Press Release

OPEC Fund supports capacity building program of Arab non-governmental organizations

128/2005 December 20, 2005, Vienna, Austria
Press inquiries:

The OPEC Fund for International Development has approved a grant of US$100,000 in support of the Capacity Building Program of Arab non-governmental organizations (NGOs), undertaken by the Arab Network for NGOs.

Civil Society Organizations in the Arab world have a very important role to play in the development of the countries they represent. As a non-governmental sector they would, when effectively managed, become important agents of social change and provide a platform for the active participation of people in economic and social development. The effectiveness of Arab Civil Society Organizations is rather limited, mainly due to the severe shortage of skills in a number of areas.

The Arab Network for NGOs, established in 1997, was funded by three major donor agencies, including the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organisations (AGFUND), the OPEC Fund for International Development and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The Network is based on a cumulative experience of work that lasted over eight years with Arab NGOs in the fields of training, action-oriented research, data bases, meetings, workshops and communication.

The Network has initiated a project that aims to assist in enhancing the capabilities of the Arab NGOs, who are members of the Arab Network for NGOs with a view to making them more dynamic and capable of making a greater and more evident contribution to the development of the social and economic structure of their countries. As a result, network for NGOs will be strengthened, enabling it to plan, design and deliver demand-driven, quality training programmes and distance learning, for the benefit of its member organisations.

The project activities include: carrying out an initial detailed assessment of the requirements for technology, equipment, facilities and resources; development of teaching and learning materials through adapting international standard techniques; and, a series of “training of trainers” courses on the Community Based Training approach for self-employment and income generation. This will be conducted for selected staff of 10 NGOs and other institutions participating in the implementation and analysis of Training Needs Surveys and identification of local economic opportunities.

The immediate beneficiaries are 300 people including; staff of the central core group in the Arab Network for NGOs, related trainers and technical support staff, the staff of 10 selected NGOs to provide community-based training programmes and the concerned local government and community officials.