Amphan, for different organisations. After this experience, we felt the need of developing a tool or a framework to assess quality and accountability standards during the evaluation of such projects. These virtual meetups will help in brainstorming ideas to develop these tools.”

In conclusion of the engaging session, CWSA shared some key discussion points for the next meeting, which included developing a paper of best practices, and discussing learnings around working with government counterparts.

[1] Sphere Country Focal Points are experienced humanitarian and development organisations, networks, working groups and even some committed individuals working together to promote the Sphere Standards at country-level.

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When: 17 November 2021
What time:2.00 pm (Pakistan Standard Time)
Where: Zoom – link to be shared with registered Participants Register Here
Language: English
How long: 60 minutes
Who is it for: Safeguarding focal points, senior managers of national, international and regional NGO’s and networks
Format: Présentations, Discussion
Moderator & Présenter: Ester Dross

Background:

CWSA is a Pakistani humanitarian and development organisation addressing factor that divide people by promoting inclusiveness, shared values, diversity, and interdépendance.CWSA is highly committed towards Accountability to Affected People and people centered aid. Over the last 2 years, we have offered different webinars, covering various aspects on safeguarding and aiming to raise more awareness on key aspects of accountability such as establishing efficient and transparent complaints systems and protection from and prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

Objectives:

Safeguarding is a key pillar to any accountability measures organizations must integrate into their Programmes and working cycle.

When people we work with or for feel unsafe within their workspace or global environment, this has important negative impacts on the quality of our work and the objectives we intend to reach. It is therefore important that we are more aware and increase our efforts for a better understanding of the issues at hand.

This first webinar is part of a series of 6 one-hour remote events, covering safeguarding, key policies and minimum requirements, Complaints systems, Complaints handling and managing investigations and communication. The last webinar will be dedicated to experience sharing and best practice.

During our first event, we would like to ensure that participants know what we talk about when talking about safeguarding, feel they are able to identify and act upon gaps within safeguarding frameworks and learn from practical examples.

Moderator and Présenter:

Ester Dross—Independent Consultant

Ms. Dross is an indépendant consultant with over 25 years of expérience, specializing in accountability, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, gender and child protection. Ms. Dross has had an extensive exposure to humanitarian certification systems and accountability to affected populations while working with HAP International as their Complaints Handling and Investigation Advisor, later as their Certification Manager. She has been closely involved in the Building Safer Organizations Project since 2005, dealing with sexual exploitation and abuse of beneficiaries, particularly focusing on gender and child protection. Over the last 6 years and since working as an independent consultant, Ester has been leading a pilot project for FAO on accountability and gender mainstreaming in emergencies and working with numerous NGOs including ACT Alliance members, supporting and training their staff on gender issues, child protection, accountability, complaints handling and investigations. She is an experienced investigator herself and has conducted investigations in Asia, South America, Africa and Europe.

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When: 1st – 3rd December 2021
Where: Murree, Punjab
Language: Urdu, English
Interested Applicants: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Last Date to Apply: 15th November 2021 Objectives

Through this training, you will be able to:

  • Identify any gaps between the dynamics of your organisation and targets you desire to achieve in given circumstances
  • Understand your leadership and management style in order to become more self-aware about your unique strengths and how you can overcome the challenges you face by improving your leadership and management competencies
  • Learn skills and tools to foster a healthy organisational culture that nurtures talent, celebrates diversity and guides performance
  • Enhance your capacity to communicate purposefully and with a vision for improved team functioning
  • Develop innovative tactics to envision, plan and implement organisational change

Background

With changing global trends, the dynamics of organisational and people management have also changed. Traditional methods are becoming obsolete with every passing day. Effective managerial skills now aim to improve the performance of individuals and skills in organisational setting with a focus on the 5 Cs: Clarity, Context, Courage, Commitment and Consistency. Competent and well-managed staff are at the heart of an accountable and effective organisation; therefore, they need to be equipped with the right skills and behaviours. The need for staff development, coaching and mentoring is key to optimising maximum productivity.

