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I C A R D A N e w s INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012 Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org |
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For
more information contact:
Dr Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
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29 September 2005
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The objectives of the Mentoring Program are to increase organizational effectiveness by developing better skilled staff; establishing a mentoring culture that genuinely values diversity; assuring that every young scientist has a career development plan; helping mentees increase their visibility and gain access to role models perhaps leading to advancement in the system; increasing communication and scientific contribution across the lines of status, culture and gender; and helping retain more young women scientists in the Future Harvest Centres. At ICARDA, the program started with the selection of mentors and mentees by the program coordinator, Dr Hanadi El Dessougi and the G&D Committee, chaired by Dr Malika Martini, under the supervision of Dr W. Erskine, ADG (Research). More than 30 ICARDA senior and young scientists participated in an orientation workshop of the program, held at ICARDA headquarters on 31 August and 1 September. Two consultants, Normala and Phillip Merry from Phillip Merry Consulting Group Pte Ltd, Singapore, facilitated the training program of the ICARDA mentors and mentees. On behalf of Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, Dr Samir Ahmed, Head of HRDU, opened the orientation workshop. ICARDA Senior Management Committee members and other senior staff were present at the opening session. The workshop included developing a structure for the one-year mentoring program, sharing experiences, setting goal and career development plans for mentees, and looking at life-plans, networking, etc, to jumpstart the mentoring relationship, as well as management of differences of opinion, impact of values/beliefs on communication patterns, impact of gender on mentoring and its importance in providing leadership. The second day of the workshop included coaching sessions by the consultants for ICARDA mentor and mentee individual pairs on how to clarify their cultural and personality style differences, work on their development goals and reconciling their reservations, concerns, and doubts about their mentoring relationship. The session was very useful and resulted in an expansion of ideas, broadening of goals and coming to suitable agreements for mentors and mentees. Also, a session on "Maximizing Energy for Sustainable Peak Performance" was held for all ICARDA staff in the afternoon of the last day of the workshop. This session, facilitated by Phillip Merry, attracted over 80 staff members. They all found the session very useful. |
About
ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org)
serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil,
and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management
of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants
(sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In
the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible
for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage
legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of
the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting15 international research centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.