20 to 24 May in Geneva Switzerland, UNITAR-UNOSAT and UNITAR’s Peacekeeping Training Programme Unit delivered a training of trainers (ToT) to members of the Earth Observation for Sustainable Development Fragility, Conflict and Security (EO4SD Fragility) consortium.
The 5-day event took place in the UNITAR headquarters in Geneva and was designed to allow participants to build their training capacities in prevision of the project’s implementation phase.
The training was balanced to provide participants with a theoretical and practical understanding of essential training skills. Among other subjects, they were taught how to analyze their audience, develop learning objectives, organize an effective learning environment, speak in public and prepare a webinar. They were also provided with the opportunity to exchange knowledge on their respective specialty fields in an interactive and participative way. This allowed them to both practice their newly acquired skills and ensure that all trainees have a broad understanding of the methodology used in some of the most important types of services delivered in EO4SD Fragility (e.g. infrastructure construction monitoring, assessment of agricultural resources, use of an online GIS platform).
The strong ToT experience of UNITAR’s Peacekeeping Training Programme Unit was key to the success of the event. Their staff strived to ensure that all 12 trainees’ needs were met, whether they came from Collecte Localisation Satellite, GRID Arendal, Sistema, GISBOX, SIRS or UNOSAT. All participants agreed that the course was very useful and are likely to use the information acquired. One of them mentioned in particular that “trainers did a great job at listening and adapting”.
The group’s objective is to work with governments and IFIs to demonstrate the value of geographic information systems (GIS) for states affected by fragility. This is done directly by providing them with GIS services ranging from water resources assessment to monitoring of population displacements; and more indirectly through capacity building events like in-situ trainings, workshops and webinars. The 20-24 May ToT was organized to prepare for the latter.
