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| Economist George Montalvan
lectures to participants. |
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St. Kitts played host
to four other Caribbean nations this week as the small
group of Basic Needs Trust Fund officers participated
in a regional workshop on Management for Development
Results. The workshop was jointly funded by Caribbean
Development Bank and Canadian Development Agency as
it saw representatives from five members of the CDB;
Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Grenada
and St. Kitts-Nevis.
Over the course of
three days, the participants heard from two lecturers
- George Montalvan, an economist with 40 years experience
in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa and who
was the Chief Economist at the OAS; and Marie-Helene
Adrien, with over 20 years consulting experience in
evaluation, organizational capacity development and
training both in Canada and internationally. At the
commencement of the initial session, Adrien told The
Observer that the workshop would take place over 3
days and the format would include both lectures and
practical exercises. She informed that the participants
included project managers from the BNTF offices, community
liaison officers and also Project Steering Committee
members and in some instances Non Governmental Organizations
who are all involved in the BNTF projects. CDB Officials
also attended the workshop.
"Some of the
topics covered include stakeholder analysis, problem
analysis and objective analysis, and preparing and
selling the results framework. The objective is to
ensure that the participants and BNTF offices are
increasingly aware of the need to manage their projects
for results and to be more accountable for government
investments," Adrien said.
The consultant said
the aim was that participants would come away from
the workshop more familiar with different tools and
frameworks for managing the projects and activities
of their program with a stronger emphasis on results.
"That means not
only simply being able to identify what the project
has done in terms of activities but what it has changed
in the lives of the communities and also to be more
clear as to how they can together in the region develop
a common approach that is harmonized and more integrated
to support the Caribbean Development Bank's investment."
During her exclusive
interview, Adrien explained that the workshop brought
the regional and local stakeholders in poverty alleviation
to train them in the techniques and requirements for
identifying, creating, implementing and monitoring
sub-projects designed to attain development results.
In 2005, all major donor agencies adopted the Paris
Accord, which called for more streamlining of donor
resources in order to accomplish development goals.
The CDB has had to institute these new guidelines
in all of their funding areas and as the Basic Needs
Trust Fund Program is the Bank's flagship regional
poverty alleviation program, the requirements are
particularly applicable.
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