This training aims to enhance leadership skills of participants which would promote their professional growth resulting in strong institutions. Through this training, you will learn how to best utilize your leadership and management style to engineer change and innovation in your organisation. By the end of this training, you will also further strengthen your skills, knowledge and behaviours to handle interpersonal conflict, manage deadlines, build a healthy organisational culture, lead employee trainings, solve problems, and managing feedback.

Number of Participants

  • A maximum of 20 participants will be selected for the training. Women, differently abled persons and staff belonging to ethnic/religious minorities are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to participants representing organisations working in remote and under-served

Selection Criteria

  • Mid or senior level manager in a civil society organisation, preferably field staff of large CSOs or CSOs with main office in small towns and cities
  • Be in a leadership role within your organisation and/or have primary responsibility of organisation/people management
  • Your organisation should be registered with its respective provincial social welfare department
  • Participants from women led organisations, different abled persons, religious/ethnic minorities will be given priority
  • This 3-day training session is suitable for CSO and NGO workers of all levels particularly from locally-based organisations with a small staff size
  • Willing to pay fee PKR 10,000 for the Exemptions may be applied to CSOs with limited funding and those belonging to marginalised groups.
  • Commitment to apply learning in their work, including dissemination of learning within their organisation

Trainer’s Profile

Ms. Sofia Noreen is an ambitious professional with over 28 years’ eventful career studded with brilliance predominantly in the area of research, program/ project designing and execution, monitoring, international development, and liaison & coordination. Her areas of focus include Gender and Women Empowerment, Climate Change/ Food Security within rural communities, and Governance issues both at policy and implementation levels. She is a dependable professional with a comprehensive understanding of Pakistani politics, the parliamentary setup, and electoral reform agenda and familiar with election management systems both for general and local bodies elections.

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When: 8th -10th December 2021
Where: Murree, Punjab
Language: English & Urdu.
Interested Applicants: Register here
Last Date to Apply: 8th November 2021

Background

Safeguarding is the responsibility that an organisation has to ensure its representatives and the activities it conducts promotes the welfare of the people (especially children and vulnerable adults) it serves and the communities it works with. Safeguarding ensures that the organisation does not expose the communities it works with to the risk of any sort of harm or abuse, including sexual exploitation and abuse. Safeguarding measures seek to prevent situations where individuals can use their position of power, to abuse or exploit another person. Safeguarding vulnerable adults and children is the process of protecting them from abuse or neglect, enabling them to maintain control over their lives and make informed choices.

Objectives

The objective of this training is to enhance the capacity of participant organisations in ensuring the safety and well-being of all of their employees and the community members that they work with.

This workshop will support participating organisations and their staff in exploring key concepts and strengthen their understanding on:

  • Quality and Accountability in Humanitarian and Development.
  • Core Commitments of Safeguarding
  • Safeguarding Basics – Milestones and Development
  • Protecting most vulnerable groups – support for survivors and whistle-blowers
  • Accountability and Transparency around safeguarding and PSEA.
  • Contextualization of Key Safeguarding Messages and How to communicate them
  • Experience sharing / best practices / lesson learning around Safeguarding
  • Overview of Complaint Response Mechanism.

Participation

This training will target members of complaints committees, human resource and MEAL staff, program teams and leadership of NGOs. The training will support participants to understand the key barriers, challenges related to safeguarding at organisational and programmatic level while dealing with communities and stakeholders. It will serve as a platform for participating organisations to discuss and review their relevant policies and procedures to ensure that they are effective in all situations. It will also offer the complaint committee members’ opportunities to develop peer support groups so that they can learn from and support each other. Post-training technical support will be provided to participant organisations to develop and implement policies and systems related to safeguarding.

Number of Participants

A maximum of 20 participants will be selected for this training. Women and differently-abled staff and staff from ethnic/religious minorities are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to participants from organisations based in underserved areas.

Selection Criteria

  • Primary responsibility for Safeguarding at the organisational level
  • Participants from women led organisations, differently-abled persons, religious/ethnic minorities will be prioritised
  • Mid or senior level management in a civil society organizations, preferably CSOs with main office in small towns and cities
  • Willingness to contribute PKR 15,000/- for the training. Exemptions may be applied for CSOs with limited funding and those from marginalised groups. An early-bird discount of 15% will be awarded to applicants who register by the 5th October 2021 and a 30% discount will be awarded to women participants
  • Commitment to apply learning in their work, including dissemination of learning within their organization

Methodology

The approach applied in this training is the ‘Blended Learning’ approach developed by Community World Service Asia in its previous phases of the Civil Society Empowerment Project (CEP). The approach is participatory and needs-based in nature. It consists of selection of participants from diverse organisations at different levels, content and methodology designed with and based on the needs of the training participants, use of experienced and knowledgeable trainers, flexible content and methodology during the training, development of action plans and follow up refreshers and coaching and mentoring support.

