MASHAV's activities focus primarily on areas in which Israel has a competitive advantage including: agriculture and rural development; water resources management; micro-enterprise development; community development; medicine and public health, empowerment of women and education. At the same time MASHAV operates according to the needs and demands originating from the partner countries, as opposed to a supply initiated by Israel that might not be relevant and effective elsewhere.
Programs are based on a "train the trainers" approach to institutional and human capacity building, with professional programs conducted in Israel and in-situ. Project development is supported by the seconding of short and longterm experts, as well as on-site interventions.
In its programs and philosophy, MASHAV adheres to the accepted international principles as stated, among others, in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro; the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development; the Monterrey Consensus; the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness; the Accra Agenda for Action; and the Doha Conference on Financing for Development.
Since its establishment, MASHAV has promoted the centrality of human resource enrichment and institutional capacity building in the development process - an approach which has attained global consensus.
The success of development work necessitates a responsible and involved political leadership, either on the national or local level, and a cadre of locally based professionals capable of taking ownership, while adhering to regional, national and local development strategies and goals. Moreover, the approach of any development program must be comprehensive, inclusive and carried out in an integrative fashion, thereby endorsing a holistic approach to meeting all basic human needs.
Israel's own development experience enables it to design comprehensive and integrative programs both for urban and rural settings, which are of critical concern to developing countries.
Please be aware that according to the new regulations, starting from January 2015, every MASHAV candidate that will participate in special training courses and internships in Israel, will have to pay 270 USD per day.