Youth education, public-private partnerships, rural economy skills and modern technologies in Vocational Education and Training (VET) are the focus of a new project that was launched on December 1 by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The three-year initiative draws on $4.4 million in Swiss funding and will be implemented in close partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.
Giorgi Khanishvili, First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture; Valerian Gobronidze, Deputy Minister of Education and Science; Tamar Kitiashvili, Director General of Georgia’s Skills Agency; Dr. Danielle Meuwly, Regional Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office for the South Caucasus, Embassy of Switzerland in Georgia; and Nick Beresford, UNDP Resident Representative in Georgia, attended the project launch event.
Opportunities for 21,000 small farmers, 140 innovative local projects in climate-smart agriculture, 48 active partnership projects between educational institutions and private companies
“The VET modernization project plays a key role in the current Swiss Cooperation Program 2022-2025. Skills development and rural employment are also high among Georgia’s government priorities. Therefore, we are confident that with our continued cooperation with the national entities, with UNDP, and with the private sector, the project will achieve success and will make a significant contribution to Georgia’s development,” said Dr. Danielle Meuwly, Regional Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office for the South Caucasus, Embassy of Switzerland in Georgia.
“Our joint work with Switzerland, Georgia’s Government and the private sector provides people living in rural areas with better access to vocational education and training. We are helping to create an environment where quality learning is available for all, and job seekers, particularly the youth, can realize their true potential,” said Nick Beresford, UNDP Resident Representative in Georgia.
The new SDC and UNDP project builds on the achievements of the previous initiative carried out in 2018-2022 to support reforms in Georgia’s vocational education and training in agriculture. The results of this five-year work include training and professional education opportunities for 21,000 small farmers across Georgia, 140 innovative local projects in climate-smart agriculture, and 48 active partnership projects between educational institutions and private companies seeking a qualified workforce.
Further, SDC and UNDP helped establish a network of qualified extension officers and agriculture advisors in four regions (Guria, Racha-Lechkhumi, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, and Samtskhe-Javakheti), and supported the first Sectorial Skills Organization “Agroduo” to enhance the partnership between the private and educational sectors.
