A TREE grows in Cabo Delgado: How skills training builds rural economic empowerment
A TREE grows in Cabo Delgado: How skills training builds rural economic empowerment
The International Labour Organization is the tripartite U.N. agency that promotes Decent Work through employment, social security, labour standards and social dialogue. Its work on skills development is guided by the conceptual framework on Skills to improve productivity, employment growth, and development agreed in 2008 by representatives of Governments, Employers’ Associations and Workers’ Associations. Research, policy advice, and pilot projects and technical cooperation programmes to apply good practices in different circumstances across its 185 member States aims to boost the employability of workers, the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of economic growth. The ILO Secretariat in offices in 40 countries works with Ministries of Labour, employers’ organizations, and trade unions to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future; to expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive and decent work; and to improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, maintain labour exchange services, and deliver active labour market programmes.For more information regarding the ILO’s work on skills and employability go to: http://www.ilo.org/skills/lang--en/index.htm; for ILO/Cinterfor's Knowledge Management Plarform, see: http://www.oitcinterfor.org
Access for all to good quality education, vocational training and workplace learning is a fundamental principle of social cohesion and economic growth. Some groups of people may require targeted attention if they are to benefit from education, training and employment opportunities.
This is particularly the case for disadvantaged youth, lower skilled workers, people with disabilities, and people in rural communities. The attractiveness of vocational education and training is enhanced when combined with entrepreneurship training and when public policies encourage utilization of higher skills by business.
Eight out of 10 of the world’s working poor who live on US $1.25 per day live in rural areas, where many are caught in vulnerable employment, especially in agriculture.Flourishing rural areas are vital to regional and national development. Yet, rural economies tend to face a wide range of challenges that urban areas are more likely to overcome. These include access to transportation, sanitation and health services, and a consumer base in close proximity to support small and medium enterprise development. Women and men working in rural areas also face difficulties associated with a paucity of economic opportunities, under investment, poor infrastructure and public services, including education, and, in many cases, weak governance and underdeveloped markets.
Education, entrepreneurship, and physical and social infrastructure all play an important role in developing rural regions. Skills are central to improving employability and livelihood opportunities, reducing poverty, enhancing productivity and promoting environmentally sustainable development.
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In a remote area of Mozambique, rural populations face a daunting path out of extreme poverty and vulnerability. With the support of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the ILO is implementing its “TREE” programme aimed at promoting decent work and inclusive growth.
The rural people of Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, located in the north, are among the poorest and most vulnerable in the country. Despite relatively strong economic growth in Mozambique through the first decade of this century, in this region poverty and illiteracy remain widespread and present huge challenges for training and skills.
“Most of them do not have any kind of qualification or training,” says Ana Cristina Paulo, the ILO’s Chief Technical Officer of the project in Mozambique. Moreover, the level of illiterate young and adult population aged 15-60 years and above remains among sub-Saharan Africa’s highest. “They often do not speak Portuguese (the National language), just the local dialects, and they live in very remote areas with no access to power or even potable water.”
Given the broad consensus that training in skills is one of the most direct paths to promote decent work and encourage inclusive growth in high and low income economies alike, in 2015 the ILO, with the support of KOICA, began implementing the 'Skills for employment and productivity in low income countries' programme in selected districts of Cabo Delgado.
The project adapts elements of the G20 Training Strategy developed by the ILO, in partnership with other international, regional and national organizations and employers’ and workers’ representatives, to support the transition between education, training and work.
A central part of the effort is the TREE programme being implemented by the ILO, in collaboration with the government of Mozambique. Short for Training for Rural Economic Empowerment, TREE has grown from deprived communities in Bangladesh and Pakistan to provide a model for liaising with the community it aims to help in structuring training design and implementation. It is especially effective in environments with poor opportunities for education and formal technical training.
The first step in the TREE programme is to go into the community and look to understand the local economy and the level of skills already present: “We made a diagnosis of the economic opportunities that could easily create jobs,” says (Ms.) Paulo. “We have decided to deliver training now in 20 areas such as carpentry, fisheries, photovoltaic energy, crafts … a wide range,” including some 1,100 youth who are currently completing the first stage of training in the TREE methodology.
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