WorldSkills and UNIDO to advance skills development

WorldSkills and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) are pleased to announce their partnership to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote learning opportunities for all as set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
 
WorldSkills is the global hub of skills bringing together and influence educators, industry, national governments, and international organizations to facilitate salient research and provide a global benchmark for vocational systems. UNIDO is the specialized agency of the United Nations, which promotes inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization, and environmental sustainability. 

UNIDO has joined the WorldSkills Conference Coalition to share knowledge about demand-driven industrial skills development and the role that public-private development partnerships (PPDP) can play in providing technical education. 

The Coalition is a group of representatives from international, regional, and national organizations that help to develop the content of each edition of the WorldSkills Conference and shape the strategic direction of the WorldSkills Conference programme. For UNIDO, the challenge lays in the content and quality of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) programmes. In many countries, the TVET offer does not match the private sector’s demand. As a result, graduates cannot find jobs while employers cannot find skilled personnel. UNIDO has therefore appointed Riccardo Savigliano, Division Chief of Agro-Industry and Skills Development to contribute to the work of the Coalition. 

“UNIDO is another excellent addition to the WorldSkills Conference Coalition”, said David Hoey, CEO of WorldSkills International. “We now have a formidable range of organizations participating including UN agencies, other international organizations, regional organizations, and national institutions. Together they are helping to establish the WorldSkills Conference as a must-attend biennial event.”

“WorldSkills shows the importance of skills development in achieving inclusive and sustainable economic development, an area where UNIDO attaches great importance”, said LI Yong, Director General of UNIDO. “UNIDO is pleased to join the WorldSkills Conference Coalition and exchange best practices and knowledge about global trends related to industrial skills demand and future skills requirements.”    

UNIDO and WorldSkills are already at work to fulfil their mandate. WorldSkills will co-host the Forum of UNIDO’s Learning and Knowledge Development Facility (LKDF) in October 2020 to help identify green industrial skills and highlight the need to introduce green skills programmes to ensure a sustainable future. And UNIDO will contribute to the programme of the next WorldSkills Conference to be held in Shanghai in September 2021 as part of WorldSkills Shanghai 2021. Together with the members of the Conference Coalition, UNIDO will help examine several themes relating to skills development, including skills as a tool in poverty alleviation.

You can find more information about LKDF Forum 2020 at unido.org, and on the WorldSkills Conference website.