This page is intended to give a bit more information cooperants, the process involved in becoming a cooperant and what becoming a cooperant entails.
Further information on placements available in PNG or with CUSO worldwide can be found on CUSO's placement web page. PNG placements are mirrored on this site Placements Under Recruitment. More information about CUSO is available on their web site www.cuso.org.
Placements differ in nature, objectives, and expected length of service. The specific characteristics, including objectives, context and terms and conditions, are outlined in a placement Description or what used to be called Job Description. Most placements, particularly those which are CIDA - funded, are designed for Canadian cooperants (citizens or landed immigrants) and are based with an overseas partner. However few placements are based with CUSO rather than a partner, as in the case of Cooperant Programming Assistants (CPA) who are placed in overseas CUSO offices and work with the CUSO staff, partners and cooperants.
Within some of CUSO’s programs, there are opportunities for cooperants from the South to be placed in another country overseas ( a "South-South" placement) or in Canada ( a "South-North" placement).
Reflecting the varying contexts in which it works, CUSO uses different strategies to meet programme goals. CUSO’s programs, based on its global themes, areas of focus, and 1998 - 2001 organisational goals, strive to link the work overseas and in Canada on shared issues of relevance in an interdependent world.
A principal way for CUSO to facilitate these links is through cooperant placements. CUSO attempts or continues to ensure that placements are integrated, meaning that they advance both the objectives of the CUSO regional programme in which it is made, and the partner group with whom it is made and, further, that they are connected as early as possible to the Canada programme.
Area of Focus for Placements
CUSO works with partners to develop overseas placements, usually of a two-year duration. The placements are developed within the context of CUSO’s overall themes, and reflect regional programming objectives, as expressed in regional program plans.
Placement Description.
The process of placement development can be lengthy, as CUSO and its partner (s) negotiate objectives and terms and conditions. Once the partner(s) and CUSO agree upon a placement, CUSO can begin the recruitment process. Candidates for placement are assessed against a placement description, which is finalised by CUSO and the partner (s) . While CUSO makes every effort to ensure that the content of the placement description is as accurate as possible, candidates and cooperant should be aware that some changes may occur between the time the placement is posted and the time of the cooperant’s arrival.
Every candidate for a cooperant assignment must participate in a process of recruitment and selection, during which their skills, qualifications and overseas suitability are assessed against the requirements of the placement. Once the Country Programme Officer overseas and the partner have approved and applicant’s candidacy, a letter of offer is forwarded to the cooperant for his or her signature. Every cooperant must sign a contract with CUSO. Any cooperant signing a contract of more than six months must first receive medical clearance form CUSO Health Services before his or her contract can be signed.
Within six months of the long-term cooperants arrival in the field, it is expected that the cooperant and the partner, in consultation with the Country Program Officer, will develop a work plan based on the objectives and tasks outlined in the placement description. This work plan, as it is reviewed during the placement, should form the basis of evaluating both the progress and results of the placement.
Short-term cooperants, depending on the length of their placements, will either have a work plan developed prior to departure, or shortly after their arrival in the field.
Cooperant placements are developed with the partner in the South, a Canadian partner is also involved, and occasionally other interested parties will also participate. Transparency of intention and the acceptance of mutual responsibility by all concerned are essential in ensuring a solid, collaborative relationship and therefore the viability of the placement.
All parties must ensure that the roles,, responsibilities and expectation of each are clear and known throughout the period of the placement.
CUSO therefore requires a written agreement to signed between CUSO, the partner organisation(s) and the cooperant, naming the shared placement objectives, respective responsibilities and local terms and conditions.
The cooperant is expected to: