Abidjan, July 24, 2014. The Conference of Ministers on “Providing the African Youth with Skills and Training for Jobs” which began on July 21, concluded yesterday with the signing 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 ICQN-TVSD’s 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, the Hon. Moussa Dosso;
• the State Minister of Education with responsibility for Technical and Vocational Education and Training of Rwanda, the Hon. Albert Nsengiyumva;
• Cap 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.