June 8, 2021 — The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has announced the launch of UNCTAD TrainForTrade special course “Building Port Resilience Against Pandemics (BPR)” that will be delivered in English from 28 June-30 July 2021. This two-week online self-paced moderated course followed by simulation exercises and a webinar is open to all profiles from port communities and related government agencies. There is no registration cost thanks to the financial support of the United Nations Development Account and Irish Aid.
UNCTAD started this initiative back in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. They collected information on mitigation measures and protocols elaborated by port members of UNCTAD TrainForTrade’s Port Management Programme with the spirit to exchange information and support the transformative process in ports. Following requests from several port communities, they decided to build a training and capacity building component on port resilience and pandemics. The first stage was the (online) briefing sessions with port actors around the world to design the skeleton of the future course.
It was followed by the development and production of a comprehensive package called “Building Port Resilience Against Pandemics” (BPR) comprising 4 sections: (1) Crisis protocol and communication strategy, (2) Staff management, well-being and resilience, (3) Technology preparedness, (4) Cargo flow continuity, and including manuals, interactive videos, tests (quizzes), forums, data collection on best practices, and simulation exercises. The pilot phase was organized in April 2021 for 139 participants from seven countries. It was very successful, and participants reported a satisfaction rate of 94%. The initiative is now open to all port communities around the world.
More details on the development process and on the course can be found here or in this downloadable PDF.
For more information, visit: https://unctad.org/meeting/trainfortrade-e-learning-course-building-port-resilience-against-pandemics
