Government to increase investment in vocational training JUBA, 24 July 2012 - The government will invest heavily in vocational training for the youth as a way of keeping them gainfully employed. The Under Secretary for Labour in the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development, Madam Hellen Achiro, said the youth constitute 72 per cent of the population of South Sudan and can be a threat to security if the country fails to plan for them.
Madam Achiro said Government of South Sudan was working in collaboration with international development partners to provide technical, material and financial assistance which will make the vocational training centres (VTCs). Madam Achiro said the government would expand the four VTCs based at Aluak Luak (Lakes State), Wau (Western Bahr El Ghazal), Malakal (Upper Nile) and Juba (Central Equatoria) in addition to extending the training to the states that do not have VTCs. The Under Secretary said vocational training was a priority area in the Ministry’s new 5-year strategic plan which will be launched soon. Madam Achiro urged instructors at the VTCs to impart trainees with skills that are responsive to the labour market. The Under Secretary was speaking today when she officially opened a 5-weeks refresher course for vocational instructors and administrative staff at the Multi-Service Training Centre in Juba. The training of trainers’ course which has attracted 60 participants from all the 10 states is being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). She said South Sudan was borrowing heavily on the skills of vocational training experts from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania who were assisting with the development of curriculums, policies and systems. She further thanked JICA for its generous assistance to the country in vocational training. Speaking at the function, JICA’s Chief Representative in South Sudan, Mr Atsushi Hanatani, urged the Ministry of Labour and Public Service to renew its commitment to and allocate more resources to the VTCs. Mr Hanatani said it was the duty of the government to allocate sufficient financial resources and develop a policy framework for vocational training which would equip the youth with skills for entrepreneurship and employment. Mr Hanatani disclosed that Japan was spending US$15 million on the development of physical facilities, provision of equipment and capacity building support to improve vocational training in the country. He said JICA had invested in the physical development of the Juba Multi-Service Training Centre (MTC) which should be completed by September this year, adding that similar support had been extended to the VTCs in Wau, Malakal and Aluak Luak. The JICA official said they were assisting the Juba MTC through capacity development and provision of instructors. He said more than 2,500 youths have undergone vocational training since 2006 when JICA started working with the VTCs. Reported by Alnour Ango and Simon Owaka MoLPSHRD produces five-year draft strategic plan JUBA, 24 July 2012 - The Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resources Development has produced a draft 5-year strategic plan which is expected to guide its development over the next five years. The plan, which is the product of critical deliberations of a five day workshop, held in Torit, Eastern Equatoria from July 17-21, 2012 also seeks to improve service delivery by the entire public service over the next five years. The draft plan’s strategic areas of focus include Decent Work Country Programme, Institutional and Human Capacity Development. The draft Strategic Plan will now be presented to the Council of Ministers for approval before it is officially launched. In his opening remarks, the Governor of Eastern Equatoria State, H. E. Luis Lobong Lojore, urged the participants to develop a strategic plan that would among other things define a uniform salary structure for all. “It is only through proper strategic planning that success can be achieved,” Governor Lojore said. He lauded the national Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development in supporting State Ministries of Labour and Public Service in developing policies, laws, regulations and human resources. Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister and Acting Minister for Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development, Hon. Kwong Danhier Gatluak, said the Ministry would address, as a matter of urgency, issues of a code of conduct for public servants, core values and work ethics to ensure the attainment of the South Sudan Vision 2040. Hon Gatluak said the long term development blueprint provides a framework that should ensure efficient service delivery in all sectors of the economy. He urged civil servants to be proactive rather than being reactive because the world had become very dynamic due to information and communications technology. The Minister assured the conference that the HIV/AIDS pandemic was a matter of grave concern to the Ministry which was working in conjunction with the HIV/AIDS Commission at national and state levels to address the issue of HIV/AIDS at the work place. The workshop brought together the top leadership in the Ministry, middle level managers, policy experts and junior staff who debated and agreed on critical choices that the Ministry must make if it is to adapt effectively to its internal and external environment in today’s highly dynamic world. Reported by Justin Jada Joseph RSS has presented a draft proposal on all outstanding Issues. JUBA 23 July 2012 - The Republic of South Sudan through its negotiating team yesterday at 10pm local time presented a final draft agreement proposal to the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) and the government of the Republic of Sudan addressing all the outstanding issues, a government official has revealed. A press statement obtained by goss.org from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-SPLM states that the two negotiation teams agreed to comb through the document so as to identify the areas of differences in the presence of the AUHIP for a possible agreement on all the unresolved post independence issues between the two countries. Click here to read the proposal. Reported by Matata Safi -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
