On Monday, July 23, at 12:00 p.m. at the USP Tonga Campus Lopaukamea II Hall, U.S. Embassy Political and Economic Chief Helene Tuling will launch the final two modules of the Project Management course conducted by the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) in Tonga.The course is part of USAID’s partnership with the University of the South Pacific under its Ready project to help Pacific Island countries become more environmentally and disaster resilient. The Certificate in Project Management Practice is internationally recognized; course completers are eligible for membership in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand Project Management Institutes.
Participants of the course include mid-level managers of government departments and non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives from the private sector. The five-month course helps leaders strengthen their management skills to design and effectively implement disaster resilience projects. USAID’s Ready is a five-year project that works in 12 Pacific Island countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Through Ready, USAID works with government partners and other stakeholders to draft and implement policies that will improve partner countries’ access to larger amounts of project funding from international donors in order to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters and strengthen the skills and systems within each country to better manage and monitor funded projects.