TAG-Org Signs Agreement with CARDNE

TAG-Org?s main task based on this agreement will be capacity-building of institutions working in poor areas ? Abu-Osbeh

AMMAN -November 17, 2008,  An agreement was signed recently in Cairo between the Regional Centre on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development for the Near East (CARDNE) and the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Academies of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org).

The agreement was signed by Mr. Salah Abu-Osbeh, the regional executive director of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Academies and Dr. Ghaleb Tuffaha, the general director of CARDNE.

The agreement and consequent signing ceremony came as a result of a workshop organized by CARDNE and the administration of the CaMaRi Programme (Capacity Building in Managing for Results and Impact).

The ceremony was attended by Dr. Bruno Schuler, the general director of the German InWEnt organization; the entity financing and supervising the CaMaRi Programme, and Dr. Nidal Jayousi, the regional coordinator for the Programme.

Dr. Jayousi explained that the workshop?s objective was creating an action plan for the first phase of the Programme, which will be implemented by TAG-Org almost immediately.


On his part, Mr. Abu-Osbeh stated that TAG-Org was chosen from among numerous global organizations that competed for this project.

?TAG-Org?s main task based on this agreement will be capacity-building of institutions working in poor areas in Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen,? he added.

?This task will be carried out utilizing the methodology of management by results and impact along with monitoring and evaluation techniques adopted in quality management systems,? Abu-Osbeh pointed out.

The Executive Director of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Academies in Jordan Mr. Qais Khalafat explained that the execution of the program begins with preparing a team of qualified trainers from TAG-Org who follow the methodology of monitoring and evaluating projects specific to poor areas, who then in turn choose and train a number of individuals from the countries mentioned in the agreement.

In conclusion, Dr. Tuffaha expressed his satisfaction for the cooperation being held with TAG-Org and thanked the CaMaRi Programme?s administration for their assistance in organizing the workshop.

The CaMaRI Programme aims at increasing the capacity of institutions and professionals in the Near East and North Africa (NENA region). The Programme will develop a network of professionals and institutions that shall offer a wide range of services and activities focused on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of pro-poor and rural development projects.


CARDNE was established to address the needs, rights and aspirations of the rural populations of the Near East. It was launched following a 1983 FAO-sponsored meeting (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)) of representatives and observers from 18 Near Eastern states, also attended by observers from the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Program. The agreement to establish CARDNE came into effect in 1987 after it was ratified by six countries.