TRANSFORM materials are adapted to the Arab region by the IPC-IG

By IPC-IG
Photo: UNICEF

The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) completed the first review round of the adaptation of TRANSFORM materials to the Arab region. The TRANSFORM social protection training was originally focused on sub-Saharan Africa. This adaptation aims to supply policymakers and social protection practitioners with useful guidance to provide better interventions in this region. The review also looks forward to strengthening capacity and advocacy for inclusive social protection, including the mainstreaming of issues related to gender and disability.  

In March 2022, the IPC-IG supported the implementation of a pilot through a preliminary review. Several surveys and interviews were conducted with participants—officials from the Jordanian government—to assess whether the material was relevant to the specificities of the region and to produce a report indicating where it should be improved. Now, other experts from the region might also be invited to contribute to the final version. 

In addition to the adaptation of the material, a training on TRANSFORM in Arabic was completed from 21 to 29 November in Amman, Jordan, to enable future trainers. It was attended by 31 social protection experts from 10 countries. Maya Hammad, a Researcher at the IPC-IG, was selected to participate as a Candidate Master Trainer.  

The TRANSFORM Arab Region Training of Trainers has a strong regional orientation, developed by regional experts to respond to the region’s specific challenges and opportunities. The curriculum also features an unique pedagogical approach, with cutting-edge technical content focusing on leadership and transformation.  

The TRANSFORM Arab Region initiative is a joint effort between the United Nation Children’s Fund in the Middle East and North Africa (UNICEF MENA), the International Labour Organization, the World Food Programme in the Middle East and North Africa (WFP MENA), the United Nations Development Programme in the Arab States (UNDP Arab States), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).This initiative emerged from a need to enhance social protection capacity in the region to provide support to countries in carrying out their significant reforms. The idea is that the participants of the training will help respond to this demand. 

About TRANSFORM  

TRANSFORM is an innovative learning package for the administration of national social protection floors in Africa. The prime objective of TRANSFORM is to build the critical thinking and capacities of policymakers and practitioners at national and decentralised levels to improve the design, effectiveness and efficiency of social protection systems.  

TRANSFORM has been developed since 2015 with financial and technical support from Irish Aid and the European Union Social Protection Systems Programme (EU-SPS), particularly the Government of Finland. 

In 2016, the African Union officially recommended the training package be made available to all African countries, thus furthering its development and promotion. African social protection experts and Africa-based officials of the ILO, UNICEF and the UNDP worked in collaboration to create the TRANSFORM curriculum, with technical support from Ingenious Peoples Knowledge (IPK). TRANSFORM online and face-to-face applications are delivered in partnership with socialprotection.org (IPC-IG) and Learn to Lead. 

Training applications, curriculum development and review continue to be supported primarily through country-level technical and financial assistance of partner agencies, including the ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, WFP and donors—the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and different multi-donor funding arrangements. 

Since June 2017, the IPC-IG has been delivering a series of products related to TRANSFORM training, unfolding across 14 different projects.

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