World ORT Educating for Life ORT International Cooperation is one of the most important programmes in the ORT global network. Created in 1960 to assist newly emerging and developing nations, International 2011 edition Cooperation has implemented more than 350 projects in over 98 countries at the request of Photo front: Children at an ORT school , international agencies, local communities, host Mother and Childcare program in governments and private firms and foundations. Senegal, 2008. Photo back: Opening ceremony for the inauguration of an ORT-JDC computer laboratory at a school in Port Blair — Tsunami support in the Andaman and globalaid.ort.org Nicobar Islands, February 2009. ORT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION CAPABILITY STATEMENT World ORT World ORT Educating for Life Educating for Life WORLD ORT CONTENTS 3 Foreword 4 International Cooperation Capability Statement 4 Worldwide offices 6 Africa 47 Asia 54 Europe 66 Latin America and the Caribbean 79 Abbreviations INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOREWORD I am privileged to present this Golden Anniversary edition of the World ORT International Cooperation Capability Statement. Cast your eye over the community development and training projects implemented by World ORT and national ORT organizations since 1960 and you will see a shining example of how a centuries-old tradition has inspired an approach which has benefited millions of people in dozens of countries and from a wide range of ethno-religious backgrounds. The passion with which World ORT believes that the human resource is the most precious of all resources, worthy of intense investment and nurturing, is matched by the professionalism and efficiency with which we have realized our aspiration to give people the skills to fulfill their potential and to preserve or regain their self-worth and self-reliance. The agencies that choose ORT to implement their projects – including the World Bank, UNDP, UNESCO, the Coca-Cola Foundation, USAID and many others – do so not only out of a sense of shared values but also with confidence in our abilities and effectiveness. They know that ORT’s international framework enables us to think globally and act locally, to match expertise from around the world with grass roots knowledge in order to build capacity within communities. Rapidly changing job markets in this era of globalization, combined with the challenges of geo-political shifts and post-emergency reconstruction, mean that the need for what ORT provides has never been greater: after 50 years of operations, our commitment to upholding the dignity of the human spirit has never been stronger and our capability to put that commitment into action is better than ever. Robert Singer Director General and CEO, World ORT May 2011 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION WORLD ORT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION CAPABILITY STATEMENT INTRODUCTION The Organization for Educational Resources and Technological Training (ORT) was founded in Tsarist Russia in 1880; it is one of the oldest and largest non-profit, educational and training organizations in the world. ORT manages a network of secondary and industrial schools, technical institutes, junior colleges, teacher training institutions, adult education and business programs with more than 300,000 beneficiaries a year. ORT’s raison d’être is “to help people help themselves“. This is applied throughout the world by each of the capacity building projects implemented by the International Cooperation (IC) Department. Whereas most charities and non-profit organizations in the field of international development primarily target humanitarian and disaster relief efforts, ORT is well-known as a major provider of long-term technical assistance that meets local needs and builds a self-sustainable local management capacity. ORT International Cooperation is one of the most important programs in the ORT global network. Created in 1960 to assist newly emerging and developing nations, ORT International Cooperation has implemented more than 350 projects in 98 countries at the request of international agencies, local communities, host governments, and private enterprises. Approximately 3 million people have benefited from these projects. ORT training programs are designed to meet local needs and are particularly successful in overcoming economic, cultural, and linguistic barriers. ORT works with local, national, regional and international partners. Providing for sustainable economic, social, and cultural growth is the motivating force behind every ORT undertaking. ORT’s international operations are concentrated in sectors where it has earned a reputation INTERNATIONAL for excellence: vocational and technical education; workforce development, institution building/human COOPERATION resources development; NGO institutional building; democracy and governance; agriculture; rural WORLDWIDE OFFICES and urban development; health care; transportation; and the establishment of training programs for globalaid.ort.org NGOs, government ministries, public utilities, and industrial and commercial enterprises. ORT’s basic philosophy of helping others to help themselves is translated into its training objectives, designed to provide individuals with self-reliance through proficiency and income-generating skills. World ORT, United Kingdom Vladimir Dribinskiy A key objective of ORT technical assistance programs is the establishment of a self-sustaining, Chief Program Officer locally based training capacity. ORT National Organizations actively participate in IC projects and 126 Albert Street, Camden Town London NW1 7NE, England in many cases are instrumental in a lot of very important initiatives within this area. Worldwide, ORT Tel: +44 20 7446 8500 professionals are prepared to share their expertise and experience in supporting and developing Fax: +44 20 7446 8701 communities and countries. Email: [email protected] ORT International Cooperation To achieve this goal, ORT defines project objectives with local participants and beneficiaries or United States Office host governments and other appropriate institutions, e.g., donors; provides a team of specialists Celeste S. Angus, Head of the who develop, in conjunction with local counterparts, customized technical assistance and training Representative Office 5527 Lee Highway Arlington programs; designs and implements a comprehensive strategy; provides rapid mobilization and VA 22207 USA subsequent work plans with detailed benchmarks, and conducts careful monitoring, measuring and Tel: +1 703 536 5520 evaluating of program goals and objectives to ensure a high level of performance and proper allocation Fax: +1 703 536 5530 Email: [email protected] of project resources. ORT International Cooperation ORT has worked to strengthen and build local capacity through development assistance. ORT has a Switzerland Office Daniel Kahn, Head of the long history acting as a development and management resource for strengthening NGOs to play a Representative Office significant role in developing a vibrant civil society. ORT has participated in the design, implementation 1 rue de Varembe 1211 Geneva 20, and evaluation of numerous USAID-funded civil society programs. Switzerland Tel: +41 22 919 4234 Fax: +41 22 919 4239 ORT IC is comprised of two regional offices which are located in Geneva and Washington. In addition, Email: [email protected] World ORT’s administrative office in London provides an oversight control function. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 4 WORLD ORT STRATEGIC APPROACH Over the years, ORT International Cooperation (IC) developed its capabilities based on ORT’s training expertise, and in response to the constantly changing donor environment and sector priorities it subsequently developed projects which included a local capacity building component in order to ensure sustainability. Current IC projects are funded by the following major donors: African Development Bank, World Bank, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Canton and City of Geneva, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as well as corporations and foundations such as Hewlett Packard, Exxon Mobil and Open Society Foundations. A significant geographical expansion in the last two decades — following the donors’ focus – was ORT IC’s move into countries of the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, whilst continuing its programs in Africa, Latin America and Asia. The USAID-funded Russia Civic Initiatives Project resulted in a partnership between the traditional ORT school program in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Washington IC office to provide training to Russian NGOs. Similar synergy resulted from the Hewlett Packard Digital Village projects in conjunction with ORT South Africa, ORT Russia and ORT Ukraine. The 1990s have also seen a strong move into civil society and community development programs, while maintaining traditional IC projects in the fields of human resource development, poverty alleviation, women in development, public sector support, agriculture/forestry, and income generation. ORT has historically focused its efforts on the reintegration of refugees in post-conflict societies, and currently plays an active role in revitalizing civil society through the development and promotion of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public policy advocacy and citizen participation. sectors AND SUB-sectors Since 1960, ORT International Cooperation has been working with people, developing human capacity on the local and national levels. As previously