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Volunteers for a micro-enterprise program design in Sri Lanka

Company
Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA)
Brief Description

Micro-enterprise program design in Sri Lanka (this is a voluntary assisgnment).

WHERE: Sri Lanka

WHEN: as early as March 2012, approx. one month

APPLICATION PROCESS: Please send a detailed letter of interest and copy of your resume to Sarah Feldberg, Volunteer Coordinator at sarah.feldberg@coopscanada.coop by January 17, 2011. Only qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview.

*All related costs including domestic airfare, ground transport, and a meal/incidental allowance will be covered by CCA. Limited remuneration may be available based on relevant experience. For more information contact Volunteer Co-ordinator, Sarah Feldberg.

BACKGROUND

The Canadian Co-operative Association has worked in partnership with the SANASA movement for more than 20 years and has been jointly implementing the, "Rebuilding and Strengthening Livelihoods in Post-Tsunami Sri Lanka" (RSLPTSL) project since 2006. The SANASA Movement includes more than 8,000 community-based primary thrift and credit co-operatives with more than one million members.

The RSLPTSL project has provided over 57,000 person trainings in tsunami and conflict affected areas, under a Livelihoods Program implemented by SANASA Campus Limited (SCL). This is a tremendous accomplishment and speaks to the appeal of the program topics to the target audience and the skills of the trainers in mobilizing participants. Even so, SANASA management and training center managers and staff have indicated that the program could benefit from the introduction of new elements that support established micro and small-medium businesses.

Over the next four to six months SCL and CCA will undertake a survey of past participants, identify existing channels for marketing through the SANASA movement, look at existing group enterprise results and success factors in order to identify gaps, needs and opportunities. A strategy and action plan will be developed. SCL training materials and professional development plans will be updated.

Sri Lankan and Canadian technical assistance will support CCA and SCL in this exciting process.

ASSIGNMENT

SCL has three training centers in the Southern and Eastern regions of Sri Lanka. Two Canadian volunteers are being recruited to provide support to these centers in assessing training programs, developing new business training modules/services, identifying skills required to implement new modules/services, and providing recommendations into the overall strategy and action plans for rolling out new modules/services

We are looking for the following knowledge and skills:

  • strategic planning
  • small scale marketing and distribution
  • group decision making dynamics
  • micro enterprise management content and delivery
  • change management concepts and strategies for introducing change
  • working with a multi-stakeholder team
  • overseas work experience and cross cultural experience

Two Canadian volunteers are sought. It is not necessary that all the above skills are in one volunteer as long as they are covered off between the two. Some flexibility in the mission purpose is expected as surveying and environmental scans have yet to take place. This will be a team process with representatives from CCA Ottawa, CCA Colombo, SANASA, and Sri Lankan Technical Advisors involved.

TIMELINE (can be adjusted based on candidates schedules)

  • January 17, application deadline
  • January 28, interviews concluded and candidates selected
  • March 1-2, orientation in Ottawa
  • March 3-March 29, Sri Lanka
  • March 30, debrief in Ottawa

Canadian Co-operative Association

The Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) is a national association for co-operatives in Canada, representing more than ten million co-operative and credit union members from over 2,000 organizations. Individual co-op members are represented by CCA either directly through their co-operative, through their provincial co-op associations or credit union central, or through sectoral organizations. CCA provides leadership to promote, develop, and unite co-operatives and credit unions for the benefit of people in Canada and around the world. For more information about the mentorship program, visit our website.

SANASA

The SANASA Movement is the leading collective of community-based organizations in Sri Lanka with a network of 8,400 primary thrift and credit societies in rural and urban districts across the country; a group of companies providing services to the primary societies and the Sri Lankan public; and a national federation.