Date: Wednesday, 12 August 2020

Time: 02:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Venue: Women Empowerment and Social Association (WESA) Conference Room

THE 12th TVET and Employment Round Table was held by the Department of Labor and Social Affairs of Herat with the cooperation of Help and Organization for Sustainable Aid in Afghanistan (OSAA) in Women Empowerment and Social Association (WESA) Conference Room in Herat province. This roundtable meeting was held with the aim to receive “Opinions on Employment Status after the COVID-19 Pandemic; the Challenges, Solutions & Lessons learned as well as the Effects on Children’s Life”.

In this roundtable meeting, representatives from Govt. Dept. including the Department of Labor and Social Affairs (DoLSA), Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Afghan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry  (AWCCI) as well as representatives from I/NGOs and private sector i.e. Islamic World Relief Organization, Help INGO, AWEC, RSDO, GIZ, Council of Experts, DACAAR, CIAM, UNICEF, GP, Mercy Corps, IOM, IKRF, DRC, WISE, Tolo-e- Dorokhshan Employment Organization and Women’s Empowerment and Social Association (WESA) attended the meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Abdul Sattar Zarif the head of the Labor unit of DoLSA welcomed the participants and talked about the purpose of this roundtable. “It is very important to hold TVET and Employment Round-Tables with the presence of representatives from the Govt. Dept. I/NGOs and private sector with the aim of sharing opinions to improve TVET and Employment services as well as discussing the provision of protection services for extremely vulnerable children. This requires joint and sustained efforts of all the relevant agencies.”

In the following, Ms. Anis Yosufi on behalf of OSAA presented the activities in regards to Employment as well as provided a brief analysis of the employment situation in 2020 compared to 2019, especially during the outbreak of the Corona Virus.

After the presentation, the participants (Govt. Depts., I/NGOs, and private sector representatives) discussed their opinions on the status of employment after the Covid-19 pandemic; the challenges, solutions, and lessons learned as well as the effects on the most vulnerable children living in four working groups, and then each group presented the results of their work separately to the other participants.

At the end of the roundtable meeting, Mr.Zarifi concluded the topics of the meeting and said “It is great to see the joint efforts of the Govt. I/NGOs and private sector for the improvement of TVET and Employment services. We hope this will continue in the future as well”.

The ceremony was ended with payer and appreciation of Help and OSAA for supporting DoLSA in organizing this roundtable.

Source: Help Afghanistan IT & Public Relations Department