Time: 10:00-12:00am, Thursday, Feb 01, 2018

Venue: Isteqlal VTC, Herat, Afghanistan

The opening ceremony of Isteqlal VTC was held with the strong participation from local government and civil society.

Mrs. Elaha Banaey, Director of OSAA, welcomed guests. She explained the role of OSAA, as a non-governmental, non-profit, women-led organization. This organization was established in 2015; it is non-partisan and development-oriented; with the mandate to foster the economic and social development of Afghanistan. OSAA’s first project had been to operate the Employment Service Center in Herat, followed by research on marketable vocations, and the organization of the “TVET & Employment Round Tables”.

OSAA has begun a TVET program considering the needs of the society. Therefore, in 2017, OSAA asked MoLSA to be given the responsibility for the Isteqlal VTC. An MoU between OSAA and MoLSA has been signed and Isteqlal VTC was handed over to OSAA.

Then Mr. Zabihullah Monib Taheri, Country Director of Help Germany, talked about the benefit and role of TVET in socio-economic development.

The German government is committed to support Afghans in TVET and facilitate jobs. But since the majority of unemployed people do not have access to any skill-training or profession, they cannot find jobs. Mr. Taheri emphasized that TVET should be added in school´s curricula and should be considered as one of the majors in universities.

He added that Help has started TVET-programs in coordination with DoLSA in 2005, and since 2016 Help and OSAA have been implementing this program together. Help wants OSAA to take over many of Help´s activities in the future.

Later on, Mr. Abdul Qayoum Afghan, Herat DoLSA Head, praised OSAA and Help efforts, adding that TVET has a significant role in job-creation. DoLSA is pleased that OSAA could renovate and operate this center. He continued that according to the law, the Afghan government is bound to create jobs for citizens of Afghanistan and DoLSA is responsible for that. During 2017, around 6,500 individuals have benefited from TVET.

Finally, Ms. Nazia Ghoryani, the Deputy of Mojahedin Town Shura, thanked OSAA and DoLSA for the operation of TVET-programs in this neighborhood.

Then Isteqlal VTC was reopened by cutting the ribbon and the guests visited the classes. Currently 100 beneficiaries are learning 4 different vocations. TVET and employment-services are being funded by BMZ – Government of Germany via Help, and implemented by OSAA.

Based on a prior need assessment, four vocations were started: “Handicrafts”, “Rug Weaving” in the morning shift for women, and “Tailoring Machine Repair & House Wiring” in the afternoon shift for men. Direct beneficiaries of this program are mostly destitute, IDPs and returnees.

The added privileges of this program are: “food for training” by WFP, transport-payment, toolkit, employment-services, support-kits and a training-certificate of OSAA in cooperation with DoLSA and MoLSA.

Source: Help Media and Culture Department