YOUTH RISING, Liberia

The EU Support to Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for Young People in Liberia “Youth Rising” project seeks to strengthen the Liberian TVET sector in its capacity to deliver equitable and gender-balanced access to high-quality and demand-driven TVET. This will be done by supporting capacity development at central and TVET provider level, and by strengthening links with the private sector.  The intervention will address equity issues with an emphasis on remote South East rural areas and vulnerable youth, including people with disabilities.

The project aims at addressing serious quality, relevance, access, and equity shortcomings in the Liberian TVET sector. Funded by the European Union and implemented by UNIDO in partnership with the Ministries of Education (MoE) and Youth and Sports (MoYS), the project will support the Government of Liberia in strengthening TVET systems by improving access to quality TVET for young men and women, promoting entrepreneurship and connecting vocational education with the private sector in six schools located in five counties:

• Montserrado County (Monrovia): Monrovia Vocational Training Center & WVS Tubman High School
• Margibi (Kakata): Booker Washington Institute (BWI)
• Grand Gedeh (Zwedru): Zwedru Multilateral High School
• Sinoe (Greenville): Sinoe Multilateral High School
• Maryland (Harper): Cape Palmas High School

A socially and economically marginalized Liberian youth population that generally lacks employable skills and therefore ill-equipped to access new economic opportunities could pose serious risks to national security, social cohesion and stability. Successful implementation of this project will help solve Liberia’s major challenge of finding employment opportunities for its youth (who constitute nearly half of the labor force), with the key objectives of increasing economic growth opportunities, supporting TVET providers with instructors, administrators and principals with upgraded skills to manage, plan and deliver quality and relevant TVET, as well as improving the infrastructure and modernizing the equipment at all six schools.