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CAFOR’s Innovative Skills for Africa’s Youths Project

CAFOR is initiating and supporting the new Innovative Skills for Africa’s Youths Project. This project will bring together the various actors in skills development initiatives for youths around the continent through the formulation, development, and implementation of a viable communication strategy for quality assurance, coherence, and adequate matching of innovative training techniques with the competency requirements in the labor market in Africa.

CAFOR will identify ten reputable training institutions continent-wide, two in each region from different countries, to design a unique training program for secondary school graduates on subject matters related to mathematics, science subjects, engineering technology, and other innovations. This program will comprise heavy information and communication components.

As a growing number of countries achieve universal primary education, they are now developing a pipeline of young people who expect to pursue further education or training to improve their chances of employment and higher earnings. Structural changes in the economy, furthered by urbanization, technology, and shifting consumer demand patterns, have created demands on adults already in or actively seeking jobs in the workforce to develop skills that enable them to compete in this new environment. Overall, the structure and interplay of work and education have changed.

CAFOR notes that youth and adults’ preparation for employment has shifted from the concept of formal education to that of skills development. Within the policy realm, skills development, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), life skills, and livelihoods training are often used interchangeably. Regarding gender, targeted youth livelihood programs do not generally reach adolescent girls, especially those in need. Unless programs initially put girls at the center, they do not “get” to girls.

CAFOR is encouraging governments and development partners at the global level to invest in science, technology, and innovations for the following reasons:

To increase the relevance of schooling by imparting individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary for making the individual a productive member of society.
To reduce unemployment due to employing employable skills, especially to the youth.
To increase economic development since it improves the quality and skill level of the working population.
To reduce poverty by giving the individuals participating in the program access to higher-income occupations.
To transform people’s attitude to favor occupations with occupational prospects or future.

CAFOR bears all these issues in mind as it endeavors to implement its project on its Innovative Skills for Africa’s Youth.

This project will be implemented for five years at US $4.1 million.

CAFOR is urging all partners and stakeholders to invest more and better in education.