As part of the 2009-2015 Volunteer Cooperation Program, Cuso International places 1400 sector-focused skilled volunteers to build the capacity of partner organizations in 26 countries. Volunteer placements are both long- and short-term in nature, and include multiple types of volunteering options: North-South, South-South, South-North, national, Diaspora and business partnerships. Volunteers focus on capacity building (through sharing of knowledge, methodologies, and/or tools relating to specific capacity areas) and enhancing the ability of partners to influence development policy. Partners include local civil society organizations, national and local governments and various networks and associations. Cuso International also delivers a public engagement program in Canada designed to deepen understanding amongst Canadians and create opportunities for informed action on international development issues. Cuso International works in the following sectors: Education, with a particular focus on the inclusion of women and girls in educational options; HIV and AIDS, with a particular focus on the vulnerability of woman and girls, and the rights of people to have access to services; Participation and Governance / Access to Justice, by aiming to empower poor and marginalized groups, especially women, to fulfill rights of access to basic services, and by ensuring access to justice for women and children; Youth Social and Economic Inclusion, by creating opportunities for training and employment for young women and men facing poverty, underemployment and social exclusion; Protecting Environments; Managing Natural Resources, by strengthening community-level governance mechanisms, including the participation of women in community decision-making, aimed at better local management of natural resources; Gender Equality, by incorporating GE as a crosscutting theme throughout all programming components, and through local GE capacity building activities with partners. An amount of $80,622 has been added to the total amount for each of the Volunteer Cooperation Agency programs for CIDA-led program evaluations.
