April 28, 2005 Winnipeg -- The Honourable Aileen Carroll, Minister of International Cooperation, today announced a $9.1 million contribution, over five years, to support 21 development projects by Canadian community colleges. These projects will be funded by the Canadian College Partnership Program of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). This allows Canadian colleges to work with developing country organizations specializing in education and training. Minister Carroll made this announcement during a visit to the Red River College. "Canadian educational institutions, and people associated with them, have made remarkable contributions to sustainable development around the world," Minister Carroll said. "These initiatives by community colleges help to improve education, private-sector development and health — areas that are related to meeting our commitment to the Millennium Development Goals." The Canadian College Partnership Program is managed by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges on CIDA's behalf. The program holds regular competitions open to Canadian community colleges and training institutes. The selection is carried out by a committee of peers which ranks all submissions on merit. The 21 projects announced today were selected from the 49 proposals received by the committee. Of these projects, 13 take place in Africa, five in the Americas, and three in Asia. Four of the Canadian community colleges are in Atlantic region; eight are in Quebec; four are in Ontario; and five in Western Canada. Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 2005 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework. - 30 - Information Andrew Graham Director of Communications Office of the Minister of International Cooperation Telephone: (819) 953-6238 Media Relations Office Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Telephone: (819) 953-6534 E-mail: info@acdi-cida.gc.ca Web site: www.cida.gc.ca Bernard Lachance Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) Telephone: (613) 746-3069 E-mail: blachance@accc.ca PROJECT DESCRIPTION Category one: (up to $800,000) Bow Valley College (Calgary, Alberta)Toolkit for Change: Building Scope (Ghana): to help increase the income-earning capacity of Ghana's most vulnerable groups, such as women, unemployed youth, and low-skilled adults. This will be accomplished by improving access to effective vocational training. The project seeks to help Ghana to put into place a comprehensive Technical and Vocational Education and Training system. CIDA's contribution is $799,969. (Andy Cichos (403) 297-4977) New Brunswick Community College (Bathurst, New Brunswick)Technology: Linking School to Life (Mali): to improve the quality of basic education in Mali, by introducing senior primary school pupils to a practical knowledge of technology. This project will allow these young people to integrate better in sectors of the work force, or to continue their studies, while helping to reduce poverty. CIDA's contribution is $799,999. (Jeanne Comeau (506) 547-2187). Category two: (up to $400,000) Malaspina University-College (Nanaimo, British Colombia) Early Childhood Development (Indonesia): to increase the capacity of Indonesia's Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya to deliver a culturally relevant, quality, accessible, and sustainable post secondary Early Childhood Development program. The project will respond to the educational needs of professional and volunteer caregivers, mainly women, working in community social service programs. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Sheila Swanson (250) 740-6319) Northwest Community College (Terrace, British Colombia) Integrated Rural Development (Bolivia): to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction in Bolivia by providing technical training to teachers and supporting services to rural communities to stimulate socio-economic development. The project will respond to community-identified challenges and problems such as soil erosion, low-yield harvest, poor nutrition, and lack of alternative income generating opportunities. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Beth Davies (250) 635-6511) Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) Establishing the Wa Polytechnic (Ghana): to assist the Wa Polytechnic improve training accessibility for the rural poor in Ghana. The project will seek to develop sustained management cooperation with related institutions and stakeholders; increase program relevance to community needs; improve teaching/learning resources; and increase capacity to deliver and monitor the results of non-formal community-driven training. CIDA's contribution is $399,978. (David Harvey (306) 933-6273) Red River College (Winnipeg, Manitoba) Indigenous Education and Training (Chile): to increase access for the Mapuche people of Chile, especially women, to culturally-appropriate, employment-related training programs in order to enhance family incomes through improved skills. The project will contribute to the productive sectors of the local economy — agriculture, forestry and small business development. It will also enhance the capacity of the Universidad Tecnologica Metropolitana to contribute to teacher training and curriculum development in Indigenous communities in the Municipality and throughout the country. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Terry Lewycky (204) 632-2083) Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology (Welland, Ontario) Entry Points for Tourism Work (Peru): will help the Instituto Superior Tecnologico del Sur of Peru to improve its ability to deliver tourism training, especially to marginalized groups, that will assist the unemployed to access entry points for tourism work. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Jos Nolle (905) 735-2211 ext. 7737) Humber Institute of Technology and Applied Learning (Toronto, Ontario)Women Entrepreneurship Development (Bangladesh): will work with the Bangladeshi Womens' Chamber of Commerce and Industry to establish a training unit which will identify needs, develop training materials and conduct entrepreneurship and small business training programs. The goal of the project is to alleviate poverty and reduce the vulnerability of Bangladeshi women by enabling them to establish their own businesses. CIDA's contribution is $375,409. (Michael Hatton (416) 675-6622 ext. 4510) Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology (Ottawa, Ontario) Rural Health Education (India): aims to establish a community-based health education program that will lead to the alleviation of poverty in India and to the improved health of community members, in particular women. The project will help design health education and training programs of the Agnel Technical Education Complex that address the needs of the communities served and promote the community-based model of health planning and delivery. