Changing Lives through International Cooperation

ORT International Cooperation (IC) has been improving lives through training and education for more than 64 years in 101 countries.

Created in the spirit of tikkun olam, IC provides technical assistance and training to vulnerable people and developing nations in order to build a better world. Our objectives reflect ORT’s philosophy and core mission to provide individuals with access to income-generating skills and learning opportunities to overcome obstacles and become self-reliant.

IC training programs, designed in close consultation with local stakeholders, are particularly successful in overcoming economic, cultural, and linguistic barriers. Providing for sustainable economic, social, and cultural growth is the motivational force behind every IC undertaking.

Since its establishment in 1960, IC has worked on a non-sectarian basis to develop and implement more than 350 projects in Africa and Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

ORT’s international operations are concentrated in sectors where ORT has earned a reputation for excellence: vocational and technical education; workforce development; community development, NGO institutional building; governance; agriculture; rural and urban development; and the establishment of training programs for NGOs, government ministries, public utilities, and industrial and commercial enterprises. Many IC programs include matching resources from local and national governments.

ORT’s philosophy of helping others to help themselves is translated into its training objectives, designed to provide individuals with self-reliance through proficiency and income-generating skills.

The IC approach is to define project objectives with local partners and beneficiaries, host governments and donors; develop customized technical assistance and training programs by teams of ORT experts and local counterparts; design and implement a comprehensive strategy; provide a rapid mobilization and subsequent work plans with detailed benchmarks, and conduct detailed monitoring and evaluation of program goals and objectives to ensure a high level of performance and proper allocation of project resources.

ORT approaches the challenge of building sustainable livelihoods holistically and integrates appropriate elements of workforce development into its programs based on the particular circumstances of each country or situation. In order to tackle UNESCO’s global priorities – Africa, gender equality, developing countries and youth – ORT IC is implementing an effort to provide STEM education to girls, women and the most vulnerable, providing access to information and scientific knowledge, support of community-driven initiatives and a focus on future challenges.

For additional information please contact the Director of IC, Celeste Scheib Gonzales: [email protected]

IC History

IC developed its training and technical assistance capabilities in response to the rapidly changing environment, making a difference with hundreds of projects in dozens of countries over the decades.

The program  expanded beyond vocational education and human resource development to include new areas: transportation, agricultural training centers, civil society development and institutional strengthening, rural and urban development, health and community development, and specialized training for government ministries, public utilities, and industrial and commercial enterprises.

Funding for these projects was generated via governments in beneficiary countries, donor countries providing bilateral assistance, and voluntary agencies working in the field. The primary donor countries have included Canada, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the United States.