The purpose of the training was to increase gender transformative impacts in the HKH by strengthening and enhancing the leadership, communication, and networking skills of women professionals at ICIMOD and partner organizations. The training was shaped by a belief that increasing women’s representation in leadership roles can empower women and help promote gender equality. Male professionals were also included as men’s support is critical for creating a gender aware enviornment in their organizations .The training was conducted by a team of three trainers from Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN), an international organization working to build the leadership of women in agriculture and natural resource management. There were 16 participants from ICIMOD and its partner organizations – The National Agriculture Research Center (Pakistan); Media and Communications Institute (Bhutan); Department of Forest and Park Services (Bhutan); Human Wildlife Management Section, Wildlife Conservation Division (Bhutan) and; Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies. The training focused on the following themes – defining leadership and challenges of leadership for women and men; leadership for gender equality in an organization; self-awareness about our gendered selves; and communications and networking skills .

The workshop, which was based on the principles of Adult Learning Theory, employed participatory methods of inquiry and learning. Participants learned about techniques and skills needed for effectively leading and managing programmes and/or teams in the context of the HKH region, which is characterized by marginality, inaccessibility, remoteness, sociocultural and natural diversity, unequal gender relations, and discrimination based on caste, class and ethnicity. The participants’ responses to the workshop were positive. They said the training would be very useful in their professional and personal life.