Participation Programme

UNESCO's Participation Programme is designed to provide direct assistance to initiatives undertaken by Member States in the Organization's fields of competence, in line with priorities determined by the countries themselves, with proposals submitted via UNESCO National Commissions. The funds are modest (up to a maximum of US$26,000 granted for national project requests, with about six projects per country in each biennium, and up to US$46,000 for regional submissions). But UNESCO is not a funding agency. And support at these sorts of level may often be easier to assimilate than higher orders of financial contribution.

As an ensemble, many Participation Programme projects touch on education and capacity building concerns, as reflected in this sampling of projects approved or being carried out from January 2005 onwards.

• Aruba. Educational training and upgrading of volunteers of the EMS Aruba. Integration of learning technologies in the education process.
  
• Bahrain. Enhancing organizational efficiency for educational services in general secondary education. Evaluation and development of syllabus for 'entrepreneural projects'. Building an accumulative database for employees working in general secondary schools. Support to teaching and training policies in commercial education. Research on implementation of technical secondary education for girls.
  
• British Virgin Islands. Education in law certification. Basic education in law.
  
• Cape Verde. In-service training for inspectors in evaluating the functioning of educational systems.
  
• Comoros. Advocating the case for the University of Comoros.
  
• Cuba. Strengthening capacities of study centres in higher education institutions. Training of librarians in information technology skills. Consolidation of international cooperation and support to 'internationalization' of higher education in Cuba. Reinforcing material and substantive capacities of educational system.
  
• Dominica. ICTs in Dominican schools. Promotion of technical and vocational education in primary schools. Increasing the vocational skills and work potential of drop outs from the junior secondary school programme in rural schools.
  
• Dominican Republic. Curriculum development to encourage critical thinking in secondary schools and universities.
  
• Fiji. Experimental mathematical and information technology skills workshop (Capacity building project for science teachers). Media education for Fiji.
  
• Grenada. Training programme for school leavers. Promotion of literacy among out-of-school youths and adults. Support to Granada lexicography project. Introduction to keyboarding.
  
• Haiti. Reinforcement of studio production capacities of educative radio unit. Emergency assistance to reconstruct educational infrastructure and equipment destroyed by floods.
  
• Jamaica. Skills training for high school drop-outs and slow learners. Emergency assistance to reconstruct educational infrastructure and equipment destroyed by Hurricane Francis.
  
• Malta. Science online. Setting up community knowledge centres.
  
• Marshall Islands. Vocational skills training for at-risk youth. 'Rethinking education in Micronesia' conference.
  
• Mauritius. Conceptualizing and implementing of a post O level polytechnic stream for providing a mix of vocational and general education. Setting-up an early childhood development resource centre. Reassessing desirable levels of achievement and competences at each level of schooling. Technical assistance for national trade certificate foundation course.
  
• Netherlands Antilles. Training young, out-of-school people (particularly girls and young mothers) in productive-work skills. Social- and life-skills and personal development for teenagers.
  
• Niue. Niue culture and language curriculum development.
  
• Palau. Promoting local-area network among private high schools. Librarian certification programme. Research and development of educational materials on watersheds of Palau.
  
• Papua New Guinea. Meeting of directors of education of Pacific member sates. Training centre for theological education (North Waghi District, Western Highlands Province).
  
• Samoa. Purchase of bilingual books for all Samoan schools. Meeting of teachers and coordinators involved in Associated Schools Project Network in the Pacific.
  
• St Kitts & Nevis. Fostering responsible citizenship among children. Self-development skills for prison inmates. Training programme for children living in mother-absent households.
  
• St Lucia. Upgrading technical capabilities of communications unit in Ministry of Education. Workshop on reform and governance of public technical and vocational education units. Fellowship for advanced training programme in educational planning and management. ASPnet activities for quality education.
  
• St Vincent & the Grenadines. Improving the quality of education by empowering teachers to integrate ICTs into curricula.
  
• Tokelau. Feasibility study on internet connectivity and distance education. Providing a homework centre with necessary capacity for enhancing educational learning. Continuing education and training for school-leavers and adults.
  
• Tonga. Natural disaster preparedness and prevention for primary school children. Strengthening data base capacity in educational planning units.
  
• Trinidad & Tobago. Teacher training for empowerment with emotional coping skills. Emergency assistance to rehabilitate educational infrastructure and equipment destroyed by Hurricane Ivan.
  
• Tuvalu. In-service training course for pre-school teachers (Funafuti). Tuvalu children's conference (Funafuti). Extension of pacific lifeskills training (Niukufetau Island, Nukulaelae Island, Funafuti).
  
• Vanuatu. In-service training for basic education teachers. Strengthening provincial training boards (Shefa, Tafea, Malampa, Torba, Sanma, Penama). Addressing the needs of primary school students with disabilities. Regional conference on youth life skills and preventive health. Pre-school improvement programme.