Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (ILO News) The ILO and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government have signed an implementation agreement on Wednesday (November 30), to develop market-relevant vocational training programmes for young host community members, internally displaced persons and refugees in the Governorate of Dohuk.

The programmes will equip young women and men with the needed technical and professional competencies, and life skills to improve their employability and facilitate their transition to decent jobs.

Under the agreement, the ILO will be working directly with the ministry’s Vocational Training Centre in Dohuk to design and implement a competency-based training and curricula for vocational training programmes, in selected market-relevant occupations. It will provide capacity-building to the curriculum developers and vocational instructors across the different phases of the training programmes, together with Training of Trainers (ToT) on emerging market technologies targeting vocational instructors in all vocational training centres in KRI.

The initiative is part of efforts under the PROSPECTS Partnership, funded by the Government of the Netherlands. Under PROSPECTS, the ILO is supporting thousands of forcibly displaced persons and host community members to access more and better livelihoods and decent job opportunities through different interventions.

“The support for the Vocational Training Centre in Duhok will offer new market-relevant vocational training courses such as those in photography, manual sewing, and computerised diagnostic of vehicles, that will equip young people with the skills needed for employment or starting their own businesses,” said Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Zakia Syed Saleh.

“Vocational trainings are key in improving young people’s employability and income, while ensuring they are well equipped to meet the needs of the labour market,” said ILO Country Coordinator for Iraq Maha Kattaa. “Our collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is a positive step in further empowering young women and men from refugee, internally displaced and host communities, through technical and professional competencies, helping them transition to decent employment” added Kattaa, during the signing ceremony, which was attended by a number of senior officials, including Special Advisor to the Deputy Director General-Policy at ILO, Tine Staermose.

Eight market-relevant occupations were identified by the Vocational Training Centre in Dohuk in the sectors of agriculture, construction, handicraft, service, craft, and related trades. Twenty-three vocational training courses related to these occupations will be implemented, targeting 345 women and men jobseekers, including persons with disabilities, and older siblings of children at risk of child labour from the different communities.

In addition to technical training, trainees will engage in sessions on life skills, Occupational Safety and Heath, the Labour Law and Social Security. Those interested in starting their own business will be referred to ILO’s Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB), designed to support small-scale entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses. The ILO will also support establishing a number of booths in Sarsink sub-district in the Duhok Governorate that enable graduates from the vocational training courses to sell their products.

Moreover, the ILO will rehabilitate existing vocational training centre facilities in Duhok city and Sarsink through the use of its Employment Intensive Approaches. The centres’ rehabilitation will increase training capacity in both locations, and improve the inclusiveness of those workshops, by making them accessible for persons with disabilities.