In the frame of the IOM Albania programme “Engage the Albanian Diaspora to the Social and Economic Development of Albania”, in partnership with the Albanian School of Public Administration (ASPA), after the delivering of the ToT on Fund Raising, are delivered the first and the second modules of the ToT on Project Cycle Management: “Project design and planning” and “Project logical framework and project design”. The 2 modules were held from 27 July to 6 August 2020 through ASPA online training platform.

In this training participated 16  representatives from beneficiary institutions: Albanian State Minister for Diaspora; Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs; National Agency of Diaspora; National Fund for Diaspora; Diaspora Publishing Center; Center for Arberësh Research; Albanian Investment Development Agency (AIDA); Albanian Diaspora Business Chamber. The training was delivered by IOM local and international consultants who have also drafted the curriculum and the didactic materials.

“Considering that the Diaspora Engagement institutions are newly created, I am sure that this training is crucial for the development and sustainability of all these institutions,” said Ms. Manoela Lussi, IOM Albania Diaspora Programme Manager. While Mr. Endri Xhaferraj, the Programme Officer at Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Tirana, stressed the importance of this training to prepare these institutions not only for the writing and applying phases of the projects, but also for being good stewards during their implementation phase.

This training curriculum is a collection of theoretical knowledge and practical tools for the design and implementation of projects. It is a concrete tool for the institutions and can be directly used for their empowerments and create concrete opportunities to increase the engagement of the Diaspora in a sustainable manner.

“There is an enormous interest of the participants for the training. In Albania there are many opportunities for the Diaspora Institutions to access funds, but in the same time there is lack of professionals in this fields. Diaspora has been considered mainly for the remittances. It's time to involve diaspora in greater projects, with a wider vision, and I hope this training will contribute to achieve this objective,” noted Esmeralda Hasani, contracted by IOM Albania Diaspora Programme as International Consultant.

The first module of the training was focused on the general information on project preparation such as planning and management, SWOT analysis, stakeholder analysis, problem identification and analysis, roles and responsibilities of a project team. The second module was focused mainly on the logical framework approach for project design and its matrix approach, writing a narrative summary, objectives, purpose, outputs, activities and project assumptions.

Every theoretical concept was illustrated with practical projects, and the participants shown their interactive participation in the on-line training through interactive exercises.

“Project Cycle Management training is a good opportunity and comes at the right time for the Diaspora engagement staff. This training comes as a need to increase our capacity and it proactively involves the staff in the world of projects. Through these modules we were able not only to increase our knowledge and capacity but also be inspired in generating new ideas,” says Ms. Alma Kordoni, the representative of National Fund for Diaspora in this training.

While Ms. Anila Ajvazi, the representative of Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in this training highlighted that “By being part of this training, we will be a value added in the institutions where we work, as this training will help us to increase our analytic and technical skills to implement the strategies, projects and action plans.”

The third module of ToT on Project Cycle Management and the general/didactic part, will be delivered by  mid of September 2020.