![Participants following the launch of TVET project in Juba. [Photo by Sudans Post]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Picture1-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C505&quality=89&ssl=1)
The project is intended to “catalyze the social-economic development” of South Sudan, said Fauzi Haji, the AfDB’s officer in charge of the country.
“Our strategic objective in South Sudan is to create an enabling environment for diversified and resilient socio-economic development, thereby reducing fragility and instability with priority on supporting agriculture value-chain development for economic diversification and resilience,” Haji said at the project’s launch at the University of Juba.
The AfDB is committed to developing skills necessary for improving economic competitiveness, diversification, and job creation for young people, Haji added. The project will equip youth with “middle-level technical skills” to promote high-value-added economic activities and self-employment, she said.
Gibson Francis Waru, Director General for Technical and Vocational Education and Training at the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, welcomed the project as timely, given the Swedish government’s impending end of support for TVET in South Sudan.
Tap Raj, Acting Country Representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the TVET project will help reduce high unemployment rates by empowering youth with vital technical skills.
Isaac Cleto Rial, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Juba, said the project will equip youth with the technical and vocational skills necessary to improve their livelihoods.
In December 2023, the AfDB and UNESCO signed an agreement worth $11.3 million with the Ministry of Finance and Planning to support TVET and value chain projects in the ministries of General Education and Instruction, Higher Education, Science and Technology, and Labor and Industrial Relations.
