Course Overview : Training of Trainers on: Governance of Community Organizations in Rural Electricity
WORKSHOP INTRODUCTION:
The South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Cooperation and Development (SARI/Energy) program was launched in 2000 to build mutually beneficial energy linkages among the countries of South Asia. Since its inception, the SARI/Energy project has made significant contributions to addressing energy sector issues, including; exposing approximately 4,000 participants to TA and Training; disseminating good practices to improving regional energy institutions; supporting harmonization of energy efficiency standards; exploring opportunities for private sector participation in energy sector projects; and undertaking numerous outreach and dissemination activities.
One of the areas of focus under the SARI/E program is improving both access and quality of electricity distribution to rural areas for which there has been a growing concern in SA region, this is reflected in new policy initiatives & distribution targets in many of these countries.
To address the above, an institutional framework of rural energy training institutions and their counterpart utilities was established under the SARI/E Program in July 2004. This Rural Energy Training Network (RETN) is a dynamic group of institutions and distribution utilities from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, dedicated to delivering improved rural electricity services – which builds upon experiences in rural energy delivery mechanisms in the region. The aim of this Network is to build upon the unique strengths of its members to share best practices, training curricula and materials, research, and technology to address the critical issues of rural energy services in South Asia through capacity building and training interventions.
The Training or Trainers (2nd in the series of three such programs) is envisaged as an attempt to share the capacity building philosophy of Rural Electrification Board (REB) Bangladesh, which has an extensive and rigorous approach towards training of all its stakeholders.
WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES:
The objective of the course is to increase the effectiveness of Community Based Organizations in governance and management of its rural electricity services and to develop an understanding of mechanisms such as PTAs (Performance Target Agreements) for effective performance Management.
It is envisaged that at the end of the course, the RETN member organizations would have imbibed the essence of managing community based rural electricity services and they would develop the capacity to design and deliver training modules and curricula, keeping in view the needs of their own constituencies.
WORKSHOP TOPICS & METHODLOGY:
The Training would focus on :
- Training of Directors of Community Organizations to undertake rural electricity services (focus on governance and management issues) and Performance based controls and monitoring systems (for community organizations and Utility personnel).
TARGET PARTICIPANTS:
The course is primarily aimed at the RETN member Institutions and their Utility partners and selected heads of community based organizations from the Region.
Training Course materials are available on CD- ROM upon request to the Resource Center.
