Friday 5 October 2007

March 2-8, 2008: TRIALOG Study Visit on Expert Sending

TRIALOG is organizing a study visit to German and Austrian expert sending organizations. The study visit initially planned for October has been cancelled and merged with the second study visit in spring 2008. The new date is March 2-8, 2008 and it is open to development NGOs from all 12 new EU member states who are in the process of founding a department of development worker/expert sending within their organisations.

After an introduction into the topic and the possibility to discuss different terms and definitions but also the image that one has about the own organization, the participants will be visiting AGEH (Germany), DED (Germany) and HORIZONT3000 (Austria). On Thursday, March 6, it is planned to hold a high-level roundtable with representatives from new member states and the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna. The last day of the study visit will be used as a reflexion day.

What are the main topics to be tackled during the Study Visit:
In every organization the group will get information about the advertisement of open positions, the selection process of possible candidates (so called experts or development workers), the preparation before the stay abroad and the monitoring of these missions. Additionally the legal context in different countries and social security aspects will be touched upon - e.g. how to deal with political or natural crisis situations. Both will be looked at on an organizational and individual level.

Who is the target group of the Study Visit?
The Study Visit is targeted to decision makers from NGDOs from all 12 new EU member states, but also from the relevant Ministries or other state agencies. The NGDO-participants should represent organizations which are within the process of founding a department of development-worker/expert-sending within their organizations. From every country, max. 3 participants will be accepted, ideally each country delegation would include at least one NGO and one state representative.

What are the objectives of the Study Visit?
At the end of the Study Visit, having visited 3 NGOs and met international experts, the participants will have a broad perspective and basic knowledge of (dis-) advantages of different expert-sending systems applied in other European and non-European countries. According to the principle “the more we know, the more questions we have …” – the participants will also have a better idea which aspects they still have to clarify in their home countries.

For more information on the agenda, the application, reimbursement and travel arrangements, please refer to the following documents:

Invitation Letter: http://www.trialog.or.at/docs/invitation-letter_studyvisit_march08.pdf
Tentative Agenda: http://www.trialog.or.at/docs/agenda_studyvisit_march08.pdf
Application Form: http://www.trialog.or.at/docs/application_for_events_2007.doc
TRIALOG Reimbursement Scheme: http://www.trialog.or.at/docs/trialog_reimbursement_scheme_april07.pdf

The deadline for application is Friday, October 19, 2007.

For further information please contact TRIALOG Capacity Building Officer Petra Kreinecker at p.kreinecker@trialog.or.at

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