04-06-2019 | di COOPI

Ethiopia: Vocational training for 100 young people

Last month, 102 students and returnees from the Oromia region participated in a five-day vocational training on business management and accounting at Madda Walabu University in Goba.

The beneficiaries of the training were high school graduates, university and TVET students, and young returnees of the five woredas of Sinana, Adaba, Gololcha, Ginir and Goba.

15 government officials - who played a great role in the project implementation phases, like selecting beneficiaries and sites, drawing up business plans, monitoring and evaluating the project activities - also joined the training sessions.

To mitigate the causes of irregular migration in the Bale and Arsi areas , Ethiopia, we decided to focus on young people and micro-enterprises. To do so, we are continuing to carry out our “Emergency initiative for vulnerable returnee and potential migrant populations to mitigate the causes of irregular migration”, funded by AICS - the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, which aims to strengthen employment opportunities and create profitable activities in the agricultural and service sectors, in consortium with CCM - Medical Collaboration Committee and LVIA – the Lay Volunteer International Association.

Business management training sessions in Goba. Photo credits: Firaol Lemecha, Harena Studio

We are contributing to support micro-enterprises

Vocational training is not the only activity we are focusing on.

In fact, we are also contributing to strengthen the resilience of local communities, by supporting 14 vulnerable micro-enterprises in the agricultural and service sectors, including:

6 beauty salons (3 for men and 3 for women);
2 micro-enterprises for horticultural productions with irrigation system;
2 dairy and breeding micro-enterprises;
2 micro-enterprises for harvesting and threshing cereals;
1 group of tour guides;
1 group local traditional art and music.

COOPI staff together with the experts from the Bureau of Labor and Social Affairs and the Bureau of Enterprises Development and Industry have identified those micro-enterprises at risk of dissolution and aimed to provide them with adequate equipment, resources and training, so that they can continue to thrive.

In this respect, Hapte Yohannes, COOPI Project Manager in Bale, explains: "The first results were almost immediate - 36 young people from the beauty salons and 8 young people from the dairy and breeding micro-entreprises, 50 % of whom are women, have been well-equipped and are now able to compete with other similar businesses and increase their income.”

In the long run, our "Emergency initiative for vulnerable returnee and potential migrant populations" aims to mitigate irregular migration by improving the living conditions of young people and returnees in the Bale and Arsi areas, while increasing access to basic services, boosting economic opportunities and strengthening social cohesion.

Photo credits: Firaol Lemecha, Harena Studio