Methodology of this training includes practical exercises based on real life projects/programs (but considering social distancing). These will be interspersed with lectures by the external trainer and experience sharing by prominent leaders from the development and humanitarian fields. Presentations would be in English, discussion to be followed in both English and Urdu. Coaching and mentoring support will be provided to 30% of participant organisations to help them apply their learning.
Facilitation Team:

Palwashay Arbab – Head of Communications and Gender Justice Focal Person- CWSA. A journalism and humanitarian practitioner associated with the aid sector in the Asia Pacific region since the last ten years. Has a diverse experience based on humanitarian work, journalistic writing, humanitarian and development communication, social media management, advocacy, training management, fundraising, branding and public relations, program development, gender justice and coordination. Training and presentation development experience for youth and staff on social media campaigns, hashtag activism, diversity and safeguarding. Representational and networking experience with the international donor community, I/NGOs, and communities. Currently co-chairing the global Gender Justice Reference group of ACT alliance and governing board member of the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network.

Asma Shehzad –Head of Support Functions- Safeguarding Focal Person-CWSA with more than 15 years of experience in Management including Organizational Policy development, conflict management, investigations, policies implementation, Asma has been now working with Community World Service Asia as Head of Support Functions. She is currently based in Islamabad, Pakistan. Asma is not only involved actively in the implementation of Safeguarding Policy at the organizational level with all stakeholders, she also acts as a Safeguarding Focal Person for CWSA. Being head of Support Functions Department, she is fulfilling her responsibilities in the development and implementation of policies to the best of her abilities. To her credit is the honor to be part of the team that has implemented Safeguarding Policy across CWSA. She also feels privileged to be part of Act as Co-Chair for Act Community of Practice- Safeguarding.

Ayesha Hassan – Associate Regional Director Head – CWSA Ayesha Hassan is the Associate Director at the Community World Service Asia with a diverse experience of campaigning and project implementation on Quality and Accountability (including Safeguarding, PSEAH, Complaints Response Mechanism), Gender, Livelihood (including food security with focus on DRR), Education, and Participation. She is a trainer, advisor and voice for Quality and Accountability standards including Core Humanitarian Standards, Do No Harm Approach, and Sphere Standards.

Ayesha is hands on in fundraising and program growth, overseeing the development of proposals and donor compliance. She develops program strategies for various programs under implementation while she has also facilitated the process of developing a 10-year strategy for DRR, livelihood and democratization.

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When: 23rd– 25th November 2021
Where: Islamabad
Language: Urdu and English
Interested Applicants: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Last Date to Apply: 5th November 2021

Objectives

Through this training, participants will be able to

  • Identify essentials of project proposal writing
  • Explore logical sequence and steps in the process
  • Analyze the problem and address it systematically using problem and objective analysis
  • Apply Theory of Change approach to projects and programs
  • Develop project/program implementation plan and
  • Define key aspect for developing project budgets

Background

A project proposal defines your approach and methodology to address key thematic focus or problem. The project proposal document consists of overall goal/impact statement, objectives, activities, project implementation and management methodology, key results/outcomes and associated budget to address any given problem. It fosters a relationship between an organization and potential donors about a particular project. It tells stakeholders about the situation, key issues to be addressed, proposed methodology and proposed outcome under the given budget and timelines.

Learning how to write a project proposal helps to better communicate with potential donors and partner organizations. This skill is essential for getting to know key elements of writing good proposal to increase chances of success. Proposals establish a formal framework about a project that enable clear understanding for all stakeholders.

