Supporting a new generation of leaders who are steering the world in a more sustainable direction is an important tool to unlock the transformative potential of the 2030 Agenda. To help bring about this new kind of leadership, UNSSC conducted a three-and-a-half day training for the UN country team in Jordan. The training was held from 27 to 30 January 2020 at UNSSC’s Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development in Bonn.

 

An opportunity to address leadership challenges and harness opportunities

The training was designed to provide the UNCT with an exclusive opportunity for a strengthened dialogue, collaborative learning, and peer-exchange. Through a combination of interactive discussions, lectures, collaborative moments of reflection, and simulations, the training offered the UNCT concrete approaches to addressing leadership challenges in sustainable development. It offered an open and safe space to unpack these challenges for the UNCT in Jordan as a whole, as well as for individual agency heads in the context of their roles. By doing so, it sought to drive collective change towards new sustainable development partnerships, and to be an incubator for innovative ideas and joint leadership pilots.

Swipe through the multimedia gallery at the bottom of this page for an overview of the agenda (click on each image to see the caption.

 

High ratings for the training

Participants rated the course very favourably, on average rating their overall satisfaction with the training at 5.33 out of 6. The course demonstrated the value of creating a space for the UNCT to engage in dialogue, collaborative learning, and peer exchange around leadership challenges in sustainable development.

The participants’ readiness to take time away from their demanding day-to-day responsibilities, and to be fully present and engaged, was critical to the success of the training. It allowed for joint reflection on combined strengths, a tightening of the collective narrative for the UN in Jordan, as well as for specific planning on how to forge the way forward as a team, spelling out concrete commitments of different UNCT members. The training’s innovative methodologies helped trigger discussions about making the most of the UNCT’s collective assets through new lenses, allowing participants to focus on substantive, as well as relational and institutional dimensions of their work.

 

“The UNSSC has delivered an outstanding leadership training. So much learning, so much inspiration. To approach leadership, among other elements, through a combination of acting and science is not only unique I believe, but more importantly, so powerful.

This training was not only relevant for individual agency heads in terms of learning about new and innovative approaches that they could use with their teams, but first and foremost in terms of the collaborative leadership of the UNCT as a whole, as it defines its long term strategic support to the people in Jordan.

We will take the various ideas and action plans developed during the training forward in the coming weeks.

I really think all UNCTs should be given this opportunity. Thanks once again for a superb week!”

- Anders Pedersen, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Jordan

 

UNSSC hopes that the training will further strengthen the efforts of the UNCT in Jordan to sharpen the comparative advantage of the UN system in Jordan through the articulation of a common narrative, the ongoing identification of entry points and cross-cutting issue areas where it can generate synergies through its collective action, as well as through continued efforts to maintain an effective UNCT, built on trust, information sharing and joint action.

Along with the efforts to effectively engage with stakeholders from all walks of life, this will pave the way towards a UN system which delivers impact that is larger than the sum of its parts, delivering benefits to all people living in Jordan through sustained and sustainable development.

UNSSC offers executive programmes for UN Country Team (UNCT) members on integrated approaches to UN country support in the context of the 2030 Agenda. In 2019, UNSSC piloted tailored UNCT Leadership training for individual UNCTs, with a training for the UNCT in Egypt. The tailored offerings cover a wide range of topics pertaining to the 2030 Agenda and UN development system repositioning, as well as the competencies and skills required to collectively define country contextual responses.

Learn more about our tailored programmes on the 2030 Agenda and repositioning the UN Development system by emailing us at sustainable-development@unssc.org.