It is a great pleasure for me to warmly welcome all of you this morning to. the national workshop of the Community-based Training on Economic

Transcription

1 Goodmorning, NATIONAL WORKSHOP Community-based Training on Economic Empowerment Hotel Taj Samudhra Colombo 26 June 2008 Welcome Address by Tine Staermose, Director ILO Colombo Secretary from the Ministry and Chairperson of the Project Advisory Committee of the CBTREE Project, Mr. Mahinda Madihahewa Distinguished representatives from local government in Ampara, Batticalao and Trincomalee, Distinguished representatives from other ministries. Employers Federation of Ceylon Friends from the Trade Unions Representative from the Belgium Counselate in Colombo Mr. Rudy Baldemor, Chief Technical Advisor and Sivapragasm from the CBTREE Project and our Regional Sr. Specialist on Vocational Skills Training, Ms. Akiko Sakamoto. Ladies and gentlemen It is a great pleasure for me to warmly welcome all of you this morning to the national workshop of the Community-based Training on Economic Empowerment project, also known as the CBTREE project of the ILO.

2 Shortly after the Tsunami, when the ILO was called upon to provide assistance on early economic recovery, one of the approaches which the ILO had tested in other countries, namely Pakistan and Indonesia, was identified as being suitable for the specific requirements of the affected people of the East. The Belgium Government came forward with funds and in 2005 the CBTREE set up office in Ampara. CBTREE is short for Community-based Training on Economic Empowerment. We will hear more about the methodology and achievements by our experts in short while, but I believe that one of the strengths of the project has been its ability to empower individuals and communities through a systematic technical facilitation from the technical team s side.skills training has for example been on the job training not separated from the establishment of enterprise, meaning that skills have been induced through actual experience. All over the world the ILO assists individuals to become employable through training, skills development and education. This assistance is crucial to improve and sustain their productivity and income-earning opportunities at work. It serves to enhance their mobility in the labour market and for many earning a little extra. We believe in promoting greater investment in

3 skills and training so that men and women have enhanced and equal access to productive and decent work. We have developed training policies and programmes world-wide, with special emphasis on training strategies that support the integration of groups that may be disadvantaged in the labour market. Tsunami-affected families in Sri Lanka belong to this category as do a number of other families who are vulnerable due to poverty, displacement because of the conflict or other natural disasters such as the recent floods. Tsunami affected households from all ethnic groups in Ampara district have benefited from the interventions and women in particular have been empowered as new entrepreneurs. In today s programme you will hear what the impact has been for the affected families. Impact studies have recently been undertaken and we will be presented with fresh figures that we can relate to. The project has been designed and technically coached by our Chief Technical Advisor Rudy Baldemor, who has experiences from other countries on the CBTREE methodology and by Mr. Sivapragasm, who as the National Programme Manager is in charge of the day to day management The project has been guided by a tripartite and multi-ministerial project

4 advisory committee, ably chaired by Mr. Madihahewa, the Secretary of Labour. Last week we fielded a mission for the PAC members and I have received feedback that the interest was high and that there is a good deal of curiosity about how to bring this forward and this is what we will be focusing on today. The project is one of the key outputs under the ILO s DW Country Programme which is the vehicle for the ILO and our constituents to deliver development assistance to Sri Lanka. The current CP runs from 2008 to The overall country priority for ILO s programme in this period is Poverty Reduction and Decent Work for All and defines the intersection between the country situation in Sri Lanka and the expressed priorities of the constituents. Consequently, this priority area aims to supplement national poverty reduction strategies through interventions promoting improved decent employment opportunities, enhanced management of labour markets, and improved social dialogue for mutual cooperation and growth.

5 This project is one among others that directly links up with the government s commitment to empower the population in rural areas as stipulated in the Mahinda Chintana and also in the development plans for the East. In closing I would like to say that I believe the CBTREE approach can be one of the answers to the economic empowerment of the conflict and poverty-stricken populations in Sri Lanka, because in addition to the actual increase in income it has also shown that it has mitigating effects such as building bridges between different ethnic groups and it has had a specific focus on empowering women through training and enterprise development. The methodology is captured in simple how to do manuals adapted to the Sri Lankan context which makes it easy to integrate it into other ongoing programmes of the government, in particular the Naga Gemuna and other similar national programmes.