Proposal writing can be a daunting task especially for smaller and medium-sized NGOs. This training will provide you an in-depth understanding about the key elements of good proposal writing. You will learn to communicate effectively with the donors. This training will also help you to understand the requirements of different donors, explore their formats and identify ways to innovatively address the key section in any given format. In an environment of increased competitiveness in the non-profit sector, it is crucial for all NGOs to learn essential skills in proposal writing. This training will provide you an opportunity to enhance your understanding and enhance your capacity to write effective proposals which can in turn benefit your organization to achieve its desired goals.

Number of Participants

  • A maximum of 20 participants will be selected for the training. Women, differently abled persons and staff belonging to ethnic/religious minorities are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to participants representing organizations working in remote and under-served areas.

Selection Criteria

  • Participant’s organization should be registered with its respective provincial social welfare department
  • Primary responsibility for proposal writing
  • Mid or senior level manager in a civil society organization, preferably staff from small scale CSOs working directly with communities in small towns and cities
  • Participants from women led organisations, different abled persons, religious/ethnic minorities will be given priority
  • This 3-day training session is suitable for CSO and NGO workers of all levels particularly from locally-based organizations with a small staff size
  • Willing to pay fee PKR 10,000 for the training. Exemptions may be applied to CSOs with limited funding and those belonging to marginalised groups.
  • Commitment to apply learning in their work, including dissemination of learning within their organisation

Trainers’ Profiles

Ms. Sofia Noreen is an ambitious professional with over 28 years’ eventful career studded with brilliance predominantly in the area of research, program/ project designing and execution, monitoring, international development, and liaison & coordination. Her areas of focus include Gender and Women Empowerment, Climate Change/ Food Security within rural communities, and Governance issues both at policy and implementation levels.

She is a dependable professional with a comprehensive understanding of Pakistani politics, the parliamentary setup, and electoral reform agenda and familiar with election management systems both for general and local bodies elections.

Ms. Sofia has delivered multi-day training programs on train-the-trainer, team building, and other related topics. She is an articulate communicator who is highly well versed in Log Frame Analysis, Risk Analysis, and management for Result Based Management, budgeting, staff recruitment, capacity development, NGO management, stakeholder engagement, evaluation of program and projects, report writing, proposal writing and manuals. Throughout her career, she has been committed to following the principles set forth with the UDHR, ICCPR, CEDAW, and other international conventions and standards. Mr. Khurram Saeed is working with Community World Service Asia and leading the Quality and Accountability program. He has over 10 years of experience in capacity enhancement support, project management, coordination & networking. He holds hands on experience in promoting Quality and Accountability and applying project cycle including assessing, designing, implementing, reviewing and evaluating projects in humanitarian and development context. He remained extensively involved in the designing and carrying out humanitarian/development capacity enhancement interventions in participatory manner including development of strategies, training manuals and training events.

Mr. Khurram Saeed is working with Community World Service Asia and leading the Quality and Accountability program. He has over 10 years of experience in capacity enhancement support, project management, coordination & networking. He holds hands on experience in promoting Quality and Accountability and applying project cycle including assessing, designing, implementing, reviewing and evaluating projects in humanitarian and development context. He remained extensively involved in designing and carrying out humanitarian/development capacity enhancement interventions in participatory manner including development of strategies, training manuals and training events.

 

 

Scholarship/Discount Details: Special Scholarships are available for those organization that send two or more females to attend the training.

Additional Details: The final deadline for applications is November 5th, 2021. Please be assured that incomplete applications will not be entertained. Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is a humanitarian and development organization, registered in Pakistan, head-quartered in Karachi and implementing initiatives throughout Asia. CWSA is a member of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Alliance, a member of Sphere and their regional partner in Asia and also manages the ADRRN Quality & Accountability Hub in Asia.

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An informal consultative meeting hosted by Community World Service Asia was held online amongst the Sphere Country Focal Points in Asia on 3rd September 2021. It focused on the contextualized challenges in different countries, including the new challenges amid the pandemic, and how to overcome them.

Sphere, established in 1997, is well known for its contribution and commitment towards strengthening the quality of humanitarian assistance to affected communities across the globe. Its flagship publication, the Sphere Handbook, outlines the fundamental tenets of quality and accountability in humanitarian assistance. It is based on the core philosophy that organisations and individuals that support and assist different, vulnerable communities around the world also bear the responsibility of ensuring that the assistance they provide is of acceptable quality and that appointed resources reach affected communities in the most accountable manner.

