LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Vocational Training Centre, improving youth employability
Throught the Vocational Training Centre, the project built the capacities of Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian youth to provide them with professional and personal aptitudes enabling them to enter the labour market as skilled employees.
Tags: economic development, employment, youth, Lebanon
Challenges addressed
- Increased competition for employment.
- Lack of technical skills of young Lebanese and refugee population.
- Lack of inter-personal skills necessary for entry into the labour market.
Main objectives
Limiting the impact of the Syrian crisis on young people by improving the socio-economic conditions of young Lebanese and refugees through vocational and inter-personal skills training.
- Boosting the professional capacity of Lebanese and refugee young people by developing skills to match labour market needs.
- Providing a complementary and optional support to ensure the access of young Lebanese and refugees to the labour market.
Facts
Project type Multi-partner project focusing on local economic development.
Promoter
Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development
Catalan Fund for Development and Cooperation
Metropolitan Area of Barcelona
MedCities.
Partners
Municipality of Saida
UNDP
Lebanese Ministry of Education
Beneficiaries
Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian youth.
Start date Nov. 2016 – July 2017
Project description
The Vocational Training Centre is a certified official centre providing vocational training free of charge. It was established in partnership with the Directorate General of Vocational and Technical Training in Lebanon and with funding from UNDP, involving the refurbishment of a building and the organisation of a first round of vocational trainings addressing a number of professions.
The aim was to offer complementary preparation relating to inter-personal skills such as communication, entrepreneurship and the English language. The Centre had, however, limitations with respect to space, placing limits on the potential number of trainees and resources.
The project by the Catalan Fund for Development Cooperation, supported by the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona and MedCities through the KTC Al Fayhaa, aimed to enlarge the space and increased the equipment available for increasing both the number of trainees and types of trainings. The promoters also financially supported the development and implementation of a series of trainings while the Hariri Foundation provides long-term, stable support.
The impact of the activities of the Centre was further strengthened by providing further complementary and optional support to ensure the access to the labour market. Coordination and collaboration with various entities – such as employers, companies, NGOs, and the Social Centre of the Ministry of Social Affairs – was strengthened in order to create synergies among them and to promote their engagement with trainees.
Impact and results
- Increased space for training in the Centre by the provision of two fully equipped prefabricated training rooms.
- Materials developed and trainings delivered related to hospitality, photography, along with inter-personal skills including life-skills, entrepreneurship and English.
- The complementary support in seeking job opportunities resulted in the direct labour market insertion of 10% of the students trained.
Reference images & videos
RELATED CONTENT
The Second Chance Schools
Cases, Economic Development, Social Rights
Interview with Janette Uhlmann – International cooperation and investment
Economic Development, Voices
