(ANS - Addis Ababa)- An international meeting of Salesian Planning and Development Offices (PDOs) was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 21 to 24 April. Thirty-six countries, from Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean, are involved in the project "Co-partners in Development" co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Salesians in collaboration with the NGO "International Voluntary Service for Development" (VIS).

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of each PDO and to facilitate the development of partnerships, both internal and external, between development agents in the field of education and technical and vocational training, to make Salesian strategies more effective in targeting vulnerable young people in the countries involved.

Among the main objectives of the meeting in Addis Ababa were:

• to report on and share the results of the first year's activities and plan for the second year;
• to share the annual project for development and planning of each PDO and the results of the process of capacity-building that was started last year;
• to submit a calendar for training and the content of the training programme the PDOs will run in course of the year;
• to update all participants on the latest developments in "Bosco Tech Africa", the network of Salesian centres of technical and vocational training in the Africa-Madagascar region, and to identify possible areas of collaboration with the network of Salesian PDOs.

After four days of intense work, each office will continue to develop its ability in its own territory. Training courses will begin in June to assist all PDOs on various issues: organization and strategic planning, development and cooperation, monitoring and evaluation, financial management, and communication.

At the final round table session, Fr Fabio Attard, Councillor for Youth Ministry, spoke about the experience of Bosco Tech Africa. Ivan Toscano, project coordinator, reported on the strategy of VIS for projects in Education and Vocational and Technical Training (TVET).  Alwoye Ygrem Alemu, representative of the TVET Agency of the Ethiopian government, also spoke.

Published 27/04/2015