The Free State SME Development Initiative is a 3 year technical cooperation programme that runs until mid-2014. It supports the government of South Africa and the provincial government of the Free State in meeting its priorities towards broad-based wealth creation and decent work through Small and Medium Enterprise Development. With initial funding from the Flanders International Cooperation Agency (FICA), the International Labour Organization is the implementing agency  in partnership with the Deparment of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Mangaung Metro Municipality and the Municipality of Matjhabeng. Find more information on the Initiative in the flyer below.

A colleague from Pakistan shares her article published in Gulf at the occasion of Pakistan's Independence day on 14th August. She provides us with insights on women entrepreneurship evolution in Pakistan, the importance of women empowerment and the role ILO programmes WED and KAB can play in this important development.

Au  niveau de l'université Mohammed V - Souissi, le programme CLE est enseigné essentiellement à distance mais a aussi été intégré en présentiel pour diverses filières de formation, Licence fondamentale, Licences Professionnelles, Master, Ecole doctorale de différents établissements de l'université.

Le contenu CLE  a ainsi été intégré comme élément de module majeur sur 2 semestres dans une filière de formation professionnelle accréditée par le Ministère de l'enseignement supérieur marocain en Aout 2011, "Entrepreneuriat et création d'entreprise" (voir dépliant de la Licence professionnelle disponible pour téléchargement ci-dessous).

De plus une journée de l' entrepreneuriat a été organisée à l'université en mai 2012 , journée au cours de laquelle le Projet CLE au Maroc a été présenté (voir programme disponible ci-dessous, et photos ici)

Nos remerciements à Karima Ghazouani, KAB Key Facilitator, pour ces informations.

There are nearly 450,000 young people without jobs in Peru. They represent more than two thirds of the country's unemployed and of the 5 million young people who do have work, many are in 'precarious' conditions, without social benefits or job security. So instead of looking for a job, many young Peruvians prefer to looking toward themselves and starting their own businesses.

Learn and have fun at the same time – how entrepreneurship is taught!
Subject advisors, teachers and partners in entrepreneurship education in the Free State Province attend KAB Training

Twenty two participants attended the ‘Know About Business’ (KAB) Training at the Ilanga Estate in Bloemfontein.

The course ran for 5 days from 7-11 May. The participants represented stakeholders who shared a common
interest in supporting the development of a culture of entrepreneurship through education amongst the youth of the Province. Fifteen of the participants hailed from the Department of Education’s Economic Management Sciences and Economics Team. They will be at the heart of future initiatives to support the development of entrepreneurial youth in the Province. Representatives from the Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) and education experts from the Province ensured there was lively debate and discussions on potential future partnerships to build an Entrepreneurial eco-system for young men and women in the Free State to nurture their entrepreneurial talent, start ventures and create decent jobs.

Entrepreneurship Education: Introduction of "Know About Business" in Vocational and Technical Trainings in Palestine

KAB has been introduced in Palestine during a project that took place from 2009 to 2011.

In November 2011, a Senior Evaluator was recruited to conduct an independent final evaluation for the project, in line with ILO policies and procedures on evaluations.

The evaluation ran between November and December 2011 and included desk review of secondary data, several meetings with key project personnel and institutional counterparts in Beirut and South Lebanon, Focus Groups with the project trainees and trainers, several visits to VTCs, as well as a stakeholders’ workshop to triangulate information received and gather comments and feedback on the draft findings.

One of the main findings is that the ILO has been highly successful in introducing a relevant addition (KAB) to technical training curricula in Palestine. Following the pilot testing, both the MoL and the MoEHE have officially included KAB training into their national training curricula and have set aside the resources required for the roll-out. KAB is enjoying support from the highest levels of the Palestinian Authority.

The KAB Pakistan team has received two notifications of Sindh TEVTA informing that a total of 22 TVET Institutes of Sindh have adopted Know-About-Business (KAB) module in their regular courses.  This has surpassed the ILO target of 20 institutes planned up to the end of this year (started in September 2011).

This has been the first pilot of KAB in Pakistan and marks an achievement in many terms.  

The project is now moving ahead in helping S-TEVTA to internalize the expertise on KAB implementation as well as to play a key role in further expansion of KAB in other provinces. One such training is currently being implemented in Punjab - jointly facilitated by ILO Consultant and STEVTA KAB Facilitator (trained by Project). The KAB module has also been translated in Urdu and sufficient copies are available for future use/expansion.  

In a recent development, the Sindh Government has also approved a Credit Line of PKR 300 million for starting a Loan Programme to support business plans of TEVT Trainees.  The EET Project is providing technical assistance to STEVTA in developing a suitable delivery mechanism for this Loan Programme with the guidance of ILO Social Finance Unit.

The 80 to 120 hours of KAB/entrepreneurship Training Courses in 22 Vocational Traning Institutes and Polytechnic Institutes - for which 62 instroctors were trained by ILO Islamabad - will be taking place accross the Sindh Province of Pakistan, at the following locations:

Consciente de sa contribution dans les progrès socio-économiques du Maroc, et dans le cadre du programme CLE, l’Université Ibn Zohr vise à adopter le projet « Les Jeunes au Travail » qui est un projet conjoint de l’Organisation Internationale du Travail (OIT) et de l’Agence Canadienne de Développement International (ACDI).

A ce propos une conférence présidée par le Président de l’UIZ  et le Coordinateur National du projet « Jeunes au Travail » du Bureau International du Travail (BIT) M. Khalil IBN YAICH s’est tenue le Lundi 12 Novembre 2012 à la présidence de l’UIZ dans le but  de présenter les astuces  et les facteurs permettant à l’UIZ d’être le chef de file de ce projet au niveau national.

Ce projet a pour objectif d’augmenter les opportunités d’emploi pour les jeunes et les femmes dans le pays à travers :

• Le développement de l’esprit entrepreneurial et les initiatives d’auto emploi chez les jeunes par le biais de l’éducation entrepreneuriale et la formation ;
• La formation à l’entreprenariat de 20 000 jeunes déscolarisés et leur appui dans l’objectif de créer ou développer leurs activités économiques ;
• Le renforcement de l’employabilité des jeunes et notamment celle des femmes et  l’accroissement des opportunités d’emploi des jeunes déscolarisés dans trois régions pilotes à savoir : Agadir, Oujda et l’axe Casablanca-Kénitra.