In 2015, a blended training programme was developed by the International Labour Organization under the FMM West Africa project, in partnership with the International Training Centre of the ILO.
The blended training which spans over a period of three (3) years, was a two-phased programme with an online course and a face to face workshop, delivered in 2015 and 2016. A follow-up stage, which is ongoing, is the step-down of the training programme at the national level. The Blended training aimed to enhance the capacity of ECOWAS Member States to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP), and also to build the capacity of the National Focal Points (NFPs) to deliver national level trainings on the elimination of TIP and forced labour. The online course was held from 5 March to 31 May 2015, with participation of 36 TIP actors from 15 ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania.
The online training discussed trafficking in persons, child labour, forced labour and other related thematic topics. The face to face workshop was held from 1-5 February 2016, at the Benin Royale Hotel, Cotonou; Republic of Benin. 19 persons, out of the above 36 individuals, attended the workshop.
The 5-day technical sessions focused on theory of change, review of key concepts from online course, defining training needs and training modules. It also included modules on identifying learning objectives, setting up a training agenda and project planning. Participants of the trainings acquired the guiding principles for training adults (Andragogy), how to draft learning objectives, simulating the use of training methods and overview of training evaluation methods.
Following the training, ECOWAS and ILO plans to sustain the online course by transforming it into a self-directed online course to be managed directly by the ECOWAS Commission. This would make the course accessible to all TIP actors in West Africa Region.
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