Baku, Fineko/abc.az. In the frame of the EU Skills Project implemented by the British Council 32 officials from 16 government organisations were trained at Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy from 12 to 18 November 2009.

The Critish Council reports that the workshops were held by a trainer from the UK Colm Downes, who shared his experience in enhancing negotiations skills. The workshop opening was attended by Ambassador Hafiz Pashayev, Rector of Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, Ambassador Carolyne Browne, The British Ambassador to Azerbaijan and Paul Doubleday, the Director of the British Council Azerbaijan.

EU Skills is a three-year project implemented by the British Council and funded by the UK Government’s Strategic Programme Fund. The goal of the project is to strengthen the capacity of local state institutions and agencies in South Caucasus to manage European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument and Eastern Partnership Instrument processes more effectively. The project started in May 2009. The project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Republic and with the support of Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. The project consists of the following components and activities:

Training sessions for 100 government officials will be conducted in Azerbaijan throughout the duration of the project. The trainings are run by European experts and cover topics such as communication, negotiation, PR and media management, presentation and project management skills as well as European structures and terminology;

Two regional workshops that will cover topics of current interest to Azerbaijan will be organised. There is a possibility of also including Ukraine and Moldova (other countries in the Eastern Partnership initiative);

Two study visits for officials from Azerbaijan will be arranged. Participants will familiarize themselves with the structure and functioning of European bodies as well as the work process that goes into the European Union’s operations. The visits will include a training of trainers session, which will prepare 10 local trainers in Azerbaijan, who will then disseminate knowledge to others in local training institutions. A training toolkit will be developed to support them.

Trainings in November for government officials: Negotiation Skills

Trainings in December for government officials: Presentation Skills

Other trainings on PR and media management, project management skills, European structures and terminology and communication will be conducted throughout the following stages of the project.

For more information please contact Natig Hajiyev, Programmes Manager British Council Azerbaijan at natig.hajiyev@britishcouncil.az

20.11.2009 16:10