AfDB and the government launched TVET project in Juba

By Taban Gabriel

 

King News Juba- The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), along with other partners, launched a five-year Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Project at Juba University Senate Hall on Tuesday.

Speaking during the launch, Haji Fauzia Mwita, Country Program Officer for the African Development Bank in South Sudan, said the project’s goals are to support an “enabling environment for diversified and resilient economic development, reducing fragility, and instability with a priority on supporting agriculture, value chain development for economic diversification and resilience.”

Haji Fauzia said AfDB will achieve its project’s objective through the development of skills as enshrined in her organization’s “Interim Strategy paper,” which she said will end in 2024

“Our support to skills prioritizes the development of demands-driven, middle-level technical skills that promote higher value aided economic activity and self-employment.”

According to Haji Fauzia, AfDB currently implements 18 different projects in South Sudan, valued at $222 million.

“We are mainly in agriculture like our pillar is, and in agriculture, we have like over 49% of all our total commitment,” she said

“And then we have skills and social development, this is 16%, we have governance mainly supporting our public finance management, which is 14%, we have water supply and sanitation, and also we have energy like 6%, and we have the financial sector mainly to support South Sudan to be in line with the East Africa payment system, this is like 3%” she added.

The Guest of Honor at the event, Dr. Gibson Francis Waru, the Director General for TVET at the National Ministry of General Education who doubles as the chairperson for the TVET ad-hoc Committee in South Sudan, said the AfDB’s intervention on development projects in South Sudan came at the right time, as its previously signed project was coming to an end.

 

“Our former supporter, the government of Sweden, is facing out. The government of Sweden supported TVET in South Sudan, strengthening its capacity through the SIDA project, which was being implemented by UNSECO, and the project is ending in December 2024,” he said

Dr. Francis said his ministry has developed a unified curriculum and policy on TVET and that it is pending the “approval of the parliament” for it to become law.

Dr. Francis said that once approved, the two documents will help foster a smooth implementation of TVET activities in the country.

The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Juba, Professor Isaac Cleto Rial, said TVET was “one of the problems the university was facing,” but with the launch of the vice chancellor expressed optimism on its impact.

“We Are very much encouraged that this project, through the tri-party agreement and technical team from the University of Juba headed by the School of Applied Science, will show us the proper way to improve what we already have.

According to UNESCO Acting Country Representative Dr. Tap Raj Pant, the TVET project has three components and will be implemented in partnership with the University of Juba Department of Applied Science.

 

“We will establish lecture rooms and laboratories and equip them with equipment. Once we do this, we will train the faculty members at the University of Juba, and we will start with the first 80 students to be recruited for the agricultural exercise and program,” he said.

According to Dr. Tap, the AfDB project will benefit at least 3,000 recipients during its duration.

AfDB’s Country Program Officer for South Sudan, Haji Fauzia, pledges her organization’s support to “accompany” South Sudan Development priorities “as outlined in the Revise National Development Strategy.”

According to Haji Fauzia, the Bank’s main objective in South Sudan is to improve the quality of life. She described the five-year TVET project launch as a ‘Milestone.” She assured the government of the Bank’s commitment to continue helping South Sudan on its path of growth.

Several representatives from the government line Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning, General Education and Instruction, Agriculture, and Juba University officials attended the event, and they all commended the AfDB’s role.

AfDB started working in South Sudan in 2012 with $4 Million. By the time the event was launched, the organization estimated its growth at approximately $200 million.