Vietnam’s fast economic growth due to “Doi Moi” – the 1986 economic reform, has led to the increased demand for skilled labor with the government responding through the formulation of a “Vocational Training Development Strategy 2011 – 2020”. The rapid industrialization over the past decade has also resulted in increased annual energy consumption growth rate of more than 12%. Forecasts show that an energy shortage of up to 70% could be experienced by 2025.
Seeing the need to increase energy management skills and trained labor in the industry to ensure environmentally sustainable development, Schneider Electric and ASSIST spearheaded a private sector partnership (PSP) project called “Green Electrician: Education in Electricity for Employment”. The project aims to promote and improve vocational training education in the growing energy industry through the establishment of training programs in cooperation with a local education partner. Specifically the project targeted students from underprivileged backgrounds via a free basic training program in order to help students gain access to stable employment opportunities. It aims to establish training centers or laboratories, develop practice-oriented training curricula, establish training programs on Basic Electricity and Sustainable Energy Management and provide entrepreneurship training to young people to help them create their own businesses and ensure sustainable income generation. The project is also promoting vocational training opportunities in schools to increase awareness and interest through job fairs featuring electric companies.
The project was able to build two laboratories in Ly Tu Trong Technical College (LTTC) which instilled hands-on experience and trained fifteen local teachers who in turn, trained and disseminated knowledge to other training centers, produced three training programs and trained 1,400 students. The program is scheduled to conclude by the end of 2018 and project implementers seek to secure nationwide adaptation of the training programs in the long run.
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) account for a large majority of establishments in the Philippines, employing 70% of the total labor force. Undeniably, MSMEs constitute the backbone of the economy, playing a key role in the country’s growth and development. Nevertheless, local MSMEs in food production and processing have a small presence in the Philippine market. Most food products available in local retail chains are produced in neighboring Asian countries. The problem is that development of the sector is hindered by uncoordinated and outdated professional and technical qualifications for MSMEs as well as a lack of adequate public action against noncompliance with food regulations and standards.
ASSIST partnered with TÜV Rheinland, SEQUA, the University of the Philippines Institute for Small Scale Industries (UP-ISSI) and AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development Cooperation to implement Pro-FIT. The project aimed to enhance the capacity of local MSMEs in the food and beverage industry, to improve competitiveness in local and foreign markets. This was done by creating awareness and addressing the benefits of food safety regulations and standards, and implementing a variety of qualification courses on food safety regulations and standards through the coordinated effort from relevant stakeholders.
By the end of the project, five courses were developed with curriculum and training materials for the pilot implementation and certification of the diploma courses. These courses included Certified Quality Associate, Diploma in Food Safety Management, Certification Programme on Good Manufacturing Practices, Certified Food Safety Professional and Basics of Food Safety, and Hygiene and Food Handling; and have been absorbed into UP-ISSI’s regular course offerings to students. ASSIST and partners also executed Train-the-Trainer workshops for 30 trainers coming from UP-ISSI, the Philippine Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Philippine Trade Training Center and other TVET centers in the country. Additionally, basic courses were administered to 200 operators from 10 MSMEs. The overall impact of this project increases the chances of MSMEs in the food and beverage sector to better enter domestic and foreign markets and contribute to the growing economy of the Philippines.
The standards of work health and safety were brought to the forefront of the public eye after the collapse of the Rana Plaza Building in Bangladesh in April 2013. The commercial structure housed a garment factory and its collapse resulted in numerous injuries and a death toll of 1,127. In the aftermath, it called for improved working conditions and better compliance with factory safety standards.
The IFC Fire and Life Safety Risk Profiling (FLSRP) Project aimed to support the Better Work Programme – a partnership project of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – in its objective to improve labour conditions and compliance of standards by participating garment and footwear factories in developing countries. The project aided Better Work in reviewing its tools and approaches to assess and remedy fire and building safety issues in each of the countries in which it operates; ultimately to prevent or mitigate the impact of future incidents like the 2013 disaster in Bangladesh.
FLSRP involved the conduct of sectoral-level risk assessments on fire and building safety in garment and footwear factories to develop respective risk profiles for Cambodia, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Lesotho, Nicaragua, and Vietnam. Major activities included research and desk review, benchmarking, report review, site selection and inspections, stakeholder discussions, data compilation and lessons-learnt workshops in each of the target countries.
