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Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Projects

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With a growing working population reaching over 744.32 million in 2003, China’s 11th five-year plan (2006-2010) places paramount importance on establishing and maintaining a proactive employment policy that seeks to increase job opportunities for all sectors of the population. The Public Employment Service (PES) system, which initially emerged in response to China’s transition from a planned to a market-oriented economy, has since been developed into a nation-wide system to address various development needs.

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China has been experiencing vast increases in workplace injury, illness and death in the last 20 years due to its rapid industrial growth. Industrial accidents cause 15,000 deaths annually in China. In 2004, 80 percent of these were among migrant workers in 2004. Further, at least 30,000 work-related injuries occur each year. The direct economic loss caused by work-related diseases or injuries annually amounts to 100 billion Yuan (US$ 12 billion), while the indirect loss is double that amount. Migrant workers are particularly at risk of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) related injury, illness and death, as they leave poor rural areas with minimal skills, training and awareness related to the work they will do. They also often work long hours under poor conditions. Female migrant workers face the highest risk due to their inherent biological and social vulnerability.

This project addressed the critical need to improve environmental practices and enterprise management in the Jiangsu Province. Through training, technical assistance, and advisory services, FIT enabled Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) to reduce pollution and improve workplace health and safety through application of low cost/no cost solutions. An Environmental Revolving Fund (ERF) provided loans to selected TVEs to install more capital-intensive clean production technologies. These enterprises in turn served as demonstration plants, delivering training and technical assistance to other area TVEs in environmental management. Through the project, a team of local trainers and environmental specialists has been developed to provide ongoing support. Communities in Jiangsu are benefiting from measurable reductions in water, air and soil pollution

China Study Missions
For over two decades, FIT has supported China’s transition to a socialist market economy through the design and delivery of customized training programs that expose Chinese senior executives and government officials to Canadian best practices. The programs are designed to build the knowledge and skills needed to meet the challenges of a changing economy and society in China. This past year, FIT delivered training in a diverse range of sectors, including legal reform, science and technology, NGO management and organizational development, and public policy reform

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SMEDUP provided low-income groups with access to credit and business advisory services to support small business start-ups. FIT helped establish and build the capacities of three independent NGOs in each of Qena, Beni Suef and Sohag governorates. A national-level support organization, El Mobadara, was also established to support sustainability results. These four associations deliver a wide range of services to new entrepreneurs, including: technical support to feasibility studies and business planning; credit; business advice and training. As well, the project worked to identify opportunities to increase their impact on poverty reduction. Through SMEDUP 1,4000 new small businesses and more than 5,500 full-time jobs were created. El Mobadara and the governorate-level associations continue to support private sector development as highly effective and vibrant institutions.

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Through capacity building, training and management support, FIT empowered local community based organizations (CBOs) in Jamaica to tackle pressing development issues by means of community involvement. Thirty-six innovative community projects were supported by a responsive fund made available through the ECSP. FIT also provided technical assistance in the production of a video documentary detailing successful strategies and techniques used by CBOs to effect positive changes within their communities

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The WIF Project first evolved out of a recognition of the needs of women entrepreneurs in Upper Egypt. Lacking both credit and business expertise, women had few opportunities to improve the socio-economic situations of their families or themselves. The WIF project first began operating in the governorate of Qena in order to find innovative, cost effective responses to these needs. The project was later expanded to include the governorate of Aswan

The Participatory Development Program (PDP) is a five-year CIDA initiative managed by FIT and delivered in consortium with two other Canadian organizations: Alternatives and Ka:nen Our Children Our Future. The goal of the PDP is to support poverty reduction efforts and the realization of rights of marginalized groups, especially women, children and youth, in Egypt. The Program’s purpose is to identify and strengthen the capacity of Egyptian organizations.

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The Project, Promoting a Culture of Good Governance through Values and Outcome-Based Ethics in Ethiopia was a 2.5 year project deliverd by undertaken by FIT through a partnership with the Ethiopian Civil Service College (ECSC). Funding support for the Project was provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the Canada Corps fund

This project worked to build institutional capacities and networks to promote the rights of children in Sri Lanka. Working with Canadian and local experts. FIT strengthened the capacities of organizations, families, and children in Sri Lanka to adopt and promote rights-based approaches to child protection, guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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The goal of the GEARI project is to assist CIDA’s key African partner institutions to integrate gender equality into the planning, implementation, monitoring and analysis of their policies and programs.
In March 2007 FIT, in partnership with the Centre d’étude et de coopération internationale (CECI) in Montréal, signed a contract with CIDA to conduct gender mainstreaming work with four regional institutions in Africa: the Forum for Agricultural Research (FARA) in Accra, Ghana; the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in Entebbe, Uganda; L’Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel (OSS) in Tunis, Tunisia; and the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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FIT has hosted more than 100 interns, providing them with an opportunity to learn and work in a number of important areas such as civil society development, small and micro enterprise development, women in development, environment and development and child rights. FIT staff provide intensive training and mentoring in issues ranging from results-based management, project design and proposal writing and financial management to participatory rural appraisal, training of trainers, and cross-cultural sensitivity. This training is followed by a placement with a FIT project or partner agency overseas. The combination of training and practical experience gives these young people an opportunity to pursue careers in international development

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FIT worked with PRIP Trust to strengthen its institutional capacity in providing services to Bangladeshi Support Organizations, who then work directly with private voluntary development organizations towards poverty alleviation and sustainable development. FIT applied participatory techniques to institutional development, and collaborated with PRIP to enhance its capacities in the areas of training, research, management information systems and organizational development. Through development of an extensive network of PVDOs reaching disadvantaged groups, PRIP has emerged as a premier capacity building organization in Bangladesh

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In Egypt, both the Ministry of Education (MOE) and UNICEF have been working to develop innovative strategies to overcome the educational barriers that rural children, especially girls, face in Upper Egypt. FIT - in collaboration with Faculty of Education, Queen's University and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE/UT) - worked with MOE and UNICEF to institutionalise and strengthen their initiatives. Specifically, the Community Education Technical Assistance Project (CETA) provided technical assistance and training to support MOE's One Classroom School model and the Community Schools of UNICEF. In particular, CETA aimed to strengthen the capacity of the MOE focussing on training teachers and school inspectors, developing curriculum and learning materials, involving communities and establishing new policies

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In partnership with the Graduate School of Management (GSM), FIT engaged in a program that supported Romania’s transition to market economy through higher education. FIT provided training and technical assistance to the School to build its capacity in applying and delivering a management program based on western models. By addressing the School’s organizational development needs, strengthening its management and corporate structures and operationalizing a framework for financial sustainability, FIT supported the GSM to build a solid foundation for a sustainable institution

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The BIP promoted people-to-people development through small-scale training projects designed and delivered jointly by Canadian and Baltic partners that addressed critical social and economic needs in the region. Projects were funded through cost sharing between the BIP and Canadian and Baltic partners from the public, private and non-profit sectors. Through BIP, FIT supported partnerships in the areas of health promotion, housing policy, human resource management, environment, institutional support and management, and good governance... more

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Goal of the project was to include and mainstream disability concerns into the implementation of the Asian Development Bank policy framework of poverty reduction and social development

The Ethiopian Public Sector Capacity Building Program (PSCAP) aims to improve the scale, efficiency, and responsiveness of public service delivery at federal, regional and local levels; empower citizens to participate more effectively in shaping their own development; and promote good governance and accountability.