January 14, 2026 – The start of the new academic year for associations in Madagascar
At 9 a.m., a week after students returned from their winter break, several Malagasy associations gathered at the EDUCMAD offices, located in the Tsidana district of Antananarivo. A partner of ACCESMAD and a recipient of the Spring 2025 grant, EDUCMAD works to bridge the digital divide in high schools by promoting access to educational and scientific digital tools for students and teachers. It generously provided its facilities to La Guilde for a training session on monitoring and evaluating a micro-development project.
Seven associations have thus come together to learn more about the monitoring and evaluation methodology. Between case studies on livestock farming, understanding the concept of objectively verifiable indicators, and preparing for a field mission, they were able to familiarize themselves with various tools that they can use to demonstrate the changes brought about by their project.
The day concluded with a friendly gathering, fostering exchanges between the participating associations. Because beyond the technical learning, these sessions allow for... bring together actors international solidarity in order to promote the sharing of experiences, challenges encountered, successes, and practices.
An initial training session as part of La Guilde's "base camps"
For the past 6 years, La Guilde has been deploying field coordination in Senegal, Colombia, Lebanon and at Cambodia. They constitute a local relay of our actions and allow direct contact between the various stakeholders and the partners and beneficiaries of the monitored and supported projects. Within this framework, the support mission of the Microprojects unit, funded by the’French Development Agency, gives a central place to capacity building for international solidarity actors.
The presence of these coordinating bodies facilitates close support, particularly for partner organizations that implement the micro-projects they lead on the ground. Developing their skills through peer-to-peer learning is essential for the smooth running and sustainability of these initiatives.
In September 2025, the decision was made to establish a field coordination office in Madagascar, in the capital, in order to closely monitor the volunteers and micro-projects. This training was organized at the request of an association wishing to enhance its knowledge on this subject. Access to these training modules is essential for these field workers who implement projects daily and gradually observe their long-term impact.
This was the first training session on micro-projects organized outside of France and within the field coordination teams established by La Guilde. A successful event, we hope that other training sessions will follow suit in the future in Madagascar and other field coordination teams!
