By Sami Zaptia.
London, 4 November 2020:
Funded by the World Food Programme (WFP) and delivered by Tatweer Research, Masar vocational training programme was launched in Libya last week.
Masar, which means ‘Path’ in Arabic, aims to empower young men and women with skills required for jobs in the private sector.
The free technical training courses, targeted at those with limited income, are within the framework of supporting youth and job seekers to help improve their chances of starting their own business or obtain a job. They also aim to revive the economy.
The 2-4 week-long training programmes have established links with local businesses and will guarantee jobs for some of the successful trainees.
The main vocational training programmes planned are cooking (chefs), mobile phone repair and car maintenance.
“These courses ensure the most useful skillsets for trainees are augmented, but also that people are able to develop skills which they are passionate about and that they can use to support their families and communities,” said Samer AbdelJaber, Country Director of WFP in Libya told Libya Herald. “We’re working hand in hand with the communities and our partners.”
The cooking and mobile phone repair courses were launched last week in Benghazi for 50 trainees. Most the cooking courses were taken up by females wishing to get jobs as chefs or start their own food business.
The mobile phone repair courses were split into one for males and one for females. This is because female mobile phone owners prefer their phones to be fixed by females for sake of data and photo privacy. The courses for car maintenance are planned to start next week.
WFP’s projects work to support Libya through a focus on local economies and community resilience, working with community retailers and suppliers throughout its forms of assistance such as the recently launched e-voucher modality, working hand in hand with local specialized companies such as Tatweer, and unfolding resilience initiatives and trainings throughout the country.
