Description and Structure

“I am a manager. I should know how I can evaluate my project and how to present it to a donor and how to make an implementation for it, so the topics were very useful for me”. Fellow, AF 2010 Cycle

“I am prepared to actively take part in meetings and hold presentations. I will start to implement my job according to project implementation methods which I have learned in this program”. Fellow, AF 2011 Cycle

GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF A TYPICAL AFP CYCLE

THE PEOPLE INVOLVED:

The Fellowship utilized several layers of enhanced and continued learning, allowing for the development of an indigenous community able to contextualize/adapt the themes of the program to changes in Afghanistan. These mutually reinforcing layers included:

FELLOWS

• First time participants in the program. Fellows were the main beneficiaries of the cycle, divided into groups at the beginning of the Fellowship.

COACHES

• Selected from the stand-out Fellows of previous cycles, and tasked with providing unity and guidance to the group;
• were also responsible for being the main contact between Mentors and the groups as a whole; and
• received additional “Coaching-for-Coaches” training so that they could continue their professional development while being equipped with the skills to coach their group.

AFGHAN RESOURCE PERSONS (ARPS)

• Selected from the stand-out Coaches of previous cycles, ARPs acted as apprentice faculty and worked to contextualize and adapt the training being offered to the changing realities in Afghanistan;
• were also offered further training in a module specifically designed for them, examining social entrepreneurship.

MENTORS

• Mentors were experts, practitioners or academics in various disciplines
• from numerous countries, willing and able to volunteer and share their knowledge, to guide and advise when requested, and at ease in a two-way learning relationship;
• Mentors/Mentor teams, together with the Coaches were asked to commit to overseeing at least one group of five to six ‘mentees’ for the duration of each Cycle;
• sometimes also acted as Faculty/Resource Persons.

FACULTY/RESOURCE PERSONS

• Faculty/Resource Persons were involved in curriculum development, and facilitation and presentation at workshops and seminars, either in-person or electronically.

PROCESS

Throughout the Fellowship process, participants utilized the training offered in a number of assignments and projects, which were both peer- and Mentor-reviewed. This served to reinforce the themes of the Fellowship, and instilled from the beginning a learning-by-doing element into the training architecture.

TEAM PROJECT WORK

• ASSIGNMENT I
  • • Each Fellow undertook an organization/needs assessment in her/his workplace for one of the following purposes:
    • To determine the needs and service requirements of a population or customer group served by the Fellow’s organization;
    • To determine the capacities and priority needs of the Fellow’s organization in order to more effectively support the organization’s mission; or
    • To determine the capacities and priority development needs of a particular group of employees within the organization (e.g., supervisors, engineers, scientists, teachers, secretaries, etc.)

In the weeks in between Workshops I and II, Fellows were offered guidance by UNITAR’s team of Mentors, Coaches and Afghan Resource Persons. Following individual presentation of the findings of Assignment One at Workshop II, each team then used the results of the organization needs assessments to decide on a team project.

• ASSIGNMENT II
  • Assignment II tasked teams with developing a concept paper in the form of a high-level Project Plan. Elements of the Fellowship covered in Workshop II contributed greatly to the development of Assignment II. This process was also focused upon by the Coaches, ARPs and Mentors, and discussed at length during Audio Conferences.

• ASSIGNMENT III
  • Assignment III called for the development of a team project plan for organizational development or change projects for Afghanistan. Through a formal presentation involving all group members, a report was made upon the development of a detailed project plan for the team’s organizational development or change project as developed through Assignments I and II.

TRAINING TOOLS

The Fellowship offered four workshops held throughout the process, typically two in Kabul, one in Hiroshima and one alternatively in Abu Dhabi, Singapore or Dehrdun.

CURRICULUM EMPHASIS ON LEADERSHIP AND MENTORING:
Endeavoring to widen the impact of the Fellowship, UNITAR placed special emphasis on methodology and skills development related to leadership and mentoring. The objective was to develop the capacity of each Fellow to be a facilitator able to contribute to organizational and human resource development within his/her respective ministry or organization.
The outcomes of the projects undertaken by most of the teams indicated that this objective was met with considerable success. Special efforts were also made to ensure the Fellows’ team projects focused on management of change and organizational development, and the necessary skills and knowledge to support the process were included as the recurring themes throughout the Cycle curriculum.

COMBINATION OF DIFFERENT TRAINING METHODS:
The Fellowship undertook a combination of different training methods with a series of skills-building activities, including:

1. On-site workshops
2. Study-trips
3. Mentor/ARP/Coach/Fellow communication
4. Team projects
5. Distance learning activities

VIDEO SEMINARS

Throughout the Fellowship, Video Seminars linked Fellows, as a group, to AF Faculty around the globe. Presentations delivered during such events corresponded to the phase in the Fellowship at which the Fellows found themselves and included, amongst others:

• Tools For Maximizing Performance
• Training as A Capacity Development Tool
• Conflict Resolution
• Leadership Development
• Risk Identification and Mitigation
• Results Based Management

AUDIO CONFERENCES

All groups connected via Skype to both UNITAR and their Mentors monthly, so that the project and Fellowship process could be discussed. Standing as milestones in the program, these video conferences were augmented by ad-hoc discussions between group members, Coaches, ARPs and Mentors.