2002 Course and its objective
was organized as scheduled. The gender course was for 11 days Feb 18 to Feb 28. And the conference was held from March 1-3, 2002. The objective of the gender course was to provide a comprehensive and compact background on all aspects of gender, so that the knowledge, skill and confidence of participants increase and they are able to carry out gender analysis, planning and mainstreaming.

Development Objectives
The project aimed to promote capacity building and networking among key persons in Gender work in the five countries in the Mekong Subregion-Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.

Immediate Objectives
To facilitate the participation of selected participants from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam and Myanmar/Thailand (who represent outstanding NGO projects related to gender), and provide technical assistance and mentoring service to them.

The following Expected Outputs were achieved. WARI fulfilled the following commitments.
1. Facilitated the attendance of participants at the 10-day Gender Training Course.
2. Organized the logistical arrangements for reimbursing the participants out of this budget, upon receipts. All funds are described in the financial report.
3. Coordinated course contents & resource people and provided needful mentoring & technical assistance to participants.

Course Activities
The 10-day Gender Course covered a wide range of current gender issues in order to enhance the capacity of participants for mainstreaming gender in their own projects. Many of the course facilitators are currently conducting action research in the former Indochina countries, and thus are able to design course contents that are relevant to current issues facing the participants.

Twenty eight participants took part in the Gender course . They were largely from Indochina countries of Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia (total of 23), but some other South East Asian countries also participated. Here is their geographic breakdown.

Activity wise they represented all sectors: GO, NGOs, and academics-

All participants were funded. Some received funds directly from their parent organizations such as AusAID, Planned Family International, Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, UNDP, UNICEF, and CARE. For some WARI obtained funds on their behalf from such organization as OXFAM(A), US Embassy (Laos), NOVIB and Development Foundation. As participants cannot pay for their expenditure, this financial support was most important for their participation.

Resource Person : Following 8 people acted as the resource for the course. They brought the force of variety and diversity of the topics and presentation to the course. They all were a good role model for the participants.

Course content - covered both the basic gender aspects and details of gender-planning, gender analysis and gender mainstreaming. The course also provided details on the application of gender in development sectors such as economy, politics, natural resources and health.

How did the course go?
The course was intensive and comprehensive as it covered almost every aspect of Gender. The participants were overwhelmed and overjoyed. They appreciated both the contents and the style. First 6 modules detailed the core gender tools and techniques and next 10 modules demonstrated how to apply gender tools in specific areas. Each day was a workshop style-with expert presentation followed by small group discussion, their presentation and final comments. Participants learned from the experts and from each other. A course reader and extensive handout were given as a reading material supplement. There were some weaknesses too that related to the participants desire to have less of lectures and more of group discussions. Some participants wanted more money for dinner. Participants had a varied background but we aimed the course at middle level, and interacted individually to solve individual concerns.

Direct Beneficiaries
The direct beneficiaries were the participants attending the course and conference. They are key persons in human resource development and natural resource management programs. Only long-term staff with field experience from outstanding pilot projects in the two countries were selected.

Indirect Beneficiaries
Indirect beneficiaries are the rural and indigenous communities in Cambodia and Lao PDR where the participants are conducting pilot projects concerning human resource development and natural resource management in the context of gender and development. Other indirect beneficiaries are participants who attended both the course and the conference. They can exchange experience and lessons with each other.

Future Plans
Realising the need for such a comprehensive and helpful course, we are interested to continue it, if the donors support continue. There is certainly a great need for such a regional learnings resource because GOs and NGOs are being asked to mainstream gender but their knowledge and capacity is limitted. Country wise training donot have high standard. Only at a regional level and with our personal abilities and the support of some of the excellent teachers of the region we are able to organize and continue this impactful event.

Lesson to be utilized in future
1. We hope to make our course more participatory, and with less lectures
2. We hope to work more on our course books-reader
3. We also hope to acquire a LCD projector to make some more visually attractive powerpoint presentations for the course.
4. Invite more men and some more Thai's as participants.

Gender Course Evaluation (2002)

Question 1 : Overall, how valuable did you find the seminar?
Answer : Twenty-five percent of participants found seminar valuable and seventy percent of participants found it's very valuable.

Question 2 : How clear were the objectives of the seminar?
Answer : Forty-five percent of participants found seminar very clear and fifty-five percent of participants found it's clear.

Question 3 : Would you say that the objectives of this seminar met all, some or none of your expectations? Explain briefly which of your expectations were not met and why?
Answer : Most of participants said "I met all my expectations" and " my understanding of gender is better and clearer".

Question 4 : Was the content of the seminar appropriate?
Answer : Sixty percent of participants agree that the content of seminar were appropriate. Thirty-five percent of participants strongly agree while five percent of participants strongly disagree.

Question 5 : What have you learned in this seminar which you can apply most in your work?
Answer :
- I am more clear in gender analysis, how to analysis in gender so that I can apply it in my work to evaluate the impact of my program on our members.
- Gender issues related culture, natural resources, Gender tools for gender analysis: profile, Gender planning.
- Skill in gender analyse and understand of gender planning: Participatory plan, Policy analyse , assessment, Organization and Gender analyse.
- Most the topics are useful and relevant to my work especially gender mainstreaming, research and gender policy, gender planning.
- After this seminar I could apply Gender activities in the Primary health care program (PHC) in Vietnam.
- All topics I can apply to upgrading course for our (GRID) Gender trainers (actually they are 40 persons) and develop new curriculum for senior officers.
- The basic understanding about sex and Gender, Gender mainstreaming, Culture of institution
- Concept and ways to apply gender mainstreaming into practice.
- Framework of gender analysis such as : Gender consideration, exposure to various gender issues.
- Concept and ways to apply gender mainstreaming into the practice. Empowerment of women in political participation.
- New tools for gender planning perspectives. Understanding on GOs, NGOs, household and community interaction.

