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Program · Grassroots Engagement & Capacity Sharing

Skills Enhancement Program

A six-month training and mentoring program building the organisational and leadership skills refugee-led organisations need to grow and sustain their work.

Program overview

Applied learning, delivered remotely

APNOR delivers the Skills Enhancement Program for refugee leaders and refugee-led organisations (RLOs) seeking to strengthen core organisational competencies. The program covers fundraising and sustainability, project planning and management, leadership and governance, and advocacy and partnerships within the Asia-Pacific refugee context.

Sessions are delivered remotely through a series of practical, interactive modules over approximately six months. Each module emphasises applied learning and gives participants tools, templates, and resources tailored to the operational realities of RLOs.

Fundraising & sustainability Project management Leadership & governance Advocacy & partnerships
Skills Enhancement Program participants after a training workshop
What you'll learn

Four modules, one operational toolkit

Each module is developed and delivered by a dedicated Module Lead — a specialist contracted specifically to build and run that topic, taking strategic ownership so it's contextually relevant to RLOs operating in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fundraising & sustainability

  • Building a diversified funding pipeline beyond a single donor
  • Grant-writing and reporting practices international funders expect
  • Planning for financial sustainability beyond the current funding cycle

Project planning & management

  • Designing a project from problem statement to monitoring plan
  • Practical tools and templates for tracking delivery and budget
  • Adapting plans when circumstances on the ground change fast

Leadership & governance

  • Building a board or steering structure that shares responsibility
  • Decision-making processes that stay accountable to the community
  • Succession planning so an RLO doesn't depend on one person

Advocacy & partnerships

  • Building relationships with donors, INGOs and government stakeholders
  • Telling your organisation's story and impact clearly and credibly
  • Negotiating partnerships on equal terms, not as a junior partner
How each module runs

Structure of a module

Every module runs over roughly 12–14 days of Module Lead time, spread across a 1.5-month delivery window — designed to fit around participants' existing workloads rather than pull them away from their organisations.

4 live training sessions

1.5–2 days per session, including preparation, delivery and follow-up — roughly 7–8 days in total, each delivered as a 2–3 hour live online session.

1:1 participant support

Around 3 days set aside for individual meetings — one day a week — plus ongoing email support to work through questions and apply what's learned.

Practical resources

A training outline shared in advance, presentation slides for every session, and at least one practical template or tool participants can reuse.

Assignment review & reporting

Assignments reviewed with structured feedback, capped off with a brief report and debrief call with APNOR's Programme Coordinator.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Refugee leaders and refugee-led organisations across the Asia Pacific seeking to strengthen fundraising, project management, leadership or advocacy capability. Reach out via the enquiry link below for current cohort details.

Check our Careers page for the current opening — Module Leads are contracted per module, roughly 12–14 days over a 1.5-month window, at AUD 300–400 per day.

Around six months in total, covering four modules — each delivered over roughly 1.5 months with live sessions, assignments and 1:1 support.

Let your Module Lead know ahead of time — sessions come with slides and resources shared in advance, and the 1:1 support time is there to help you catch up.