15 November 2018, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR has been collaborating with the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) since 2015 to assist African countries with their capacity building for sustainable development. To pursue this fruitful partnership, UNITAR-UNOSAT delivered the face-to-face training on “Strengthening the Project Monitoring Capacities of the BADEA” from 4 to 8 November 2018, in Khartoum, Sudan. Following the successful first edition taking place in December last year, the course was rolled out for the second time, dedicated to the BADEA project working groups specifically in French speaking African countries, namely Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger and Senegal. The training helped to strengthen the capacity of personnel working on monitoring and evaluation of various governmental projects funded by BADEA.
Participants were nominated by BADEA and its beneficiary countries, and the course was designed to provide them with the technical knowledge and skills to utilise effective project M&E frameworks and applications, including new-technology tools such as GIS and Remote Sensing (RS). During the training week, participants reviewed the basic concept and good practices of modern approach to project management and its M&E system. They also had an opportunity to acquire a new skill set to visualise project monitoring indicators using GIS, and to collect data by means of geospatial tools (e.g. GPSs and mobile apps). The training, which consisted of theoretical lectures and case-study exercises, greatly contributed to improved M&E capacity of BADEA and selected beneficiary countries.
The usefulness of training was highly appreciated by participants through the course evaluation:
“This course was of crucial importance because it enabled me to reach a satisfactory level of knowledge.”
It is expected that a customised online M&E tool for BADEA, to be developed by UNITAR-UNOSAT, can reinforce this positive impact of training. In parallel with the training delivery, a 3-day discussion between UNITAR and BADEA was carried out to determine the viability of the development of a new project M&E geospatial platform. When the platform is available, BADEA’s project managers will be able to benefit from it, as the regular monitoring using GIS and satellite imagery can help them make informed-decisions and evaluate the work progress and results more efficiently. The continuing UNITAR-BADEA partnership directly contributes to enhancing data, monitoring and accountability that are explicitly emphasised in SDG 17.
About BADEA
The Arab Bank for Development in Africa (BADEA) was established in 1974 by eighteen Arab countries members of the League of Arab States for the purpose of strengthening economic, financial and technical cooperation between the Arab and African regions and for the embodiment of Arab-African solidarity on foundations of equality and friendship. The bank currently manages 179 development projects in various stages and different types ranging from social, agricultural to infrastructure development in 38 countries. For more information about BADEA, please see http://www.badea.org/.
Photo 1: Participants working on a real-case scenario during the training session.
Photo 2: Participants trying out geospatial tools via mobile.
Photo 3: A participant receiving a UNITAR certificate after the completion of the training.