Project Kick-Off workshop in ICBA Headquarters, Dubai

The inception meeting was aimed at updating the project partners on the project scope i.e outcomes, objectives, main and sub-activities, resources, budget, and work plan.

A welcome word followed by ICBA corporate presentation was delivered by Seta Tutundjian, ICBA Director of Programs, in order to give an overview of ICBA research activities to partners. Dr Malu Ndavi from IFAD also delivered his welcoming remarks and thanked the partners for participating in the project.

Dr Hirich Aziz presented the project scope to the partners. Each work package and activities within the work packages were explained in detail, highlighting on the expected deliverables, timeframe, responsible persons and overall project budget. The project work plan was discussed with partners and IFAD’s suggestion for ICBA to manage the overall budget was proposed to the partners.  It was agreed that a centralized budget management by ICBA would be most feasible, as the complexity of managing 7 budgets under 7 different policies and procurement systems poses a major risk for timely overall project implementation.