ESCAP Sets Training Agenda

United Nations ESCAP
HRD Section

ESCAP Sets Training Agenda

Designing HRD Courses for Social Development Personnel

At a meeting in March, a group of international experts provided important inputs to ESCAP for setting a training agenda for a series of ESCAP HRD Courses for social development personnel. The outcome of the meeting is given below.

The Expert Group Meeting on Phase III of the Jakarta Plan of Action on Human Resources Development in the ESCAP Region was held in Bangkok from 18 to 21 March in conjunction with the Regional Meeting on Youth Training Needs. The purpose of the two joint meetings was to assess the regional training needs of social development personnel and develop a regional training programme for the following groups of social development personnel:

- Poverty alleviation personnel;

- Gender and development personnel;

- Youth work personnel; and

- Social and health personnel dealing with young persons in especially difficult circumstances.

The premise of ESCAP's work in this field is based on the conviction that training of social development personnel is a form of investment in human resources with possibly the greatest multiplier effect. Utilization of the value-added service of trained social development personnel, in their capacity as service providers, will result in an enhanced quality of life for a large portion of the population.

In reviewing the training needs of the region, the Meeting decided that ESCAP should focus on short-term professional training courses for social development personnel in the region. The two levels of personnel to be addressed should include those at the policy-making level and those at the programme management level.

The courses should cover both "core" and "specialized" areas.

The "core" curriculum would be open to policy-makers from all areas of social development. The objective of the course would be to promote awareness among policy-makers and senior officials of the latest social development thinking, concepts and practices. The course would consist of three parts: (1) Promoting value-based social development; (2) Rethinking development models; and (3) Identifying skills for promoting social development. The duration of the course would be one-week.

The four specialized courses would be targeted to programme managers working in each of the specific fields of: poverty alleviation; advancement of the status of women; youth participation in development; and social and health development of young persons in especially difficult circumstances. The objective of each of the specialized training programmes would be to enhance the knowledge and skills of programme managers in project/programme design, implementation and evaluation. The duration of the course would be from two to three weeks.

The training methodology would rely on the case study method and emphasize inter-country sharing of experience. The courses would be conducted in a participatory manner, using learner-centred strategies and encouraging involvement of participants in the development of action plans.

ESCAP is currently preparing the curriculum for the "core" course for social development policy-makers and senior officials. Click here for more information on the courses.