Human resources development

The Ministry of Planning and Regional Development"s Directorate of Planning will implement the project, which focuses on providing participant and in-country training. Food security-related training will be provided in three areas. To improve the transfer of improved technology to food producers, the project will provide: long-term training of up to seven instructors at the National Agricultural Training School at Kaedi and to several officers of the Agricultural Extension Service; other long- and short-term training in animal husbandry, environmental protection, irrigation engineering, and rural roads construction; seminars on agricultural strategy and planning, agricultural production techniques and policies; and refresher courses to extensionists. To facilitate exploitation of Mauritania"s fisheries, the project will provide management training in business administration, economics, statistics, and law as related to fisheries; management and marketing training in artisanal and industrial fisheries; training in fisheries resources management; and in-country training in marine mechanics and fisheries refrigeration. Training related to food procurement, importing, and distribution will include third-country business planning and management training for senior officials and managers of parastatal and private enterprises and in-country training for clerical personnel and vehicle mechanics. Overall, 33, 51, and 270 individuals will receive U.S., third-country, and in-country training, respectively. Finally, 8-9 GIRM Directorate officials involved in planning, education, and labor will receive U.S. long-term training. Additionally, U.S. experts will conduct four in-country seminars in human resources development for senior GIRM officials and a seminar in manpower planning will be conducted for U.S. trainees. A TA team will assist with project implementation and follow-up. Amendment (Project Paper supplement) of 11/13/89 extends PACD from 12/90 to 8/94. The extended project will focus on Mauritania"s long neglected private sector, which will receive 82% of the new training starts. U.S. long-term training in agriculture will be eliminated in favor of more in-country and third-country fisheries and technical programs. U.S. short-term training will be added to the project and will include seminars and workshops at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Atlanta Management Institute aimed at strengthening the GIRM"s ability to collect and maintain employment statistics and human resources information. Technical training in Tunisia for coastal ship captains and mechanics and third-country training in computer programming and maintenance will be continued. In-country training will focus on upgrading private sector skills in response to changing market demands, with emphasis on the food distribution sector. The supplement adds important new conditionality. (1) At least 35% of trainees must be women and at least 50% from the private sector. (2) New training starts will not be funded unless the GIRM honors previous covenants to employ returning long-term trainees and to guarantee due process to all returnees seeking employment. (Following the intercommunal disturbances in April and May of 1989, Mauritian authorities dismissed and/or expelled public sector employees of black-African ethnic origin, including former USAID participants.) (PD-BCI-960)