Phnom Penh, November 3, 2015: The NGO Forum on Cambodia (NGOF) led by Environment Program in collaboration with Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) and NUS, focused on community rights on hydropower dam development projects, organized a one-day training on “Negotiation Skill” to its network/members and communities at the NGOF’s office. Twenty four participants (19 women) as the NGO workers, farmers and fishermen, attended this event.
The course was conducted in order to introduce the ideas of personal effectiveness in three parts –communication, negotiation and leadership. It focused on how individuals, whether in local communities, NGOS, government or in corporate situations, identify social needs in the community and groups – and how they can bring about institutional by using their skills to make change in the groups.
“We consider the negotiation ability as one amongst other significant elements for the advocacy work, and it’s the reason we initiated this session for our members and beneficiaries. We are going to conduct this course as series, in which we believe it’s going to provide such assistances to the trainees. For those who never before learned about it, they can absorb the knowledge for the very first time, and for the trainees that used to engage, it’s a chance to memorial their knowledge, once again,” said Mr. Ouk Vannara, Deputy Executive Director of NGOF.
The pre and post-tests were provided to the participants to measure their level of understanding. “I’m very happy to be here to learn this negotiation skill. Our communities are currently having an issue on the Lower Sesan 2 Dam development project, specifically, on the relocation and the compensation problems. We, sometimes, got lost and do not have thoughts for the better strategies to express our need to the government and the company,” Ms. Yem Channy, a community member from Kbal Romeas, Steung Treng Province, shared her interest. “This session, somehow, has given us the ability to think and to precise our concerns to the decision makers in a suitable and understandable ways.”
Through the course, the participants were knowledgeable the methods to analyze negotiations by using the Seven Element Frameworks and developing the substance, communications, and relationship plans they need to improve their outcomes and improve the implementation of agreements.
