JMU to offer senior management training in Southeast Asia

In September 2015, the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) at James Madison University (JMU) will launch its second Regional Senior Managers’ Course in ERW and Mine Action (SMC). The 2015 course focuses on programs working to reduce the hazards of explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Southeast Asia and takes place in Vietnam.

CISR staff will travel to Hanoi and collaborate with the International Center – Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation and the Association for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities to implement the course from September 21–October 9, 2015. Course participants will include 30 senior mine action representatives from: Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The purpose of the SMC is to refine the skills of senior managers of national mine action programs, so countries can more effectively and efficiently clear landmines and other unexploded ordnance that adversely affect citizens’ well-being and negatively impact economic development. The SMC seeks to integrate the latest thinking in the field of business management with the practical experience of humanitarian mine action operators.

Experienced faculty partners from JMU’s College of Business, along with subject-matter experts from the field of mine action, provide specialized instruction for the course. Three JMU Department of Management faculty members will travel to Vietnam and teach sessions on strategic planning, capacity building and resource management, quality management through control systems, risk management, and best practices in supervision. The course includes a four-day field component in Vietnam’s Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces.

The U.S. Department of State awarded CISR a cooperative agreement to plan and conduct the three-week course to strengthen the capacity of local organizations and develop a regional network among participants from mine action programs across Southeast Asia.

Since 2004, CISR has held nine global SMCs at JMU, hosting 172 managers from 40 different conflict-affected countries. In 2014, CISR launched its first regional SMC in Tajikistan for 24 senior managers from Central Asia, working closely with the Tajikistan National Mine Action Center.

Since its founding at JMU in 1996, CISR has worked worldwide to help communities build peaceful and prosperous futures free from the repercussions of war and disaster. CISR helps communities affected by conflict and trauma through innovative research, training, information exchange and direct services.

For future senior management courses, interested participants may check the CISR website for updates as new courses and locations are announced at http://jmu.edu/cisr.

– Source: James Madison University