West Africa Civil Society Institute wacsi.org

Ms. Dorothy A. Okwae acquires robust financial management skills from a WACSI training

Ms. Okwae who has been working in this role for three years attested that this training enabled her to learn good practices and the main principles of financial management, techniques to undertake a successful budget process which she will, from now on, utilize to strengthen her practice as a finance staff.

She was very pleased to have been a part of this training and pointed out that she will make use of the knowledge and skills acquired from this training to improve budget development processes in YMCA Ghana, making sure that she involves all staff.

Commenting on the training methodology, she satisfactorily commented that “the facilitator involved everyone and used engaging techniques to win the attention of all participants”. She stressed that the facilitator, Mr. Gyakye Smith a consultant working with Cicada Consult in Ghana, created a relaxed atmosphere that enabled participants to focus and commit to the entire process.

The training was delivered using theoretical and practical methods. It examined fundamental principles of financial management which the facilitator used as a foundation to engage participants in exercises and working groups to promote understanding of these principles. The training also enabled participants to develop more insight and understanding of finance related issues by means of knowledge and experience sharing techniques. Participants acknowledged the relevance of the training and indicated that it was beneficial to them in terms of knowledge acquisition and skills enhancement.

WACSI was approached to organize a training course for Africa Alliance of the YMCA on Financial Management. The training was tailored to strengthen the financial management skills of 15 Finance Staff from YMCS offices across Africa, based on the capacity gaps enumerated in a needs assessment conducted by WACSI. The course was held on 1-3 October, 2012 at CAFAP, in Bagbe, Togo.

The Executive Secretary of the Africa Alliances of YMCA expressed his satisfaction with the training. He explained that the YMCA will collaborate with WACSI to strengthen the capacities of YMCA staff on other areas of professional development in view of enhancing the overall performance of YMCA in Africa.

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