His Excellency the Ambassador of the United States of America, Joseph J. Cella, launched the USAID-supported Certificate IV in Project Management cohort specially targeted for women in Fiji in partnership with the University of the South Pacific at its campus in Laucala, Suva on 22 September.
Twenty-five women are part of the programme in the Suva-based cohort representing government, government corporations, NGOs and the private sector in Fiji.
This is the fifteenth Certificate IV in Project Management Practice cohort sponsored by USAID, through its Ready Project, in partnership with USP’s
Pacific Technical and Further Education (Pacific TAFE).
In previous training USAID Ready noted a significantly low number of female students enrolling and participating in in the programme. It then decided to offer a programme specifically and exclusively to women aged between 18-35 years who are currently project managers or who aspire to be project managers in the future.
Ambassador Cella said “Project Management has long been a male-dominated profession, but over the past few years women have increasingly gained prominence as practitioners – both redefining the typical image of the project manager and expanding the skills project managers need to function effectively to manage complex projects.”
“This course is specifically targeted at women who are already project managers and women who aspire to be project managers in the future in the hope of continuing their professional upskilling. The evolving nature of the project, program and portfolio management space means there is a growing opportunity for women to step into those leadership roles. This course aims to provide you as a group with access to these future opportunities through an accredited project management qualification.”
Vice-Chancellor and President of USP, Professor Pal Ahluwalia said Project Management had been one of USP Pacific TAFE’s most popular initiatives across the Pacific region.
“Since the programme’s inception, USP Pacific TAFE has been able, through funding by USAID, to deliver similar cohorts in Fiji, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tonga, Samoa, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands,” Professor Ahluwalia said.
“Under the bilateral agreement with USAID, for the first time, we have also delivered similar cohorts outside USP member countries, particularly in PNG and FSM. So far we have successfully delivered 3 cohorts in PNG, with the recent one just completed a month ago in Lae, PNG. With the inclusion of this cohort and the one starting in Nadi next week, we would have trained over 500 people in Project Management under this partnership.”
USP Pacific TAFE will soon offer a new Certificate IV in Procurement and Supply programme. This will complement the Certificate IV in Project Management Practice. This new programme aims to assist those students, who are already in the supply chain, to advance in their career and develop further competencies and qualifications in order to support the industry and embrace supply chain as a profession. This also opens up more opportunities for Pacific people to advance in their careers in this area.
Permanent Secretary for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Ms. Jennifer Pool, who also attended the launch said the Certificate IV in Project Management cohort provides a good opportunity for women who are already project managers or aspire to be project managers to upskill themselves.
