Kakata – A high-level delegation from the European Union (EU) visited Booker Washington Institute (BWI) over the weekend, marking a significant step in strengthening Liberia’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector. 

By Francis Boayue

The visit, led by Nona Deprez, Head of the EU Delegation in Liberia, and Erica Gerristen, Director for Human Development, Migration, Governance, and Peace at the European Commission, focused on the EU-funded refurbishment of TVET workshops at BWI.

The visit was part of the EU’s “Youth Rising” project, which aims to enhance technical education, improve youth employability, and foster public-private partnerships to drive sustainable development. 

The project is a multi-phase initiative, with €50 million invested in phases 1 and 2, now operational in 19 schools across 14 counties.

In her remarks, Gerristen expressed the EU’s commitment to empowering young people in Liberia, emphasizing the importance of equipping them with the necessary skills to meet industry demands. “For this to happen successfully, we need to ensure that the right skills are being developed,” she said, highlighting the role of partnerships in achieving these goals.

Gerristen also noted the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, which focuses on fostering international partnerships and creating job opportunities by working closely with the private sector. “Building more public-private partnerships is one of the key goals we are pursuing with this strategy,” she added.

Liberian Minister of Education, Dr. Jarso Jallah, praised the EU’s support and emphasized that TVET is crucial for Liberia’s economic transformation. “TVET is not just our present—it is our future,” she said. 

Dr. Jallah also highlighted the importance of empowering youth with both technical and entrepreneurial skills to create sustainable livelihoods.

Dr. Jallah called for expanded support for emerging sectors like ecotourism and further collaboration in tailoring TVET programs to the specific needs of Liberia’s counties.

Rogers Ndege, Chief Technical Advisor of the Youth Rising Project, provided an update on the project’s achievements. He noted that the project has expanded access to TVET institutions, ensuring that every county has at least one fully functional TVET center. 

Ndege emphasized that the project’s success lies in its focus on governance and public-private collaboration to ensure graduates can secure meaningful employment.

The second phase of the Youth Rising Project, valued at €25 million, will continue until November 2029, focusing on enhancing local training capacity and expanding program offerings. Ndege also highlighted the importance of local partnerships, such as with Häme University of Applied Sciences in Finland, to train instructors locally.

As the event concluded, both Liberian government officials and EU representatives reaffirmed their shared commitment to empowering youth and sustaining TVET initiatives. “We must plan for long-term sustainability because donor support will not last forever,” Dr. Jallah emphasized.

Gerristen added by stressing the importance of collaboration in empowering Liberia’s youth, stating, “Together, through sustained collaboration and innovation, we can empower Liberia’s youth—the true engine of the country’s economy—by creating meaningful job opportunities and building a brighter future.”

Kakata- A non-governmental organization, Serving Humanity for Empowerment and Development (SHED) with Support from the European Union, on Monday, August 12, 2024, paid an official visit to the Kakata Central prison along with a huge European Union delegation and Liberia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti and others as part of its phase two project: “Strengthening Democracy & Respect, for Fundamental Human Rights of Prisoners in Liberia.

By Francis Boayue

The Strengthening Democracy & Respect for Fundamental Human Rights of Prisoners in Liberia project is being funded by the European Union and implemented by SHED and RHRAP with the sole purpose of providing psychosocial support, vocational training, improvement of prison conditions for inmates among other activities in Margibi, Bong, Nimba, and Grand Cape Mount Counties.

The executive director of SHED, Mrs. Joyce Q. Pajibo, giving the overview of the project, said the visit of EU Ambassadors and other Government officials such as the Foreign Minister, Education Minister, and Agriculture Minister was part of an EU-supported project under the EIDHR instrument for democracy and human rights. 

According to her, the visit was intended to view SHED’s work over the last five years in the inmates’ cells, records room, recreational center, vocational skills training center, and clinic as part of phase two of the EIDHR project.

She said SHED has been working with the Kakata prison for the last five years providing legal aid support to pretrial detainees through our team of lawyers, providing computers to the record rooms, supplying medical drugs to the prison clinic, and providing psychosocial support to inmates. 

In addition to that, she further noted that SHED also works with community leaders and the religious leaders in the community, training them through the EIDRH instrument for them to be able to mediate some of the smaller cases and issues within the community to help with the decongestions situation of the prisons which are already overcrowded because of too many petty cases which could be settled by community or religious leaders.