Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

NNA – On May 17, 2023, the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), through its Community Support Program (CSP), held a closing
ceremony for its four-year workforce development project in Lebanon.

Since 2019, USAID invested $7.3 million to improve the skills of and
employment opportunities for 1,087 unemployed or underemployed residents
of vulnerable Lebanese communities.nbsp; USAID Lebanonrsquo;s Mission Director
Mary Eileen Devitt, representatives from other donor agencies, technical
and vocational education training (TVET) institution partners, and
partner businesses attended the ceremony.

In her remarks, USAID Mission Director Eileen Devitt stated, ldquo;For years,
we have invested in training and mentoring for students and young
entrepreneurs here in Lebanon.nbsp; Whether through engaging them in
municipal-community projects, or offering scholarships, or helping them
achieve their business ideas, we are constantly striving to ensure that
young Lebanese can access opportunities that can enhance their career
prospects and allow them to contribute to the development of a strong
and vibrant economy.rdquo;

During the event, participants reflected on project achievements,
witnessed student testimonials, and held a panel discussion on
recommendations for future workforce development programing in Lebanon.
These included continued stakeholder collaboration to enhance TVETrsquo;s
institutional capacity, sustained coordination to develop a national
action plan to reform the TVET sector and investing in efforts to
continue addressing the negative stigma associated with TVET education.

Through USAIDrsquo;s workforce development project, CSP developed, adapted,
and sought accreditation for five TVET curricula in three promising
employment sectors: home-based health care, industrial repair and
maintenance, and information and communication technology (ICT) in
addition to a soft skills training course that was provided to all
beneficiary students to improve their ability to compete for jobs.

The courses are now available at CSPrsquo;s thirteen partner TVET institutes
across Lebanon, where 1,052 job seekers aspiring to work in these
sectors ndash; primarily from the North, South, and Beqaa Valley regions of
Lebanon ndash; benefitted from scholarships. In addition to full tuition
coverage, scholarship recipients received health insurance, a monthly
stipend for transportation, and a computer or tablet to facilitate
online learning. As part of its market-driven approach, CSP partnered
with 48 private sector businesses and built linkages between them and
the TVETs to facilitate graduatesrsquo; access to employment opportunities,
resulting in more than 745 internship placements and full-time
employment for 153 graduates.

CSP also implemented an informative media campaign to raise awareness and improve public perceptions of TVET education which reached more than 1.5 million viewers.

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