Question 6 : What constraints might prevent you from applying what you have learned?
Answer : a sample of answers is as follows
- Awareness and understanding of my colleagues or the people I work with.
- Strong culture stereotype.
- To get gender equality is very difficult and takes a long time.
- Women's biology, Reproductive health: HIV, AIDS.
- Maybe Men's group will not be satisfied.
- Gender misunderstanding, power relation of men and stereotype.
- How to implemented.
- Some gender misunderstanding of people between men & women in society and institutions.
- Budget, Cooperation, Difficulties in Language, Skill.
- No constraint because it is the planned activities of GRID, LWU.
- Still low level Gender awareness in society and office.
- All documents and material that we received from WARI are English language, so to apply its in my work, it should be translate into Lao language.

Question 7 : Was the methodology of the seminar appropriate?
Answer : Sixty-five percent of participants agreed and thirty-five percent of participants strongly agreed that the content of seminar was appropriate.

Question 8 : How useful was the groupwork and exercises?
Answer : Eighty- five percent of participants found the group-work and exercises very useful and fifteen percent of participants found it's useful to some extent.

Question 9 : How were the audio-visual material (such as the video programmes, transparencies drawings and diagrams) used in this module were?
Answer : Ninety-five percent of participants found the audio-visual material used in this module were clear, and five percent of participants found them unclear.

Question 10 : How useful was the Course Books (Background Information & Reader)?
Answer : Thirty percent of the participants felt that the Course Books was useful to some extent and seventy percent of participants found very useful.

Question 11 : Were the trainers well prepared and their sessions well presented?
Answer : Fifty-five percent of participants agree that with the trainers were well prepared and their session well presented, and forty-five of participants strongly agree.

Question 12 : Was the general atmosphere and relationships were very constructive ?
Answer : seventy-five percent of participants strongly agree with the general atmosphere and relationships being very constructive, twenty of participants agree, and five percent of participants strongly disagree

Do you have any suggestions for the trainers?
- Understand the organization and the work of the organization before the training.
- The training organizers can request for some information from the participating organization before the training, this can be distributed to the participants also for better understanding.
- Set the context.
- Organizer should give more opportunities from beginning so that every participants can know more about each other, it will be improve more close atmosphere / relationships, encourage them more self-confident to take part in discussion & lesson.
- If we would have 1 or 2 days for field visits i.e. project related gender.
- More men also need in Gender issues. Some trainers must be anxious on time how much she/he can spend time in the topics.
- More emphasis on how to put gender into program (by sharing real experience).
- It's very good to have variety of activities from different trainers.
- More nonformal, and simplify thing.

Question 13 : How was the seminar organized?
Answer : Fifty-five percent of participants felt that the seminar was organized very well. Forty-five percent found it's well, while five percent found it average.

Do you have any suggestions for the trainers?
· Field/Project visit.
· We know that it's very difficult to organize this seminar. It is international seminar but you should be choose more suitable personal resources & can combine personal resources in each issues. It is more interested.
· Interaction with other organizations on Gender issues training.
· Maybe I think about ten days for training course is enough.
· Provide in more specific topic (3 or 7 days) it may help if you provide as team organizes.
· We should have training course for Gender every years and old student to learn each other to know the new word together.
· Some field activities should be added.
· Team management should be set up. Eleven days course, icebreaker and more participation should be arranged since the beginning of the course.
· Give participants more opportunities to involve in organizing process, but organizer should take tasks as timekeeper.

Question 14 : How was the length of the seminar ?
Answer : Sixty percent of participants felt that the length of the seminar was just right. Thirty percent found it's too short while for ten percent it was too long.

Question 15 : What other suggestions or comments would you like to make?
- For some of us, too many topics and difficult to digest.
- Maybe participants can be sent some material before so that they can look at some other language in their own language. This way some language constraints.
- WARI can have a regular list of resource persons and this can be circulated to enhance the credibility of WARI.
- Have a proper "list of activities" on the website, like WARI offers the following…
- Should write the words on transparencies or on the paper attached to whiteboard with big word or letter because some participants, due to accent, can not listen but with big word they can understand when presenter took a presentation.
- For lecture: different short course for 3 or 5 days i.e. Tools for Gender analysis, Political participation.
- Please reviewing and updating the handout, which describes the story of SE Asia, in particularly the story related to Cambodia.
- Please remove "Siam Colonial", Please remove "Cambodia lack of handicraft industry".
- Even Cambodian people struggle of a lot problem, but we also have achieved so far that you can't imagine. Otherwise could you be careful to use the static in the handout. Year to year we (Cambodia) released a lot of research documentation.
- Organise training in Gender issues for segregation occupations i.e. administrative group, doctors groups, and engineers group.
- 10 days is appropriate time for this training, because not only understanding on gender with specific areas but understand broader on gender.
- The seminar topic is interesting and relevant for the situation of women's time. It seems the registration fee is quite expensive. I will be helpful if the topic of training TOT is included.
- I would like to thanks WARI organization, the same with Dr. Shashi, Mrs. Darunee about for me have opportunities to met everybody, knowledge and to share experience each other from another countries.
- Please provide more appropriate information and more integrating concept by new resource person so people who work in community level will gain more understanding about the gender concept. I need more time to improve my understanding.
- Should be extend time (little bit) for group discussions by extending time everyday 30'
- Make the team, training teams.
- To follow from the discussion, I have found that for the resource person, WARI can choose the person that who implement at local event like Cambodian, Laos or Vietnam who have implement for the project.
- Gender analysis section should be longer, beside gender & politic should be shorter.
- Some lessons ought to have more time than this as Economic and Gender political participation and good governance.