Deepening trainees’ knowledge on gender and building their skill towards gender sensitive and responsive institutions

At the beginning of March, the Gender and inclusion, awareness and action plan training took place in the SEAD West project in Rwanda. 18 participants (9 women) attended from various positions, which included School Managers, Deputy School Managers, Gender and Family Promotion officer, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Experts, Quality Assurance Specialist, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Trainers. The participants came from TVET schools, District Offices, the Rwanda TVET Board (RTB), and the Rwanda Polytechnic (RP) and joined the training in the Rubavu District.

The 5-day training was part of the Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) component of the Strengthen Education for Agricultural Development in the Western Province (SEAD West) project in Rwanda, which is part of the Orange Knowledge Programme of NUFFIC. The training targeted towards adaption and effective implementation of the GESI policy which was developed in 2020 for RP. By deepening trainees’ knowledge on gender and building their skill toward gender sensitive and responsive institution, the training will help the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centres (IPRCs) in Rwanda and other TVET sectors to effectively adapt and implement the gender policy.

An interactive training with a lot of room for discussion and sharing experiences
The training was facilitated by the Dr. Mulu Berhanu, MSM’s international gender expert. The participants had taken part in a previous gender training through the SEAD West project en with this training, gender issues that the participants came across were being discussed as well as taking their skills to a more advanced level. For example, in the first day the aim was on deepening the understanding on important gender concepts as well as developing their analytical awareness. This first day training enabled the participants to understand de sources of gender-based inequality en inequity, understand why gender equity and women empowerment are needed, understand workplace sexual and gender-based harassment and ways to address these issues and understand actions to be taken.

Throughout the whole training, the main purpose was to deepen understanding about gender equality and social inclusion, and how gender relations and power govern individuals’ decisions and action at different levels including at the workplace. Dr. Mulu created a safe environment where there was room for discussion and express thoughts, feelings and experiences without judgement. Through this open environment there were many fruitful discussions and group work went smoothly. Together with Dr. Mulu, the participants developed a gender responsive plan, conducted a gender audit and written a gender action plan. Through gaining this new knowledge and having to put theory into practice by developing gender responsive and gender action plans the participants learned how to detect and address gender inequality as well as how to support the development of equality within the workplace.

About SEAD West
maastricht School of Management in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) implements the SEAD West project: Strengthening Education for Agricultural Development. Through the project, the education & training institutions (IPRC Karongi, TVET Gisovu, TVET Kivumu, and TVET Bumba) are capacitated to better address the needs of the stakeholders in the agriculture sector with a focus on the Agri-Tourism value Chain.

The SEAD West project has, broadly, three lines of intervention: 1) Curriculum Development/Revision, both formal and non-formal; 2) strengthen the Applied research & innovation capacities of the partner institutions and 3) strengthen the outreach services, more specifically the offer of tailor-made training, and establishment of Service, Training, and Innovation Center in Agri-Tourism focusing on the Horticulture value chain and hospitality.

Orange Knowledge Programme
This project is part of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) which is funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic. For more information click here.

MSM's Expert Centre on Emerging Economies
This institutional collaboration project is part of MSM's Expert Centre on Emerging Economies. The department is an expert centre on local economic development in emerging and developing markets. We capacitate managers and professionals from government, private sector, NGOs, and post-secondary education in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. We offer consultancy and customized training programs, and we manage complex projects in key sectors, e.g. water, agriculture and health. For more information click here.