Professional Training

This was the first workshop the Training program conducted in Pakistan. In conjunction with the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Senior Program Officer Nina Sughrue and Grants Program Officer Carola Weil devoted three days to negotiation skills, collaborative problem solving, and grants writing for 33 Pakistani women leaders.

The ethnically diverse women hailed from the non-profit, government and private sectors. All of the women were leaders in their organizations and were seeking to improve skills in order to achieve their professional and personal goals more effectively.

Pakistani women face great challenges in achieving their goals due to a legacy of discrimination. The workshop objectives therefore were to strengthen participants’ communication, negotiating, and problem solving skills in bilateral and complex contexts. The goals were to make participants more confident in analyzing dynamic situations, more effective in professional communication, and more successful in negotiation and using third parties. Additionally for the NGO participants, a module on grant writing was incorporated.

This was the first experience for most participants in interactive and exercise-based conflict management training. They were highly satisfied with the workshop content and described the workshop as "just right" for their needs. They appreciated the opportunity to test and improve their negotiation skills in a range of real-life situations, and looked forward to applying their new tools in advancing their professional agenda.