This video story shows how the PROSPECTS team, in collaboration with partners, helped hundreds of Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees hone their skills and find jobs amid the country’s multi-level crisis.
Through a joint programme led by the ILO in collaboration with UNHCR and implemented by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), more than 600 Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees women and men have been trained , making the job market more accessible and inclusive. Many have since secured job offers or practical training placements with local business owners, improving their chances of long-term economic stability.
This video story shows how the PROSPECTS team and partners launched mobile work-permit units to provide essential employment services in remote areas of Jordan.
In Jordan, many agricultural and construction workers in remote areas face limited access to employment services. To address this, the ILO, in partnership with agricultural cooperatives and the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions, introduced mobile work-permit units, which bring employment services directly to workers in hard-to-reach locations, improving accessibility and inclusion.
Through these mobile units, workers can apply for or renew work permits free of charge, with gender-sensitive services available to better support women. Additionally, the ILO and its partners have conducted awareness sessions targeting both workers and employers, further strengthening protections and opportunities in the agriculture and construction sectors.
PROSPECTS Kenya supported the development and implementation of a national RPL framework in collaboration with a digital skills training provider to make the most of existing curricula for RPL certification in digital skills.
PROSPECTS partnered with the Ministry of Education to develop and implement a mobile application to help young people, including Syrian refugees, explore career paths.
In light of high youth unemployment in Jordan (42 per cent among those aged 15–24), PROSPECTS collaborated with the career guidance offices within Ministry of Education public schools. The programme adapted and rolled out a career guidance manual for young people, which enabled career counsellors to provide market-driven career guidance. Since Syrian refugees were enrolled in Ministry of Education public schools, they too were able to benefit from the support provided by the trained counsellors. The aim was to help students decide what professions they were interested in and might want to pursue – either through technical and vocational education or academic pathways. An accompanying mobile application featured a game for students to explore different career opportunities independently. The application, called “My Future Career Path”, allowed young players to navigate ten different games, while helping them discover their abilities and interests in different TVET career pathways. As of mid-2024, the application had been downloaded more than 1,000 times from Google Play and was later made available in the Apple Store.
Find out more about the PROSPECTS programme’s wider learning on youth engagement.
The ILO used its Employment-Intensive Investment Programmes to support the community in Beirut to mitigate the impact of the conflict, in accordance with its mandate to advance social protection and ensure decent work opportunities and economic sustainability in the longer term.
In Lebanon, EIIP was introduced as a rapid response mechanism to address the immediate aftermath of the Beirut blast in 2020. While EIIP was not initially included in the PROSPECTS work plan in the country, the team was able to repurpose funds and support an existing ILO EIIP programme in Lebanon to operationalize rubble removal and street-clearing in the days following the blast. Workers were largely refugee and host community youth, who channelled their energy into helping the community recover from the unforeseen crisis. It was particularly advantageous to be able to use the footprint of the other ILO programme, including staff who were already in place with the necessary technical expertise to carry out the EIIP work at community level. In implementation, Syrian refugee youth were particularly eager to contribute as a sign of solidarity with their host community. In this case, the repurposing of funds to support the EIIP response also demonstrated the agility of both the ILO and the donor (the Netherlands), who were both willing to expedite approval processes to serve a clear and immediate need.
In September 2024, Lebanon witnessed a sharp escalation in large-scale cross-border attacks, resulting in significant loss of life and severe damage to the economy. The recent violence has caused immense suffering and, in response, the ILO developed an emergency response plan to mitigate the impact of the conflict on the country’s residents, in accordance with its mandate to advance social protection and ensure decent work opportunities and economic sustainability in the longer term.
The ILO, together with the Lutheran World Foundation, is building a Technical and Vocational Education Training Centre in Kebribeyah, Ethiopia. The centre, which is located in the vicinity of refugee settlements is designed to provide vocational training opportunities for both the host community and refugees.
