Workshop

From September 8-12 a training course on in-depth Lobby was held at the ILO / ITC training centre in Turin for several English speaking African countries. A total of 22 participants were present from employers' organizations of: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The event was a follow-up of the basic training 'The effective Employers'  organisation" held in Kenya in May 2007 and was jointly sponsored by DECP and the ILO / ITC.

The course covered in some detail the issue of lobbying which was a key area for all who attended. It was clear from the discussion that very few had put any thought into a long-term strategy and in fact in most cases the organisation was being reactive rather than pro-active.

The course also looked at a number of ways of carrying out research. The level of knowledge in using the net was improved and a practical session on Tuesday afternoon was greatly appreciated.

The whole of Wednesday was given to undertaking surveys and Geraldine Anderson from IBEC (Irish Employers' Organisation) did a very good job of explaining the benefits and problems of surveys with a number of practical examples.

Thursday was on communication with Ludovic Goethals and Katrien Decroos from Square Circle in Brussels. This was also a good session with theory in the morning and practical examples in the afternoon.

The final morning was given to trying to set action plans and evaluation. The overall comments of the participants was that this was a very worthwhile event. It was greatly appreciated by all who attended.