The Agitos Foundation says it will offer the programme to up to 15 NPCs for 2014 and 2015 following its launch in February next year.

The aim of the Organisational Capacity Programme is to equip NPCs with a greater knowledge and understanding and raise standards to a consistent level in areas such as Games preparation, athlete development, governance and management, according to the IPC.

The programme also aims to help NPCs lay the foundation for fundraising efforts and create a basis for stakeholder relationships.

As part of the initiative, any interested NPCs are required to demonstrate a commitment to their own development and nominate a staff member or individual supporting their NPC who will be trained to become a programme lead.

Individuals chosen to become a programme lead need to have strong presentation skills, knowledge of sport administration and a genuine interest in developing the Paralympic Movement from the national level upwards, say organisers.

The new programme follows on from a similar campaign launched in 2007 called the Organisational Development Initiative which focussed on developing and organising learning and training opportunities for NPCs and International Federation (IF) staff in the areas of governance, management, leadership and sports promotion, coaching, classification, medical and science.

"We are inviting applications from people who want to be involved in this two-year programme, where we hope to empower NPCs to be able to increase their numbers of high quality athletes, have a stronger national presence and maintain better relationships with stakeholders locally, regionally and on an international stage," said Georg Schlachtenberger, director of the Agitos Foundation.

"We are collaborating with the IPC Academy in order to train Programme Leads who in 2014 will work with their NPC to deliver training workshops to staff and local stakeholders.

"We are also developing sophisticated and thorough training materials which the facilitators can use to deliver the workshops."

The deadline for receipt of applications for the programme is December 20 and application forms can be found by clicking here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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