Proposal Writing Course wraps up [Archives:2002/32/Local News]

BY MOHAMMED AL-MASANI
YEMEN TIMES STAFF
Organized by Friederich Ebert Stiftung in collaboration with the Yemen Times Newspaper, the Proposal Writing Course was concluded yesterday April 4.
During the 50-hour extensive training course held at the Yemen Times premises in Sanaa, participants gained diverse practical skills in project proposal writing. More than 25 trainees participated in this course, which started on July the first.
The training course hosted a number of prominent personalities involved in evaluating proposals presented by NGOs in Yemen. Among those guest speakers were Charles Heatly, the Political Secretary of the British Embassy, Mohammed Chraibi an NGO Researcher, and Hatem M. Bamehriz, Deputy Manager of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) for International Affairs.


Jameel al-Anisi, the course trainer described the idea of such a course by saying, the idea of training was first implemented by the American Embassy at YALI in 1999. The best aspect of this kind of training is that it is a thorough step-by-step practical experience. he said.
Unlike most short courses that provide quick guides, this Proposal Writing course began with a series of introductory sessions on several developmental issues such as democracy, development, empowerment, community participation and sustainability, which was enriched by trainees practical training abilities that involved the encouragement of discussions and sharing different views and opinions. The trainees were grouped into teams which they worked in throughout the different stages of the course including the planning, drafting, and applying stages. The teams are trained to conduct a participatory appraisal (by carrying it out in the field), analyze the data and work through strict and professional guidelines.
This includes writing a problem statement, defining the overall goal and objectives, defining activities and scheduling them, and constructing a budget that takes into consideration all activities involved in the project.
According to the instructions given, the information is then developed into a proposal. The writing is revised and refined several times until the end product is complete. After 50 hours of hard work, the trainees graduate after applying all the skill they have learned.
On the other hand, one of the female trainees, Maryam Ashowafi stressed on the benefit women would get from such courses. The main goal of holding such programs is to raise awareness among Yemeni women working in NGOs of the need to acquire skills and propose projects courageously so as to become active members in giving a hand to the poor families, improving their living conditions and contributing to increase their income, she said.
She spoke highly of the organizers of this course including the instructor, Jameel al-Anisi for his strenuous efforts to make this program a success and she also thanked the Yemen Times for hosting this valuable training course.


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