Angola - building a nation

Since the end of the civil war, Angola has experienced a period of impressive economic growth, developing rapidly into a middle-income country. Nevertheless, more than half of all Angolans still live below the poverty line, and the gap between rich and poor has widened considerably in recent years. The vigorous economic growth faltered in 2009, due to the global crisis and the fall in oil prices, but a new upswing has already been recorded for 2010. The Angolan Government currently attaches high priority to developing the country's human resources. Consequently, some notable investments have been made to increase the opportunities for vocational training, especially through improvements to the physical infrastructure. The most important step now is to address the considerable quality issues that continue to undermine the vocational training system. This means getting the training courses to match the actual needs of the labour market more closely, and also improving the training offered to today's teachers and advisors, the quality of which suffered during the war. Although currently unavailable, reliable statistical data and analyses of demographic, economic and employment policy-related developments will be needed to provide a solid basis for the improvements.

The objective of the project "Training for the labour market in Angola" (Formação Profissional - FormPRO) is: "The quality and relevance of training and advisory services have increased in selected economic sectors, especially the construction industry." This also puts the spotlight on vocational orientation and guidance as well as on employment services.

FormPRO pursues an integrated capacity development approach.

• Young people receive training for occupations that are needed by the construction industry.
• At selected vocational training and employment institutes, teachers and trainers as well as managerial staff are advised on aspects of management, and technical and vocational pedagogy. This is intended to steadily improve the quality of the services they provide.
• Labour market data and information are collected and assessed together with relevant actors. On the one hand, this data helps in the development of occupational profiles and corresponding training measures; on the other, it is an essential prerequisite for ongoing qua-li-ty management in the field of employment-oriented vocational training.

FormPRO is a bilateral Angolan-German project. The Angolan side is represented by the National Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (INEFOP), which belongs to the Ministry of Public Administration, Employment and Social Security (MAPESS). The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has entrusted the implementation of the German contribution to the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Many other actors from the public and private sectors (chambers of commerce, associations, enterprises) as well as civil society organisations will play a part in achieving the ambitious objective by the end of 2012.