Date:
24 Jun 2010 -
24 Jun 2010
Geography:
United Kingdom
Country: UK
City: Glasgow, Radisson Hotel, Megalithic Room
Organiser: UKTI
Contact name: Christian Syme
Email: christian.syme@scotent.co.uk
Telephone: 00 33 1 40 73 81 88
Companies are invited to attend this seminar, jointly hosted by UK Trade and Investment and SDI, highlighting on the opportunities available to supply services to the developing world through the various multilateral development agencies. The seminar will focus on winning business from the World Bank, Inter-American and Asian Development Banks, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European Union external aid programme to non-EU member countries.
Register for the Aid Funded Business: Education and Training seminar
Closing date for registration is Friday, 18 June 2010.
The seminar will cover the opportunities to companies providing services such as:
- Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
- Tertiary Education/Further Education (capacity building, quality improvement)
- Corporate training (soft skills, personal development, management and leadership, communication skills etc)
Education is central to development and a key to attaining the Millennium Development Goals set by the UN which aims to ensure a better life for those in lesser-developed countries by 2015. It is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality and is the largest contributor to sustained economic growth.
Full seminar programme
Find the location
United Nations Agencies
There are thirty-nine different procuring agencies within the UN. They all have different specialisations and procurement needs and in 2008 alone, spent over US$ 13.6 billion on procuring goods and services (34% increase on 2007). The UN is an SME-friendly organisation and payment is always made within 30 days. For UN-wide training programmes, consultants must be able to deliver the same courses worldwide, in English and French, and sometimes in the other official UN languages. These programmes are developed and procured both in New York and in Geneva. In addition, the UN office in Geneva (UNOG) procures training services for its staff in Geneva, as well as for staff of other organisations that are part of the “UN family” in Geneva (UNECE, UNCTAD, OHCHR, OCHA, UNEP and UNOG). This represents about 3,600 staff.
The areas of interest include Ethics, Leadership, Management Development, Supervisory Skills, Performance Management, Coaching and specific skills such as Human Rights. The UNOG has its own Language School so the opportunities for UK language course providers are limited.
World Bank and Inter-American and Asian Development Banks
The World Bank divides its Education focus into four separate areas however this seminar will concentrate on ‘Education for the Knowledge Economy’ and ‘Economics of Education’. The Bank began lending for education in 1963 and today is the world’s largest source of external financing to the developing world for education. For the past five years, the Bank has averaged about US$2 billion per year in loans, credits, and grants to support education (double that of the previous five years). In 2009, new lending to education totalled US$3.4 billion—a sharp increase over the previous five fiscal years
The Inter-American Development Bank focuses on education for work and training of human resources. This leads to a greater emphasis on Higher education programmes at the professional, postgraduate and scientific and technological research level. It also focuses on programmes on technical education and professional training to turn out skilled workers and middle-level technicians and education programmes to provide a minimum of social and work skills to young persons and adults without access to formal education. The Asian Development Bank has a large focus on TVET, particularly on system reform to better align skills formation with the requirements in the labour market.
The European Commission
Under the thematic programme “Investing in people” a budget is allocated for the priority area “Education, knowledge and skills”. One of the actions funded under this programme focuses in particular on promoting improving opportunities for vocational education and skills training. Last year the EU committed €12 billion in aid to developing countries, with the social infrastructure sector (including education, health, water and government/civil society) accounting for 32.1% of this amount.
Programme
Who should attend?
Companies providing Education and Training services looking to bid for opportunities through the multilateral aid agencies. This event will also be suitable for companies already supplying any of the above agencies but looking to learn more about how the strategy of each organisation will develop in this sector in the future.
Who will I meet?
Representatives from the World Bank and the United Nations will be presenting on the opportunities to work with their respective organisations. There will also be advice on bidding for projects funded through the European Commission’s external aid programme – “EuropeAid”. We are also pleased to welcome our UK Trade and Investment colleagues who liaise with the Agencies on our behalf –
- Mrs Marie Gow (British Consulate-General, Geneva);
- Ms Sue Mortimer (UK Permanent Representation to the European Union, Brussels); and
- Mr Justin Kersey (British Embassy, Washington DC).
Delegates attending the course will range from those new to aidfunded business, to those who have many years’ experience. We will also be inviting case study companies who have been successful at winning World Bank and UN contracts in the past to talk about their experiences
Find the event location