Capacity Building in the Western Balkan region: ITTF Foundation and GIZ conduct multi-national workshop in Pristina

The ITTF Foundation in association with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Development Cooperation/GIZ on behalf of Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung/BMZ) held a capacity-building workshop on using Table Tennis for Development (TT4D), hosted in Pristina by the Table Tennis Federation of Kosovo (FPPK). The workshop, the first in a series of three international workshops, centres on the use of Sport for Development (S4D), focusing on using table tennis for specific development outcomes.

On 27-28 of August 2022 in Kosovo, the ITTF Foundation and GIZ held the first training and capacity-building workshop on using Sport for Development (S4D). The workshop aims to increase the capacity of local partner organisations to use sport as a means for social change. Twenty participants from North Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo attended the workshop and shared their experiences from the project implementation on the ground.

“From the workshop, we understood how the sport of table tennis is also a function of community development. The presentation by the leaders of this seminar was a very accomplished and high performance from which we got the most suitable knowledge of table tennis in terms of development. We thank Kosovo for the organisation and warm hospitality.” - Mr Tonin Binoshaj, General Secretary, Albania Table Tennis Federation.

This workshop included both theoretical and practical examples of utilising table tennis for development and international best practices in S4D based on the current GIZ Learning Labs curriculum. GIZ’s methodology on the essentials of S4D is derived from a multi-level strategy that entails a wide range of policies and initiatives. Therefore, the workshop demonstrated how collaborative action between organisations is crucial to improve capacities at the social, political, organisational, and personal levels, which in the end contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

The workshop participants had diverse levels of understanding about using table tennis for development, which presented many challenges and opportunities for robust discussion. This inspired a positive learning dynamic within the session where participants could learn from one another in addition to the workshop materials presented by the ITTF Foundation. Based on the evaluation survey distributed after the workshop, 93% of participants reported being more confident in using table tennis to address challenges in their communities relating to gender equality, access to education, discrimination, and many other issues.

“The seminar included everyone in both the theoretical and practical parts, and above all, there were many attractions during the hours that we learned something new. To use table tennis for development, we managed to learn that we have to set: inputs, outputs, and impacts to change what we want. And because it was two days, there were many things in it, and it was worth participating in this table tennis seminar.” - Ms Gresa Bakraqi, Coach from Kosovo, Klubi i Pingpongut Maestro.

All participants found this workshop valuable and were pleased with the quality delivered by the ITTF Foundation and GIZ experts. We are grateful to the FPPK for extending their warm welcome to us in Pristina and especially thankful to the President of the FPPK, Mr. Jeton Beqiri and his team for the constant support before, during, and after the workshop. The next capacity-building workshops will take place in Iran and Uganda in September.

Find more inspirations on the use of table tennis for development!