NN46, September 2011
Towards a New Global World of Skills Development? TVET's turn to Make its Mark
Bridging the Divide: Connecting Training to Jobs in Post-Conflict Settings
By Gareth McKibben, City and Guilds Centre for Skills Development, London
Email: gareth.mckibben@skillsdevelopment.org
Keywords: Ex-combatants; Indonesia; job creation; post-conflict; vocational training.
Summary: Mismatches between vocational training and jobs for ex-combatants in post-conflict settings are widespread across the world. These mismatches are, however, not inevitable. There are identifiable drivers, which can be addressed, and can go a long way to ensuring ex-combatants get jobs after training.
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In spite of an overall decline in armed conflicts in the past two decades, 35 countries on average continue to experience conflict each year, resulting in 250,000 annual conflict-related deaths (GMR, 2011). Moreover, research suggests that close to one in two post-conflict countries relapse into conflict in five years or less (Goovaerts, Gasser & Inbal, 2005). In fact, it has been projected that 17 countries, which are currently experiencing a cessation of hostilities since 2006, are at a high risk of a return to warfare.
High rates of unemployment amongst ex-combatants can increase the likelihood of a relapse into armed conflict. For this reason, international organisations often intervene to secure jobs for ex-combatants in the aftermath of war, and vocational training is typically viewed as a magic bullet solution to doing this. The problem is that ex-combatants are frequently unable to get a job after training. This not only means that they remain unemployed, thus constituting a prolonged security risk, but it also creates unmet expectations – ex-combatants generally exchange their firearms for a job, not a stint at training. These unmet expectations often lead to a combination of disappointment and frustration, which can ultimately deter ex-combatants from engaging in a country’s peace process (IOM, UNDP & USAID, 2009).
Conflict-affected environments place enormous constraints on practitioners to deliver successful outcomes post-training. However, there are a host of commonplace programme failures, which heavily contribute to mismatches between training and jobs. For example, labour market research is often not conducted by organisations before they design and deliver training. The result is that ex-combatants are trained in skills that do not meet the demands of employers and, for self-employment, the demands of consumers. In Gulu, northern Uganda, for instance, thousands of women were trained in tailoring, but struggled to generate an income afterwards as Gulu’s small market could not absorb most of them (IOM, UNDP & USAID, 2009).
What is more, the quality of the training provided to ex-combatants is often substandard and too short to learn a trade. Further, ex-combatants are often not supported in their efforts to get jobs after training, for instance, through employment referral or business start-up assistance (IOM, UNDP & USAID, 2009). Monitoring, evaluation and follow-up, which USAID describes as ‘critical if long-term reintegration and overall stability [are] to succeed,’ is also often absent or ineffectively implemented (USAID/OTI, 2010, Annex I).
Organisations, in addition, often fail to secure buy-in from ex-combatants. For instance, NGOs did not consult ex-combatants in Afghanistan in 2005 and found it hard to motivate them to participate as a result. Political buy-in, to mitigate bureaucratic opposition, is also often not sought after or secured (USAID/OTI, 2010). Moreover, war-affected local communities are often left to fend for themselves at the same time as ex-combatants are assisted. This adds to the resentment that local communities sometimes hold towards ex-combatants as perpetrators of conflict, which can make employers reticent to take them on (Specht, 1997).
Mismatches between training and jobs for ex-combatants are not inevitable and can be avoided. There are identifiable commonplace programme failures that can be addressed and by doing so can go a long way to ensuring ex-combatants get jobs after training. By way of example, GTZ (now GIZ) implemented a programme for former ‘Gerakan Aceh Merdeka’ (GAM – Free Aceh Movement) combatants from 2006 to 2009, controlled for the programme failures discussed, and got ex-GAM jobs after training them.
The City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development has recently published a report, which details why ex-combatants are often unable to get a job after training and how programmes can better connect training to jobs in the future. Implementing agencies and training providers can and must avoid the commonplace programme failures identified. Donors can make them more accountable through incorporating activities such as labour market research into budgets and reporting lines.
The full report can be found at:
http://www.skillsdevelopment.org.uk/researchprojects/skills__conflict.aspx.
References
Global Monitoring Report (GMR) (2011). The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education. Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Goovaerts, P., M. Gasser & A. B. Inbal (2005). Demand Driven Approaches to Livelihood Support in Post-War Contexts. Washington, DC, US: World Bank
International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) & United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (2009). Labour Market Analysis: Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. Kampala, Uganda: IOM.
Specht, I. (2005). Labour Market and Training Needs Assessment: Mapping of Reintegration Opportunities for Children Associated with Fighting Forces. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Organization (ILO).
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) (2010). Lessons Learned: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programming. Washington, DC, US: USAID/OTI.
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Cite article as: McKibben, G., (2011) ‘Bridging the Divide: Connecting Training to Jobs in Post-Conflict Settings’, in NORRAG NEWS, Towards a New Global World of Skills Development? TVET's turn to Make its Mark, No.46, September 2011, pp. 98-99, available: http://www.norrag.org
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