A 5-day training workshop on project proposal formulation and management was organized by the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in collaboration with ICPALD/IGAD within the scope of the Surveillance of Trade Sensitive Diseases (STSD) and the Reinforcing Animal Health Services in Somalia (RAHS) projects for IGAD Member States (MS) from 22nd-26th May 2017 at Eureka Place Hotel in Kampala, Uganda.
Program and/or Project proposal development and management are essential in any development process. In most of the African countries, livestock programmes and projects are often poorly designed and inadequately targeted, leading to the inefficient and fragmented allocation of scarce development resources. Policies related to the livestock sector are often incoherent with ill-defined goals and with little or no assessment of their likely impact. The lack of consistent, integrated strategies, programs and projects that focus limited resources on identified and attainable goals remains a major constraint to livestock development. The African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) has been developing and implementing programs and projects in African countries since its establishment in 1951. One of the major gaps identified is the inadequate capacity of Member States in developing and implementing programs and projects at national level in line with the latest international best practices. It is against this background that led MS to seek support from AU-IBAR to enhance their capacity in the development and implementation of relevant, competitive and bankable project proposals in order to mobilize resources from various partners and ensure implementation for results. The initial phase involves all the African MSs starting within the Greater Horn of Africa (GHoA) region.
The overall objective of the training was to strengthen the capacity of key personnel in the IGAD MS Veterinary Services/Livestock Departments in formulating targeted and competitive project proposals for resource mobilization to address identified priority interventions in the livestock sector.
The training aimed at improving the skills of the participants in project proposal writing mainly by providing guidance for them to:
- Review a development problem and identify other related problems.
- Develop a statement of project goal, objectives and strategy.
- Formulate a preliminary concept note.
- Formulate a detailed project proposal including a budget.
- Analyse a completed project proposal.
Prepare an action plan for carrying out project formulation and proposal writing in their respective institutions.
The training targeted managers of MS veterinary services/Livestock departments as well as those of IGAD and AU-IBAR. The participants were officers from the national veterinary / livestock services of the IGAD countries including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. Participants from IGAD/ICPALD and AU-IBAR also attended. The training workshop was officially opened by Dr. Noelina Nantima, Assistant Commissioner Animal Disease Control, representing the Director of Animal Resource of the Republic of Uganda. She lauded and commended the continuous effort and support of AU-IBAR to MS in building capacity of MS in the region. Open remarks were also given by Dr. Hiver Boussini on behalf of The Director of AU-IBAR.
At the end of the training workshop the participants were expected to:
- Understand and apply the logic of project proposal formulation.
- Utilize practical knowledge and tools in the preparation of logical frameworks.
- Understand the project cycle from concepts and practical sessions.
- Develop a statement of project goal, objectives and strategy.
- Formulate a detailed project proposal.
- Analyse a completed project proposal.
- Prepare an action plan for carrying out project formulation and proposal writing in their respective institutions.
- Develop appropriate concept notes in response to calls for proposals or expression of interest.
- Prepare preliminary budgets for projects.
- Understand the key components in the monitoring and evaluation of Projects.