Ticket to Life Coordinators Workshop held during the Africa Scout Academy from 7th to 11th December 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya brought together National Coordinators from seven countries (Benin, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, and Niger) currently implementing the Ticket to Life initiative. The initiative has so far reached 4,000 children and young people in vulnerable circumstances by providing Scouting activities adapted to their needs to build knowledge and skills, which help improve their quality of life.
During the workshop, the coordinators reviewed the implementation of the initiative focusing on better understanding of the initiative, the implementation structure and the different approaches used at the global, regional and national levels. They underwent training on how to develop partnerships to sustain their projects beyond the funding period, how to provide emotional support to the young people by the Scout leaders they work with, and how to mainstream diversity and inclusion within the initiative to increase outreach and impact.
“We shared best practices from every country to encourage peer learning and inspiration. We agreed that there is need to conduct surveys to better understand community needs before commencing any project. This increases oour chances of realizing the objectives of our projects.”
- Joel Dossou, National Executive Director, Scoutisme Beninois
The coordinators defined the initiative’s success parameters and explored the Fluxx project management platform for easy management and reporting on the project. The workshop ended with each NSO developing an implementation plan for the year 2024 with a commitment to ensure implementation and bring more visibility to their work.
“NSOs should invest in capacity building for their Scout leaders to ensure the information trickles down across the organization to support effective implementation of the projects. There is also a great need to enhance the documentation and sharing of grassroots impact stories by the Scout leaders. Leveraging local partnerships have potential to guarantee continuity and sustainability of the project beyond the funding period.”
- Kelvin Mirie, Project Assistant Scouting Development & regional Ticket to Life Coordinator, World Scout Bureau Africa Support Centre
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This workshop was held as part of the Africa Scout Academy that took place from 7th to 11th December 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya through World Scouting Grants thanks to the longstanding support and partnership of the World Scout Foundation and its generous donors.
The Africa Scout Academy is a capacity building event that provides a platform for learning, peer exchange and skills development during which leaders can grow their capacities through tapping into different best practices and developing action plans to improve their NSO's programmes, initiatives, processes, and projects towards sustainable development of Scouting. This first edition focused on Youth Programme Development, Safe from Harm, Ticket to Life Initiative, Constitutional Reviews and Scouts for SDGs mobilization.
The programme involved four parallel workshops with opportunity to connect participants through joint sessions on cross-cutting topics like the next strategy for Scouting, WOSM Services, Safe from Harm, partnerships and resource mobilization, project management and storytelling for donor-funded projects.