Contributing at the ILO's Port Worker Development Programme (PDP), PortEconomics member Drs Aimilia Papachristou participated at the Chief Instructors Workshop that was organised by the Brazilian Navy, Directorate of Ports and Coasts in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 15 December 2011.

The underlying philosophy of the Portworker Development Programme (PDP) is the provision of centrally prepared training materials, properly tested and validated, to be presented by specially trained instructors working within a carefully established organizational framework, extending from national to port level. PDP has the development objective to enable the governments, port authorities, private port operators and training institutes to establish effective and systematic portworker training schemes, designed to improve cargo-handling performance, working conditions and practices, safety, and the status and welfare of portworkers. Currently, the PDP, which comprises of 30 training units (offering around 1000 hours of training) and supportive materials that are based on best international practice, mainly covers containers operations.

During this high-level course Aimilia had the opportunity to exchange experiance and knowledge on labour issues in seaports, with the Course Director & instructor Marios Meletiou (Senior Ports Specialist, Sectoral Activities Department, ILO) and other instructors of the PDP programme, including those of the Brazilian Navy, the Foundation Studies Sea – FEMAR, the Port of Itapoá, the Company Docks in the State of São Paulo – CODESP, the National Commission on Public Security in Ports, Terminals and Waterways – CONPORTOS, the TECON Rio Grande, the Francisco José de la Rocha Domingues, the Brazilian Association of Private Terminals – BAPT (PORTONAVE) and the Port of Fortaleza.

Read more about the Portworker Development Programme @ILO's PDP website.