On 24 to28 June, WOCAN organizedthe Training of Trainers (TOT) for the”Capacity Building for Women’s Leadership in Farmer Producer Organizations in Asia and the Pacific Region” project in Bangkok, Thailand. The three year project (2012-2104) in Lao PDR, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, is a technical assistance grant to support the gender component of the existing IFAD projects. It is focused on improving the enabling environment of IFAD projects by building awareness of rights and leadership amongst farmers, staff of agricultural support organizations, and local governments. The activities will strengthen the capacities and competencies of rural women leaders, engage male colleagues, and enhance the competencies of key members of project stakeholders in IFAD project areas. The activities will enable beneficiary stakeholders to express themselves, choose their leaders appropriately, and manage their own organizations effectively.
To support the project objectives, WOCAN has developed a series of three training workshops for IFAD staff who will roll out trainings for their project beneficiaries. The first training workshop was focused on Gender Integrated Planning, the second training workshop was focused on Women’s Leadership and Organizational Change, and this third workshop will provide valuable training skills to the participants as a ‘Training of Trainers’ module. The participants were IFAD project staff from Lao PDR, Maldives and Sri Lanka.The participants practiced their facilitation skills in simulation exercises and planned their roll out training. The five-day training focused on gender awareness, gender concepts, training design, facilitation skills and developing a work-plan to roll out training in their projects.