Preparation for Abroad

The relocation process begins with mental preparation. Our job is to ensure that you are fully prepared for your assignment abroad before you even board the plane.

© GIZ / Asja Caspari

Preparing for your assignment abroad at GIZ’s Academy for International Cooperation in Bonn-Röttgen

Campus Kottenforst is located in lush green surroundings on the outskirts of Bonn. You will be learning, living and relaxing side by side with other international cooperation professionals, sharing your thoughts on your future role, and preparing for the challenges that lie ahead in the country of assignment.

In its current and earlier forms, GIZ’s Academy for International Cooperation (AIZ) has been running courses preparing staff for assignments abroad for over 50 years on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Our role is to ensure that employees seconded abroad by their organisations have the skills they need to work in international cooperation.

Our courses are designed to prepare experts and managers for the specific challenges they will face during their assignment. That includes learning how to stay safe, how to manage tricky intercultural situations, and how to communicate clearly and confidently in the local language. At the end of your preparation, you will have acquired all the skills you need to work effectively and sustainably in your partner country and to help bring about positive change.
 

What does preparing for an assignment abroad involve? Which of the two participation options is right for me?

FAQs

This sections answers the most frequent questions we receive about courses preparing staff for an assignment abroad.

BMZ funding

Will BMZ provide funding for participants on assignment preparation courses?

Fee-based participation

Further information for those planning to fund their own training.

Preparation for Assignments Abroad – 2023 Programme

With the help of our offer in the field of "intercultural competence and country analysis" you will learn to better understand different perspectives and to act successfully in the light of social and cultural diversity.

With the help of our courses, you will strengthen your safety awareness, learn how to provide emergency medical first aid and raise your awareness of how to deal with psychological distress, stress and trauma.

Language skills are the key to understanding. Those who communicate safely in a foreign language can build mutual trust and master complex situations easier.

Good management and successful advice mean controlling processes in the existing context in such a way that they have a lasting effect. With our offer, you will learn how to effectively support your partners.

The compatibility of assignments abroad and partnership and/or family is an important issue for us. This is why we seek to prepare you as an accompanying person as best as possible for your stay abroad.

Nowadays, the challenge is no longer about finding information; it is now all about filtering out relevant and qualitatively excellent information from the existing enormous volume of data.