| Award of Excellence in International Collaboration from the Canadian Association for Distance Education (CADE) awarded to the Commonwealth of Learning for its Effective Writing for UNHCR course. VANCOUVER, CANADA - Writing Effectively for UNHCR, an effective communication course, produced by Vancouver-based Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has won the Canadian Association for Distance Education (CADE) 2003 Award for Excellence in International Collaboration. CADE's citation notes that, "The course itself displays a practical combination of print and digital technologies to meet the needs of a global network of learners." (See complete citation below.) The unique international effort was spearheaded by COL, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to creating and widening access to education and improving its quality, utilizing distance education techniques. In the spirit of supporting international collaboration and cross-cultural understanding, COL harnessed talent from around the world to build a course development team as international in scope as the target audience of the course itself. The entire process took place virtually, from conception to delivery. By bringing the international team together, COL demonstrated that not only can international partnerships work, they can enrich the process. In giving voice to the multiple cultures, values and experiences of the parties involved, the international partnership has produced a truly cross-boundary and transcultural product. The tangible and sustainable results of the project are equally enriching and have helped both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and COL in realizing their respective goals. For UNHCR, written competency directly impacts on their ability to meet their United Nations mandate of leading and coordinating international action for the worldwide protection of refugees and for seeking durable solutions to refugee problems. The ability to write a clear report means effective and timely decisions can be made in refugees' cases and the organization's efficiency enhanced generally. The difficulty in the past had been how to provide this type of training to UNHCR's widely dispersed and mobile staff; "open and distance learning" (ODL) methods, as advocated by COL, met this challenge. The compact course booklet, e-tutoring support and online assignment receipt and delivery ensure that UNHCR staff can continue with coursework even while on assignment in remote locations. The adaptation of the materials from English into French, done by Télé-université, Quebec, Canada, provided a similar opportunity for UNHCR's French speaking staff. To date, more than 900 UNHCR staff members have been trained over a period of three years. The course is now serving as a model for other UNHCR training programs and has been adapted by COL for use by other United Nations agencies and international humanitarian organizations such as the United Nations Joint Programme for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In partnering with major humanitarian organizations such as UNHCR, and later UNAIDS and WHO, COL has helped to empower their human resources to advance causes in relieving human suffering in war, natural disaster, epidemics and pandemics. Locally recruited staff in even the most remote and tumultuous regions now have access to learning opportunities; opportunities impossible prior to introduction of ODL methods. A UNHCR caseworker in Afghanistan working with displaced persons can now improve those skills so necessary to successfully provide relief for refugees: writing clear and accurate accounts of their stories. A UNAIDS staff member working in Africa can now write a successful appeal for funding. In other words, learning directly impacts on these organizations' capacity to alleviate human suffering. Through their partnership, COL and UNHCR have succeeded in pioneering a training model which provides cost-effective and efficient learning opportunities for the UN and other international humanitarian organizations. The full extent of good that will come of this has yet to be realized. Award citation from CADE: "The Commonwealth of Learning's project to develop a distance education course on Writing Effectively for UNHCR demonstrates excellence in this category, clearly meeting all the criteria for this award. The strengths of the development process included a thorough needs assessment and pilot testing involving both partners with continuous feedback from the clients. The course itself displays a practical combination of print and digital technologies to meet the needs of a global network of learners. Flexibility is built in to allow learners to complete the program amidst unique life and cultural demands." |