One of the great benefits of working with IPMA is to get the opportunity to collaborate with people from all over the world, learn about different cultures and different challenges, share experiences and learn something new about yourself. In the last weeks I have had the opportunity to take this to a new level through my work with the United Nations University Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme in Iceland.

The mission of IPMA is to lever the diversity of the global IPMA network into benefits for the profession and societies all over the world. It is therefore extremely positive to enter a collaboration with the United Nations University Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (UNU-GEST) in Iceland. The aim of the UNU-GEST program is to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in developing countries and post-conflict societies through research and education. Its main target group is professionals working for government and civil society organizations in developing countries and post-conflict societies undergoing reconstruction.

Fellows in this program in the spring of 2018 will conclude a D-level certification as a part of their studies and become IPMA Certified project management associates. The Icelandic Project Management Association is responsible for the certification, but I have been helping the students to prepare for the exam. We have talked about the basics of project management, the history, the main concepts and the IPMA competence baseline, which is the basis for the D level certification. My students come from many countries of the world, from Tunisia, Palestine, Serbia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Montenegro.

My students at UNU-GEST are interested and engaged and I am sure they will do well on the D level exam. They will then become members of the growing IPMA society around the world and I sincerely hope that their training in the basic concepts in project management will help them when they return to their home countries and apply their newly acquired knowledge to plan and pursue important projects, for the benefit of their societies.