CESO wins an international cooperation award

Vancouver - May 23, 2008 - The Honorable Bev Oda, Minister of International Cooperation presented CESO with a Canadian Award for International Cooperation during the International Development Days Gala Dinner organized by the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) held in Vancouver on May 21, 2008.

For fifteen years, the Canadian Awards for International Cooperation have recognized the achievements of Canadian businesses and organizations in supporting sustainable economic growth and social programs to reduce poverty in the developing countries of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas, as well as in the countries in transition in Central and Eastern Europe.

“I was pleased and proud to accept this award on behalf of CESO board members, staff and volunteers. This is truly a great honour,” said Paul van der Wel, CESO President and CEO.

CESO has been recognized for Excellence in Capacity Building of SMEs in Developing Countries and Countries in Transition with this Cowater/CRC Sogema Award. CESO’s submission for this award was based on its work in the Philippines as part of its innovative bilateral Business Advisory Project. The project’s goal is to promote sustained and equitable economic growth by supporting private sector development. To achieve this goal the project focused on increasing the operating effectiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in selected sectors and regions of the country which resulted in increased production levels, higher sales revenues, improved productivity, increased market share, improved access to financing, and further job creation. The clustering business approach was utilized to increase the project’s reach and effectiveness.

In the second phase, CESO partnered with Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) as a component of its exit and sustainability strategy. The project also incorporated the crosscutting themes of gender and environment—offering increased opportunities to support women and men as equal participants. It presented opportunities for sustainable business development practices, job creation and contributed significantly towards the poverty alleviation efforts of the government of the Philippines.

This project was carried out in the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippines and reached 504 SMEs within which were 52 clusters. In all, CESO undertook 539 assignments and deployed 199 Canadian Expert Volunteers who contributed towards the success of this project. Phase I took place from 1999 to 2003 and Phase II from 2004 to 2008.

“We are honoured and humbled by this very impressive and meaningful award. We will continue working with our partners to ensure the relevancy of our programs as well as ensure the results of our work continue to report on the strong positive contributions Canadian Overseas Development Assistance is making through volunteer cooperation programs,” said Dr. Dorothy Nyambi, Vice-President, CESO International Services.

CESO recognizes the excellent work of all our distinguished colleagues nominated for this category: Agriteam Canada Consulting Ltd., Calgary, AB; Canadian Urban Institute, Toronto, ON; and York University, Centre for Refugee Studies, Toronto, ON.

Founded in 1967, CESO is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization that provides economic development and governance expertise to clients in Africa, Asia, the Americas and emerging market economies in Eastern Europe and in Canada. As a leading Canadian international development Organization, CESO's work overseas is largely supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) while the national program receives primary funding from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Additional funding comes from client/partners, multilateral agencies, Canadian corporations, foundations, and scores of interested individuals.

- 30 -

For more information, contact: 

Dorothy Nyambi
Vice-President, International Services
Tel: 416-961-2376 or 1-800-268-9052, extension 254
dnyambi@ceso-saco.com