ILO, ITC launch on-line Training of Trainers (ToT) on managing agricultural cooperatives in Jordan

The global training package ‘My.COOP - Managing your agricultural cooperatives’, has been adapted to the Jordanian context. Graduates of the ToT will become part of a pool of certified ILO trainers who will be able to conduct face-to-face courses in the future.

The ILO in Jordan, in collaboration with the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO) has launched an on-line Training of Trainers (ToT) for Jordanian agricultural cooperative members, as part of wider efforts to promote the role of cooperatives in supporting Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians employed in the sector.

My.COOP is a training programme on the management of agricultural cooperatives, designed to enable existing and potential managers of agricultural cooperatives to identify and address major challenges that are specific to cooperatives in market-oriented agricultural development. The training package has been adapted to the Jordanian context and translated to Arabic to meet the needs of agricultural cooperatives in Jordan.

A nine-week TOT course will focus on training methods, skills and facilitation of the My.COOP technical training content. The targeted trainees include members of the Jordanian Cooperative Corporation, the Jordan Agricultural Engineers Association, Community Based Organizations, as well as active local cooperatives working in the agriculture sector.

Graduates of the training will become part of a pool of certified ILO trainers who will be able to conduct face-to-face courses in the future.

In Jordan, cooperatives are crucial in supporting Syrian and Jordanian agricultural workers through providing direct assistance and services that meet their needs. They play an important intermediary role in facilitating Syrian workers’ access to work permits, allowing refugees to work more freely and formally in the sector.

The ILO have been working closely with cooperatives to help enhance their role in advancing decent work for Jordanian workers and Syrian refugees in Jordan’s agricultural sector. These efforts are part of initiatives funded by the Government of the Netherlands.

In 2019, the work fell under the ILO’s Advancing Decent Work in Jordan’s Agriculture Sector: A Compliance Model project, aimed at improving the living and working conditions of agriculture workers of different nationalities.

In 2020, on-going efforts, including this training, are supported by PROSPECTS - Partnership for improving Prospects for host communities and forcibly displaced persons - a global partnership which brings together the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and the World Bank.