UNIDO and Volvo Group to collaborate on developing industrial skills of young people in Africa

ADDIS ABABA, 15 July 2015 – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Volvo Group will collaborate on expanding the access of youth in developing countries to job-oriented and demand-driven skills through focusing on industrial skills development.

A memorandum of understanding on this collaboration was signed in the Ethiopian capital today by Philippe Scholtes, Managing Director of UNIDO, and Malin Ripa, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility Management, the Volvo Group. The signing took place on the margins of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.

“The joint efforts of UNIDO and the Volvo Group will address the gap between supply and demand of skilled labor resulting from skills mismatches,” said Scholtes. “This will be done by establishing training academies in a selected number of countries.”

The parties of the memorandum have currently joint projects in Ethiopia, Morocco and Zambia.

Volvo is also a partner of a UNIDO implemented Learning and Knowledge Development Facility project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation. The Learning and Knowledge Development Facility aims at expanding access of youth to job-oriented and demand-driven skills in the sectors of logistics and industrial maintenance of machinery, through the establishment of training academies for the operation and maintenance of heavy equipment.

For more information on the Volvo Group, please visit here

For more information on the Learning and Knowledge Development Facility, contact here