The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the first-ever Technical Working Group on Skills Development in Rakhine State on 18 February 2020.
In partnership with the Rakhine State Government, international NGOs as well as private sector partners, ILO aims at establishing a state-level coordination mechanism that will strengthen the skills development of workers to address the requirements of local and foreign companies willing to invest in Rakhine State. As approved by the Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, the technical working group is chaired by U Pone Bway, the Chin State Minister and Minister for Labour Affairs. The working group will provide guidance to TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) stakeholders in the region about the processes for job creation and vocational skills training and other modalities of human resource development.
Han Saw Lin, Deputy State Director of the Department of Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population (MOLIP), said during the meeting in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe: “I am very happy about this initiative because it will see different bodies and organizations join forces to better equip the local population in Rakhine State with the skills they need to be successful in the search for decent work. We have a solid list of responsibilities for this new working group, including advisory, coordination and collaboration roles which will hopefully show good results in the near future.”
Peter Bellen, ILO’s Chief Technical Adviser for the Skills Development Project in Rakhine State, added: “We had the heads of Government agencies here who are working on skills development and also members of the education sector and the private sector. It will be one of the tasks of this group to work together on recommending inclusive policies and programmes that will harmonise all the skills development interventions and to improve the quality of the programmes throughout Rakhine State.”
The new Skills Development Technical Working Group will convene bi-monthly in Sittwe after the inaugural meeting.
ILO’s Skills development programme in Rakhine State is supported by LIFT.
