Two back-to-back workshops on "Training of Trainers in Social Participatory Development" were held in Beirut from 27 September to 1 October 2010, in close coordination with the League of Arab States (LAS), the UN Development Programme in Lebanon (UNDP), Oxfam-GB, and the Arab Centre for the Development of the Rule of Law and Integrity (ACRLI). Participants, representing both governments and civil society institutions in Yemen, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, were selected from those who benefited from the two workshops implemented in February 2010 on “building capacities of government officials and civil society actors in local and participatory social development”.

The two workshops aimed at strengthening individual and institutional capacities in designing training programs and preparing dialogue sessions, as well as adopting participatory methods in social development issues and policies. Among others, both workshops included simultaneously training sessions and application exercises focusing on the following areas: consolidating knowledge of training concepts, applications and vital role in social development; assessing the needs of local communities, NGOs and governmental organizations, and establishing adequate mechanisms to include them in the development process. They also focused on the enhancement of training program design skills based on the needs of local communities, and in line with training strategies that governments adopt; promote technical knowledge on the management, execution and assessment of training programs, and identify the different phases of the assessment process and report-writing. Each workshop also encompassed intense application sessions and practical works on the appropriate training techniques and methodologies. Two final reports were generated from the workshops (attached below), capturing major findings and discussions held during the sessions, in addition to the participants’ feedback on the training programme and suggestions for the way forward.