The ILO and the LWF to strengthen vocational skills development for refugees and youth in Kebribeyah

In the spirit of the Global Compact for Refugees, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have joined hands to bring satellite vocational training services to the district of Kebribeyah, Somali Regional State of Ethiopia, in an effort to curb the challenge of inaccessibility faced by host and refugee youth.

In light of the above and following a scoping mission in April 2021, the partners held a second round of consultations with key government stakeholders at the regional and district (Woreda) levels on 12th and 13th of July 2021, respectively. The consultative meetings mapped out key areas of skills interventions and related support to livelihoods, as well as levels of leadership and engagement by relevant authorities.

In line with local and regional development plans, the initiative will support the establishment of a satellite vocational training center within the premises of the district administration, with two makeshift infrastructures gifted by the city administration to the community. Opportunities of the community will also be extended to forcibly displaced persons and vulnerable groups.

The ILO and LWF will back partner organisations, institutions, to assist more than 200 young women and men and to be more self-reliant and employable in wage earning jobs and through job-matching mechanisms, as well as to improve their entrepreneurship capacities.

Kebribeyah is a town 55 kilometres from its regional capital - Jigjiga, the only city in the Zone with a public vocational training college. This distance remains to create an obstacle for the woreda residents to access vocational training services.

The LWF has worked in Ethiopia since 1971 with disadvantaged communities to build resilience and sustainable livelihoods, and provide humanitarian services including water supply, hygiene and sanitation, livelihoods, environmental protection, youth economic empowerment and psychosocial support.

Founded in 1919, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is the UN agency that advances social justice and promotes decent work. The ILO supports quality and relevance of education to facilitate effective school-to-work transitions in the Somali Region, under the multi-agency multi-year PROSPECTS Partnership with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.