In Ethiopia, the PROSPECTS team supported an initiative to establish a satellite TVET training centre in the district of Kebribeyah, in Somali Regional State. The satellite centre was the country’s first public TVET training facility in a refugee-hosting area. As a result, jobs were created for refugees and host community members during the construction of the centre itself, subsequently vocational training was provided to refugee and host community students who would otherwise have to travel long distances for TVET training (the closest public vocational training college was 55 kilometres away, in the regional capital, Jigjiga).
Consultations were organized with local stakeholders in Kebribeyah to promote buy-in and ownership, and to provide guidance on relevant, in-demand occupations, including finishing works in construction, general metal fabrication and aluminium works, electrical installation, plumbing and sanitary installation, irrigation technology and cobblestone-laying. Trainers from Jigjiga Polytechnic College were then trained as trainers to deliver courses in the satellite centre. As a component of the cobblestone course, graduates were awarded a trial contract to construct a 500-metre cobblestone road as a demonstration site for EIIP in Kebribeyah. Similar to the case in Kenya, this supported the upskilling of local refugee and host community labour, using a labour-based approach.
Find out more about the PROSPECTS programme’s wider learning on youth engagement.
In collaboration with the Turkana County government in Kenya, PROSPECTS supported the paving of the Lodwar fresh produce market using an Employment-Intensive Investment Programmes (EIIP) approach to link infrastructure development with employment creation, poverty reduction, and local economic and social development.
In partnership with the Turkana County government in Kenya, the PROSPECTS programme supported the paving of the Lodwar fresh produce market using durable cobblestone technology. The project was implemented through the ILO’s Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP), with the county government headquarters providing the venue for training, helping local workers build skills in cobblestone paving. The project promoted the use of locally sourced materials, provided skills training, and created employment opportunities for the local community.
Find out more about the PROSPECTS programme’s wider learning on youth engagement.
PROSPECTS used Employment-Intensive Investment Programmes (EIIP) to construct water and milk storage facilities to improve livestock rearing and milk production, while also building capacities building and providing local employment opportunities.
In 2019, in the Fanfan Zone of Somali Regional State and Jigjiga, PROSPECTS extended the EIIP approach followed as part of a wider value-chain development programme. This extended approach focused on enhancing the livelihoods and added value of livestock-rearing and milk production. After an assessment of challenges and bottlenecks in the value chain, animal health and milk productivity were identified as areas of focus. A key issue within these was water access during dry seasons, which is a major determinant of both the quality and quantity of milk produced.
Because the EIIP approach was new in these areas, the intervention included a period of capacity-building and awareness-raising around the EIIP approach, involving district-level officials, private sector contractors and workers. PROSPECTS collaborated with the Bureau of Pastoralist Development and local administrators on such issues as land acquisition, community mobilization and handover to the local community at the end of the EIIP. The Bureau was also overseeing work as part of the wider value-chain development programme and so could advise based on a wider objective to develop the market.
To address the issue of water scarcity in dry seasons, two detention ponds were constructed using do-nou technology, a Japanese method that uses gunny bags filled with sand or soil and compacted manually to level and reinforce dirt roads. This is a durable, yet simple technology, the materials for which can be sourced locally. Additional facilities included water points and cattle troughs. Two technicians were also trained as community resource personnel, to provide support and maintenance after the construction ended.
To address productivity bottlenecks the PROSPECTS team and the Bureau of Pastoralist Development jointly prioritized cooperative development, the construction and enhancement of milk-storage facilities, and improvements to road infrastructure. A milk collection and cooling facility was constructed so that milk would have a longer shelf life and be preserved during transport to nearby markets. Water sources were constructed so that livestock would have water all year round in the arid climate, while the pooling and storage facilities prolonged the shelf life and hygiene of the milk.
The cooling facility was designed according to national standards and requirements set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. It was constructed by local contractors from Somali Regional State, who, in turn, employed refugee and host community members from the surrounding area. In all, 134 community members worked on the EIIP construction, while approximately 585 individuals and approximately 5,080 animals had access to the improved facilities.
