1.0    INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS LEARNED FROM ADRA'S PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE, 1995-2000
2.0    Article 2
3.0    Article 3
4.0    Article 4
5.0    Article 5
6.0    Article 6

Paper title:
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS LEARNED FROM ADRA'S PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE, 1995-2000
labianca@andrews.edu

More than perhaps any other factor, progress toward reaching the goal of sustainable social development will depend on building a cadre of leaders in the countries of the north and south with the capacities needed to create enabling environments for sustainable social development. In 1995, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency joined hands with Andrews University ’ International Development Program to create ADRA's Professional Leadership Institute or APLI. Over the past four years, this partnership has succeeded in mounting eight three-week training sessions on four continents in which over 500 governmental and non-governmental leaders representing 70 different nations and over 300 different grass-roots NGOs have been equipped to think critically and constructively about what works and what does not work in planning and implementing sustainable social development programs and projects in their home countries and regions. Topics covered in these 24 weeks of graduate-level leadership courses include principles of people-centered development, women and development, sustainable development and development research; planning, evaluation and grantsmanship; employee and stakeholder relations; and individual and organizational accountability. Training in various specializations also occurred, including responding to complex emergencies, micro-enterprise, food security, mother and child health, helping refugees and displaced persons. Financial sponsorships from USAID, DANIDA, CIDA, DANIDA, SIDA ADRA Japan, ADRA Canada, ADRA International and Andrews University made the training affordable for the students who participated, over eighty percent of whom came from countries of the south. This paper will highlight lessons learned from this international cooperation to develop leadership capacity for planning and implementing sustainable social development and will orient to plans for its continuation in the future.