On October 18, 2011, Mr. Carlos Lopes, Executive Director of UNITAR and Mr. Mohammed El Amine Bencherif, Director General a.i. of Political Affairs and International Security of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, signed a Partnership Agreement for the establishment of an International Training Centre for Local Actors (CIFAL Maghreb) in Algiers.

The agreement aims to strengthen the capacity of the Algerian administration in public management and governance at the central and local level in economic, social and environmental fields. In a mid-term perspective, training provided to mid and high-level officials will also benefit other countries from the Maghreb and the Sahel, thereby ensuring cross-fertilization between practitioners who often face similar challenges regarding management and governance. Particular attention will be paid to issues of strategic planning, improving the management and the quality of urban public services, and supporting socio-economic and environmental shifts. Part of the activities will consist in conducting training of trainers sessions to ensure an effective transition towards local management of training activities delivered by the CIFAL. Until the CIFAL is allocated with its own premises, the training Center will be hosted within the National School of Administration (ENA).

During his visit to Algiers, Mr. Lopes discussed and agreed on two other projects with the Algerian authorities, for the training of diplomats on the one hand, and training young Algerian graduates in entrepreneurship, and supporting the creation of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) on the other. These projects were presented during meetings with Mr. Ahmed Ouyahia, Prime Minister of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Mr. Dahou Ould Kablia Minister of Interior and Local Authorities, Mr. Tayeb Louh, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, and Mr. Hashemi Djiar, Minister of Youth and Sports, who showed strong interest in seeing these projects being developed shortly. In the perspective of the implementation of these projects, the Executive Director of UNITAR also met with Mr. Hocine Cherhabil, Director of the National School of Administration (ENA) and Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz Bouguetaia, Director of the Diplomatic Institute and International Relations (IDRI) of Algiers, as well as Mrs. Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe, Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Algeria.