Role of the Sphere Focal Points

The implementation of Sphere standards is promoted at country-level by experienced staff representing humanitarian and development organisations, networks, working groups as well as independent practitioners, known as Sphere Country Focal Points. The role of these focal points is to disseminate knowledge and promote the application of Sphere principles and standards around the world and more specifically in the regions that they work in. A Virtual Meet-up was held amongst the Sphere Country Focal Points in Asia on 3rd September, 2021. This informal consultative meeting had a few set discussion points and was hosted by Community World Service Asia which is the regional partner to Sphere in Asia as well as Sphere Country Focal Point in Pakistan. Participants were free to actively engage in discussion, share their experiences or just listen and learn.

Consent on most effective practices

Through this meeting, Focal Points were given an opportunity to promote open communication and learning in addition to sharing the work that focal point organisations or practitioners are doing on Sphere standards in their respective countries. The insightful discussion mainly focused on the contextualized challenges in different countries, including the new challenges amid the pandemic, and how to overcome them. All participants agreed that practices which accommodate multiple stakeholders and take into account the country’s specific contexts are the most effective. A few of the key discussions and action points deliberated in the meeting are shared here:

  • Sphere focal points will develop a context and different stakeholder driven best practices/lessons learned document on quality and accountability to be shared within the region
  • Language barriers for global and regional level events/virtual events need to be addressed
  • Innovative and effective approaches for conducting impactful online/virtual trainings must be identified
  • Experience sharing on approaches being used by Focal Points to promote Q&A

Second Meet up on November 24

Interested participants are creating a practical implementation plan based around the discussion points. This will help solidify the work and impact of quality and accountability advocacy including Sphere standards and Core Humanitarian Standard for local governments and civil society in focal point countries. The second Virtual Meet up of Sphere Country Focal Points is scheduled to be held on 24th November 2021. It is hoped that these meetups will be conducted regularly to improve quality and accountability frameworks for humanitarian agencies within the region.

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“The smiles we bring to the faces of the individuals we work for inspires me to keep going and serve as many people as possible.”

Muhammad Waseem has been actively working as a humanitarian practitioner in Pakistan’s development sector since the past seven years. “As Manager Quality Assurance in Association for Gender Awareness & Human Empowerment (AGAHE), I am responsible to develop, review and implement a robust Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning framework and tools. The objective is to facilitate measurement of progress and enhance compliance of programmes and projects with AGAHE standards, policy framework and best practices. AGAHE is working on various thematic areas, including Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Food Security & Livelihoods, Health & Nutrition, Disaster Risk Reduction & Resilience, and Governance.”

“Managing teams was the most challenging responsibility after being promoted to Manager Quality Assurance. Since the promotion took place during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the projects became extremely time-sensitive, and workload was at an all-time high. I always believed that working in a group was more efficient than working alone. But it did not take me long to realise that it’s only easier when done right. Team chemistry, capabilities, and challenges faced are the most essential factors to consider while dealing with teams in times of crisis. After hearing about the training workshop on ‘Leading in Complexity and Uncertainty’ in April from a friend, I immediately applied,” shared Waseem.

Seventeen participants representing 14 national and international non-governmental organisations took part in the training. Waseem, along with other humanitarian workers, explored various leadership styles and skills during the training and analysed their own leadership styles based on self-assessments. Participants learned new methodologies and tool to improve their leadership skills and devised strategies for peer assistance exercises and technical mentorship. “The training material was prepared with the participants’ consent. This was a motivating aspect since it allowed us, as participants, to suggest essential subjects for inclusion in the training agenda, making the training more relevant and effective in terms of learning. Arif Jabbar, the lead facilitator, adopted a participatory approach throughout the five-day workshop which enabled an effective sharing and learning process among all us participants.”

Waseem was new to the MBTI and Emotional Intelligence models of self-awareness that were introduced in the training. “It’s hardly news that people leave organisations because of poor management. Tools like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can be extremely helpful here. The MBTI and Emotional Intelligence workshop was an excellent method for us to develop our own self-awareness, and it also served as a strong foundation for learning what would potentially frustrates or upsets others. This session’s group activity targeted at self-assessment in times of complexity and uncertainty, allowing us to discover important qualities to work more successfully with others and manage our team in a more emotionally intelligent manner.”

