UNDP and ILO train Trainers in Micro-Finances
Maputo, 11th March 2008 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), launched on 10th March 2008, a course which is part of a project called “Developing an inclusive Financial Sector”. This is the result of various studies undertaken in the country that underlined the need for a specialized professional training for the Micro-Finance sector in Mozambique, and for that reason, the ILO, in partnership with the UNDP, is in a process of institutionalizing the course “To MAKE MICRO–FINANCES WORK – Management for a Better Performance”.
The course has the fundamental objective of helping the managers of micro-finance institutions to better understand their responsibilities and equipping them with the best tools and resources to enable them to attain the performance of their institutions.
It is a course designed by ILO international experts with vast experience in the area of micro–finances, and it has already been institutionalized in various countries with a great deal of success, in spite of Mozambique being the first Lusophone country to institutionalize the initiative which will serve as a reference for other Lusophone countries.
During the opening session of the course, Naomi Kitahara, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, said that the institution that she represents in Mozambique has been helping the micro–finance sector for some years and she is still convinced that this sector constitutes an important tool in the fight against poverty in Mozambique.
On the same occasion, Ms. Kitahara referred that the main objectives of the UNDP worldwide are to contribute for the development of local capacities, and it is because of that reason that the institution always included a training component in its programmes.
Likewise, Ms. Kitahara stressed that is crucial that the activities developed by the United Nations are sustainable, and thus, the training in micro–finances would not be provided once only, because what is intended is to create permanent capacities in the country for them to be able to repeat the excercise, the reason why they opted for the format of the training of trainers.
This course which has just been launched constitutes the first step of training and it has been planned to finish at the end of 2008. “I would like to thank all the people and institutions involved in the preparation of this course, especially the ILO trainers, and I hope that after these courses all of you return to your institutions with a background full of new knowledge and tools for a better performance of your institutions”, concluded Naomi Kitahara.