Ministerial Conference on Training and Jobs for African Youth Adopts a Declaration and Plan for Inter-country Cooperation

30 July 2014
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

The Conference of Ministers on "Providing the African Youth with Skills and Training for Jobs", which began on July 21, concluded on Wednesday, July 23, with the signature of the "Declaration of Ministers Responsible for Technical and Vocational Skills Development".

The Declaration, signed by 25 Ministers of employment and vocational training or their representatives, sets out the decisions made by the Conference of Ministers on "Providing the African Youth with Skills and Training for Jobs", which adopted two plans: the Action Plan for Inter-Country Cooperation and the Inter-Country Quality Node on Technical and Vocational Skills Development (ICQN-TVSD) development plan for the 2014-2017 period.

The Action Plan for Inter-Country Cooperation focuses on the three following areas:

  • Analysis and practical implementation of inter-country cooperation on experiences and mechanisms concerned with facilitating job creation, particularly for youth;
  • Countries' investment in the acquisition of trainers' and entrepreneurs' skills;
  • Implementation of the education/training continuum.

These three areas will be led respectively by the following Ministers (one Anglophone, one Francophone and one Lusophone):

  • the State Minister of Employment, Social Affairs and Vocational Training of Côte d'Ivoire, Moussa Dosso;
  • the State Minister of Education with responsibility for Technical and Vocational Education and Training of Rwanda, Albert Nsengiyumva;
  • Cape Verde has been approached for the third theme.

Cooperation activities will build on the work accomplished by the ICQN-TVSD since its creation in 2010, and particularly the country reports produced in 2014, which highlight promising strategies and experiences of training, workforce integration and job creation for young people.

The Ministers also adopted a plan for the development and empowerment of the ICQN-TVSD, which should serve as a forum for inter-country sharing and cooperation on TVSD and promote research on TVSD at the national and regional levels. It will be headed by a steering committee and will have an institutional anchor in Côte d'Ivoire's State Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Vocational Training (MEMEASFP), which will provide technical and financial support.

In addition, an ad hoc ministerial committee will be established to make proposals for structuring the ICQN and rendering it sustainable.

The Abidjan Declaration also wishes to see the MEMEASFP, in partnership with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), continue to support the work of the ICQN-TVSD and help it to become an effective instrument in the development of technical and vocational skills for the entire African population.

The Conference on "Providing the African Youth with the Skills and Training for Jobs" was held in Abidjan from July 21 to 23, 2014. It was organized by the Inter-Country Quality Node on Technical and Vocational Skills Development (ICQN-TVSD), in partnership with ADEA. The following countries attended the conference: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Congo, the DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Also attending were technical and financial partners, pan-African organizations and experts in the field of education and training in Africa.

About the ICQN-TVSD

The ADEA Quality Node on Technical and Vocational Skills Development (TVSD), founded in 2010, seeks to share and pool experiences, strategies and policies regarding TVSD, the ultimate goal being the efficient implementation of policies and actions that promote the accelerated, sustainable development of Africa.

The Inter-Country Quality Node on Technical and Vocational Skills Development (ICQN-TVSD) is led by the State Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Vocational Training of Côte d'Ivoire. Twenty-eight countries currently participate in the activities of the ICQN-TVSD.

For further information on the conference, please visit the dedicated website, which offers access to the conference program as well as the participating countries' strategy papers on job creation and the integration of young people into the workforce.

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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