Waseem initiated regular meetings with his team members after taking the training. “The ‘Leader as a Coach’ session improved my communication skills and helped me understand my team’s dynamics more. I started scheduling twice-monthly meetings with my team members to give them an opportunity to share their challenges and work together to find solutions. Keeping the mechanism of accountability in place without compromising teams’ trust and confidence was a big challenge. Meetings with teams that worked remotely helped to bridge the communication gap and accelerate project delivery. This initiative has increased our team’s productivity and motivation to work in unprecedented times.”

Constant communication with his teams has been a game changer for Waseem. “My staff has more faith in me and the work we are doing now. Overcoming my negative leadership qualities and improving team communication has increased my team’s trust in me, and we are now working more collectively than ever before.”

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When: 24-26 August 2021
Where: Murree Punjab
Language: Urdu
Interested Applicants: Click here to register
Last Date to Apply: 5th August 2021

Rationale:

Since the 1950s the development agenda has been characterized by projects and programmes aimed at improving the quality of life of beneficiary communities, be it in physical or qualitative terms. Despite significant inputs of human and financial resources, many fell short of expectations. Projects failed to meet the priority needs of communities; stated outputs were not achieved or, if achieved, not sustained; target groups did not benefit in the manner intended; project costs escalated and implementation dates slipped, and adverse outcomes were not anticipated.

These failures were attributed in part to poor project management, such as inadequate opportunities for potential beneficiaries to participate in project identification, weak financial management, inadequate monitoring during implementation, poor linkages between project activities and project purpose, and insufficient attention to the external environment during project design. It was also recognised that projects were more likely to succeed when account was taken of the socio-economic context in which they operated.

The rationale for imparting training of NGOs in project cycle management is the wish to achieve sustainable development. Projects should identify and understand the different roles and entitlements between various beneficiaries in focused communities, and the special challenges faced by disadvantaged groups. During recent decades, many tools have been developed to strengthen the management of projects, such as project cycle management, the logical framework and rapid appraisal techniques. Similarly, technological revolution has also contributed significantly to plan, design, implement and keep track of the activities by all team members while geographically spread and/or different locations.

Participants of the training will go through all critical phases of project cycle management both theoretically and practically and there will be ample room through group exercises to benefit from the rich knowledge of participants that they will be bringing from their respective fields and focus areas.

The training will specifically focus on:

  • Comprehend concepts and terminologies of Project, Project Management
  • Recognize various phases of Project Cycle Management and its importance
  • Understand and sharpen their skills to use various analytical tools for Project Identification
  • Use Project structure, Logical Framework Analysis, External Environment, OVI and sustainability and work plans based on activity analysis during projects’ design phase and preparation phase
  • Learn to undertake use of technology for documentation, communication, quality assessments at each phase of PCM

Number of Participants

  • A maximum of 20 participants will be selected for the training. Women applications, differently abled persons and staff belonging to ethnic/religious minorities are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to participants representing organizations working in remote and under-served areas.

Selection Criteria

  • Primary responsibility for program/project management.
  • Mid or senior level manager in a civil society organization, preferably field staff of large CSOs or CSOs with main office in small towns and cities
  • Participants from women led organisations, different abled persons, religious/ethnic minorities will be given priority
  • This 3-day training session is suitable for CSO and NGO workers of all levels particularly from locally-based organizations with a small staff size
  • Willing to pay fee PKR 10,000 for the training. Exemptions may be applied to CSOs with limited funding and those belonging to marginalised groups. Discount of 10% on early registration by 1st August 2021 and 20% discount will be awarded to women participants
  • Commitment to apply learning in their work, including dissemination of learning within their organisation Commitment to apply learning in their work, including dissemination of learning within their organisation

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is a humanitarian and development organization, registered in Pakistan, head-quartered in Karachi and implementing initiatives throughout Asia. CWSA is member of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Alliance, a member of Sphere and their regional partner in Asia and also manages the ADRRN Quality & Accountability Hub in Asia.
Facilitator/Lead Trainer:

Ms. Sofia Noreen is an ambitious professional with over 28 years’ eventful career studded with brilliance predominantly in the area of research, program/ project designing and execution, monitoring, international development, and liaison & coordination. Her areas of focus include Gender and Women Empowerment, Climate Change/ Food Security within rural communities, and Governance issues both at policy and implementation levels.

