Vocational Skills Development Project

The Project

The Program provides skills development opportunities to learners from disadvantaged background and integrates employment support services (ESS) as part of the training delivery or post-training support to enhance employment and self-employment opportunities. Access to finance, advisory and business development services will be established for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to improve their overall business performance and support of mentoring and coaching will be provided for them to become more resilient.

The Program is comprised of three components:

• Agriculture
• Traditional Textiles
• and Infrastructure maintenance.

Swisscontact is working closely with private training providers, non-governmental partners and companies to ensure they have the capacity to provide effective training and support to learners and MSMEs in targeted areas.

Project Partner

INVOLAS (Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Labour Market and Social Policy)

Project Goals

1. Vocational Skills Development (VSD) in key labour markets (semi-urban and rural areas)
   The Program targets learners from disadvantaged backgrounds in targeted areas and provides them with skills development opportunities in demand-driven occupations under the components of Agriculture, Traditional Textile, and Infrastructure Maintenance. It works with established CSOs or private training providers to implement training, assessment, and certification.
2. Employment Support Service (ESS)
   With the aim to increase chances of employment after training completion, employment support services (ESS) are integrated as part of the training delivery or as post-training support. During the training, soft skills and entrepreneurial skills are woven into trainings enabling learners to become better at presenting themselves to potentials employers, writing applications or CVs and/or to incentivize some learners to start their own business. ESS activities include finding work-based learning opportunities, organizing job fairs where local businesses present themselves to prospective workers, job matching service or linking graduates with vacancies in enterprises. The Program works with partners in the provision of employer support service.
3. Business development services for MSMEs
   To address the skills challenges of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and strengthen their overall business performance, the Program provides support to the MSMEs in finding access to services for finance, advisory and other business development services (e.g. market access). The Program works with private service providers to create access and establish linkages between MSMEs and finance and business development services.
4. Coordination and Learning
   Private sector, civil society stakeholders and development partners are brought together with the aim to establish alliance beyond the project silos and to enhance collaboration and learning in the selected labour markets and economy. Joint learning on specific topics and joint interventions are undertaken through this collaboration and learning spaces.