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Maria Schnurr (613) 727-4723 ext. 7213) Collège d'Alfred, University of Guelph (Alfred, Ontario) Renewal of Agricultural Science (Chad): to update the agricultural and environmental training program of the University Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in Sarh, Chad. The project will allow trainers from Chad to acquire greater knowledge of rural entrepreneurship and agricultural science. The project will also allow managers to acquire knowledge of program management, training techniques, and the skills-based approach to remedy weaknesses in this sector. CIDA's contribution is $399,896. (Charles Goubau (613) 679-2218, ext. 501). Collège de Maisonneuve (Montreal, Quebec) Protection and Integration of Youth (Honduras): to equip social workers in Honduras to meet new challenges, such as the attraction of youth to street gangs. The goals are to improve training in partner institutions, to allow better knowledge of youth realities, and to strengthen the practical component of their programs/activities. CIDA's contribution is$400,000. (Hélène Brassard (514) 251-7131, ext. 4185). Collège Montmorency (Laval, Quebec) Young Builders, Young Entrepreneurs (Madagascar): to help build the capacities of youth in Madagascar to start up and manage businesses. This project also aims to build the capacities of the team of trainers, so they can help to implement an entrepreneurship module in Madagascar's civil and construction engineering training programs. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Sylvain Benoit (450) 975-6341). Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe (Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec) Early Childhood Development (Mali): to increase appreciation for preschool education, toenrol more children in basic education, and thus to decrease the number of children kept out of school. The project aims to build the capacities of preschool teachers and officials, to better implement Mali's new preschool and special education policy. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Alice-Eva Daigle (450) 773-6800, ext.157). Agri-food Technology Institute(Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec)Value-added Processing (Cameroon): to increase the income of rural Cameroonian households by transferring the skills needed to process local farm produce and to manage a profitable micro-enterprise. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Claude Bérubé (450) 778-6504 ext. 205). Collège de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, Quebec) Adapted Technical Training (Senegal): to allow ten trainers to acquire needed skills, knowledge, and educational concepts in electrical and mechanical engineering, and in entrepreneurship, while promoting gender equality. The project thus aims to make youth more employable, to improve the regional supply of higher technical education, and to produce outcomes related to the economic situation of Senegal's Kédougou region, impoverished in recent years by rural-urban migration. CIDA's contribution is $399,999. (France Turgeon (819) 564-6350 ext. 125). Cégep de Trois-Rivières (Trois-Rivières, Quebec)Concerted Community Action (Senegal): to build the capacities of community workers, and to support Senegal's vulnerable urban and rural social groups in managing their needs. The project will aim to build the capacities of teachers in the Education and Development Facilitation Department of the National School of Applied Economics in developing and implementing a new community work curriculum. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Etienne G. Juneau (819) 376-1721 ext. 2109). Collège François-Xavier-Garneau (Quebec, Quebec) School, Society, Work (Mozambique): to support Mozambique's current reform of technical and vocational training programs, so that institutions and young graduates may contribute to the development of Mozambique's private sector. This project aims to tie vocational training closely to the labour market. CIDA's contribution is $399,999. (Paule Racine (418) 688-8310, ext. 2460). Cégep de Limoilou (Quebec, Quebec) Geomatics Technical Training (Peru): to build Peru's technical and vocational training capacity, and to help develop and implement geomatics technical training. This project aims to support a modern cadastral system that provides a complete picture of Peru's land subdivision. CIDA's contribution is $399,981. (Nicole Rousseau (418) 647-6600, ext. 6530). Nova Scotia Community College (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Appropriate Technical Training (ATT) (Eritrea): to provide technical assistance with the development of teacher training, and course assessment tools, professional development activities, and upgrading existing programs in Eritrea. The project will contribute to Eritrean government's focus on rebuilding and rehabilitating economic and social infrastructures as well as national economic and social development policies. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Cynthia Murphy (902) 491-1661) Nova Scotia Agricultural College (Truro, Nova Scotia) Agricultural Sustainability (Ethiopia): aims to increase the capacity of Jimma University College of Agriculture in Eritrea to produce competent graduates, to provide outreach services to communities, to deepen gender and HIV/AIDS awareness, and to promote environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. The project will contribute to pedagogical and community development skills as well as professional development in agriculture. CIDA's contribution is $400,000. (Mary Breen (902) 893-6552) Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador) Poverty Reduction Through Fisheries (Mozambique): seeks to improve the institutional capacity of the National Institute for the Development of Small Scale Fisheries in Mozambique. The project will provide extension training to small-scale fishers and their communities; and develop and deliver community-based training programs that promote sustainable and safe fishing and processing. CIDA's contribution is $396,952. (Nina J. Goudie (709) 778-0642)