She is a dependable professional with a comprehensive understanding of Pakistani politics, the parliamentary setup, and electoral reform agenda and familiar with election management systems both for general and local bodies elections.

Ms. Sofia has delivered multi-day training programs on train-the-trainer, team building, and other related topics. She is an articulate communicator who is highly well versed in Log Frame Analysis, Risk Analysis, and management for Result Based Management, budgeting, staff recruitment, capacity development, NGO management, stakeholder engagement, evaluation of program and projects, report writing, and manuals. Throughout her career, she has been committed to following the principles set forth with the UDHR, ICCPR, CEDAW, and other international conventions and standards.

Scholarship Details: Special Scholarships are available for those organization that send two or more females to attend the training.

Additional Details: The final deadline for applications is August 5th, 2021. Please be assured that incomplete applications will not be entertained.

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When: 11th June, 2021
What time: 2:30 TO 4:30 PM (Pakistan Standard Time)
Where: ZOOM – Link to be shared with registered participants – Register Now
Language: Urdu
How long: 2 hours
Who it is for: Pakistan-based NGOs interested in registration with the Economic Affairs Division (EAD)
Format: Presentations followed by discussion

Speakers:

Ms. Adeela Bukhari – Joint Secretary NGOS/INGOs — Ministry of Economic Affairs Division, Pakistan

Objectives of the webinar:

  • Navigate through the processes and procedures of signing an MOU with EAD in Pakistan
  • Explore the scope and nature of support available to NGOs under the CWSA NGO Help Facility

Background

Civil Society Organizations in Pakistan, especially working at the grass-root level, sometime finds it difficult to navigate through regulatory framework due to lack of understanding to the government procedures and requirements. The regulatory information is at times complex and technical in nature. The need is to simplify the information, develop guidance notes for the documentations and advice on how to do follow-up on their application.

It is critical for all NGOs, small or large, to sign an MOU with the Economic Affairs Division in Pakistan to receive funding and implement projects across Pakistan. The process for the registration with EAD and then the reporting procedures including the submission of Annual Plan of Actions, NOCs for projects and biannual reporting requirements are difficult to fully comprehend for NGOs of all type and scale.

To help overcome this, CWSA is providing practical assistance to local and national NGOs in Pakistan that require assistance with any of the processes and procedural requirements for application to EAD.

CWSA has established an “NGO Help Facility” for technical discussion, coaching, on-line information resources and virtual clinics to support NGOs intending to file their applications and sign MOUs with the EAD. The help facility will also support organization in understanding the reporting requirements at EAD.

This service is facilitative and free of cost. CWSA will help to clarify application guidelines, support organizations to develop complete application documentation as per EAD requirements, and, guide for any needed follow up. Activities offered by the NGO Help Facility will include the following:

  • Advisory sessions/ days for NGOs
  • Webinars on EAD Process and Procedures
  • Creation of a center within CWSA, available to any and all NGOs on demand.
  • Provision of training and coaching to NGO representatives to support development, and revision of their application documentation

Disclaimer: Assistance provided through the NGO Help Facility is a pro bono service that offers technical support and brokers positive relationships.  Engagement, in itself does not guarantee that the client organization will be granted an MOU without having successfully completed all of EAD’s required due diligence processes. CWSA mandate is to support the local NGOs in understanding the process and procedures for the MOU with EAD and ensure complete documentation to avoid unnecessary delays due to incomplete documentations.

Interested in Participating? Register here for the Webinar! 

Community World Service Asia is a Pakistani humanitarian and development organization addressing factors that divide people by promoting inclusiveness, shared values, diversity, and interdependence. It engages in the self-implementation of projects, cooperation through partners, and the provision of capacity building trainings and resources at the national, regional and global levels.

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2024Sat07Dec(Dec 7)9:00 AMMon09(Dec 9)5:00 PMFrom tools to trust: Advancing Safeguarding

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