Vocational skills development (VSD) supports individual development and is a powerful tool to integrate migrants and forcibly displaced populations into local economies and societies. The better educated and trained migrants are, the more they can take advantage of the opportunities migration offers and the greater the benefits for both countries of destination as well as countries of origin.  

Migration and VSD are both important topics of the Dispatch on Switzerland’s International Cooperation 2021-24. This working tool brings the two topics together. It offers a structured analysis process that helps you to better integrate migrants into your VSD programs, or to use VSD as an intervention strategy in migration projects. The tool was developed jointly by the SDC Networks Employment and Income as well as Migration and Development.

>> Have a look at the tool!

The Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d programme), co-financed by SDC and the Swiss National Science Foundation, finances research partnerships between Switzerland and African, Asian and Latin American countries in order to provide policy-makers with scientific and development-relevant knowledge. The r4d programme focuses on five thematic areas: social conflicts, ecosystems, public health, food security and employment.

The latter two areas are of particular relevance for the readers of this newsletter. A dedicated session on the r4d programme took place at the F2F event of the e+i and EPS networks in May 2019 in Solothurn. In October 2019, the r4d program launched its new Knowledge for Development platform. It portrays evidence-based research information tailor-made for an interested public and professionals in the field of sustainable development cooperation. A filter function helps you to find easily the content of your interests.

The platform will be constantly growing and fed with new outputs from the r4d projects and r4d syntheses are published throughout the next years. We invite you to visit the platform - a contribution to transformative knowledge societies taking forward sustainable development at local, regional and global scales.

Andrea Inglin, Senior Advisor VSD at the e+i Focal Point summarizes some key findings of the slide deck on PSE in VSD, in an interview with Roman Troxler, co-author of the slide deck.

Have a look at the video!

In late 2020 the e+i backstopping team has developed a comprehensive slide deck on Private Sector Engagment (PSE) in VSD. This slide deck elaborates on the different levels of collaboration with the private sector on system level and within PSE projects – and it presents lessons learned from 14 of our VSD projects.

The slide deck will be presented in a global webinar on 16th March 2021 (invitations will be sent out mid-Februrary). Further presentations/Q&A sessions in the context e.g. of regional exchange events or team meetings are warmly encouraged and the e+i focal point and backstoppers are ready to support you.

SDC’s IED Cluster developed a slide deck that aims at providing support and guidance to e+i and PSE projects working in fragile contexts. The slide deck fosters a common understanding on fragility and its relevance for SDC’s PSD, FSD, VSD and PSE projects. The documents is complemented with examples of best practices in fragile contexts.

Please also have a look at the Frequently asked questions (FAQ) below, they complement the Slide Deck:

The overview paper (16 pages, May 2020) explores how to develop a system change strategy and intervention plans that lay the groundwork for system change assessment, including how to set system boundaries and how to identify the system changes a programme aims to catalyse; and assess system changes using both (i) an intervention lens focused on changes introduced by specific interventions, and (ii) a helicopter lens that provides a whole system view. 

In April 2020 a webinar where the four authors provided an overview and answered burning questions was attended by 166 practitioners. Following the webinar the authors published a paper that explains in detail how to implement this pragmatic approach with worked examples and useful tips: A pragmatic approach to assessing system change: How to put it into practice (91 pages).

Overview paper  (16 pages)    How to put it into practice  (91 pages)   Webinar  (April 2020)

Provides a brief overview of impacts and responses related to women’s economic empowerment to Covid-19 by governments, donors, the private sector and civil society, highlighting early examples of evidence, practices, and key issues for consideration.

Have a look at the example mentioned by PPSE Kosovo (implemented by Swisscontact).