Tanzania: 790 youth to benefit from Ajira kwa Vijana project, thanks GIZ E4D programme

By Prosper Makene [caption id="attachment_95790" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Partners of the Vijana na Ajira project who attended introduction meeting which was held in Dar es Salaam Wednesday April 13, 2022. The project, which is being implemented by The German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) E4D (Employment and Skills for Development in Africa) programme in collaboration with the Forum for International Cooperation (FIC) aims at supporting  improvement of the vocational training centres, the transition from education and training to employment.[/caption] The German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) E4D (Employment and Skills for Development in Africa) programme in collaboration with the Forum for International Cooperation (FIC) has today introduced the Ajira kwa Vijana project to partners in the public sector and private sector. The project is aimed at supporting of improvement of the vocational training centres, the transition from education and training to employment. In addition, E4D aims to support the Tanzanian government's work at the national and local government levels to operationalize the Tanzanian National Skills Development Strategy that will contribute towards reduction in the high level of unemployment in line with the government’s 3rd Financial Year Development Plan.  Speaking on Wednesday in Dar es Salam while introducing the Ajira kwa Vijana project to the partners, GIZ Project Manager Awadh Milasi said that the E4D project is contributing to revitalise the vocational and technical training sector, thus providing more opportunities for poor and vulnerable young people to acquire market-relevant skills.  ‘The project is implementing two complementing components to increase youth employment. We are strengthening the institutional and technical capacities of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions in Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Dodoma by training instructors, curriculum development and review, establishment of job matching platforms and linkages to the private sector, resource mobilization, branding and marketing of the institutions in order to attract more students’.  Milasi added that the second component is proving training courses, employment services and enterprise development support to 790 youth that are socially and economically disadvantaged or have dropped out formal education. The training courses focus on skills relevant to the hospitality and tourism sectors, communication, technology (ICT) sector, which as a result of the transition to the digital economy is lush with opportunities for the youth to find employment or set up enterprises and secure a source for their livelihood.  ‘The enterprise development support covers topics like development of a business idea, product development, access to finance and marketing which includes formation of business networks to link entrepreneurs with financing and other business resources’, added Milasi.  The partners of the Ajira Kwa Vijana project are Prime Minister Office- Labour, Youth, Education and People with Disability (PMO-LYED), Forum for International Corporation (FIC), National College of Tourism (NCT), SIDO, Vocational Educational Training (VETA), RVTC, Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST), under the GIZ-E4D programme commissioned by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-funded by European Union (EU), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). E4D is expecting to equip skills demanded by the private sector and place youth in employment opportunities; additional 250 with soft skills tailored for the target industry and also support at least 250 youth to establish sustainable enterprises in Dar-es-salaam, Dodoma and Tanga while other 290 youth will benefit from education full sponsorship.