The number of Ukrainians who will be eligible to learn a new profession or upgrade their skills within the Skills Alliance has been increased to 190,000 over the next three years. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna following the second coordination meeting within the Skills Alliance initiative.
"Structural unemployment remains one of the main challenges today. To overcome it, we are already implementing a number of vocational education, retraining and professional development programmes for Ukrainians. The Skills Alliance initiative should significantly reinforce this area. Today we have coordinated our efforts with the Alliance members and they have confirmed their commitment to train 190,205 people. This even exceeds the initially announced goal of 180,000 presented at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin," said Tetyana Berezhna.
The Skills Alliance initiative is being implemented by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine jointly with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
‘Ukraine needs skilled workers to restore and maintain its economy and to have an opportunity to rebuild the country. The Skills Alliance is the answer to this challenge. At the Ukraine Recovery Conference, Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, and I launched the Skills Alliance to train specialists for Ukraine's recovery. The Alliance now includes 70 countries, organisations and companies. This is an encouraging signal," said Svenja Schulze, Minister of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The participants of the event, including representatives of governments, international organisations, donors, businesses and the public sector, addressed such topics as:
- labour market needs in key sectors of the economy for the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine;
- mapping of existing retraining and professional development programmes;
- innovative projects and initiatives supported by Skills Alliance members;
- work of the Alliance subgroups in the following areas:
1) Vocational training and professional development.
2) Taking into account special needs and ensuring inclusion (training initiatives for people with disabilities, female and male veterans, women, IDPs).
3) Vocational training abroad and mutual recognition of diplomas and qualifications.
They also discussed updates from the Sectoral Working Group on Education.
As Tetiana Berezhna explains, the mapping will allow Skills Alliance members to create learning opportunities for Ukrainians both in Ukraine and abroad. The initiative will also facilitate the integration of internally displaced persons, youth, veterans, people with disabilities, and Ukrainians returning home into the labour market.
Background information
The Skills Alliance was established during the URC-2024 International Conference on Ukraine's Recovery, which took place in June 2024 in Berlin. The participants include more than 70 countries, donors, international partners and representatives of the business community. The aim of the initiative is to provide opportunities for retraining or upgrading the skills of Ukrainians. Over the next three years, it is planned to allocate EUR 700 million for these purposes.
The Skills Alliance includes such countries as: Belgium, Estonia, the European Union (EU), France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Switzerland, as well as various international financial institutions and organisations, including: Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), World Bank, International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration of Ukraine (IOM Ukraine), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Also private companies such as: Abt Global, Bayer, Google, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Scania.