On March 13, 2014, 20 mid and senior level members of five government ministries graduated after completing a five-month long Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) training course provided by the USAID Youth Development and Juvenile Justice Program- Kari Yu!
Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Ismanto Adna, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, Valerie Belon, and Program Director of Kari Yu! Carlo Arze all gave congratulatory remarks to the trainees.
Chargé d’Affaires, Valerie Belon told the audience, “Investing in youth is smart and so is evaluating your success by focusing on measurable results. I congratulate Suriname for taking this [step] seriously by making this commitment to youth and youth programs.”
The training course provided workers of five Ministries with skills to better track the results of projects, which work with youth at-risk, school dropouts, and youth in conflict with the law. Participants came from the Ministry of Sport and Youth, the Ministry of Justice and Police, the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, Technology and Environment and Stichting Arbeidsmobilisatie en Ontwikkeling (SAO). Each training participant designed a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (MEP) to track a set of activities within their Ministries.
The Kari Yu! Program will provide follow-up support to the training participants over the coming months as they begin to implement their Ministries’ Monitoring and Evaluation Plans.
In the words of graduate trainee, Rezvi Sheombar Sing of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, “Thanks to the M&E Plans we will be able to judge whether our activities focusing on improving processes are successful or not.”
The Kari Yu! Program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Pan-American Development Foundation (PADF). Kari Yu! is designed to bring together government, private sector, civil society and youth to develop and implement innovative projects and approaches that support the social inclusion and economic engagement of youth, for a more competitive Suriname.
For information contact: Nadischia Semmoh, NSemmoh@padf.org. Tel. 426750/422133
