Summary Report of the Second Round Graduation Ceremony

On September 19, 2023, Ansari VTC hosted the second round’s graduation ceremony for the TVET project. This ceremony was held with the participation of HELP Germany INGO, UNICEF, DoLSA, OSAA, the Union of Craftsmen, and other active NGOs in the TVET section.

In the beginning, Mr. Wais Ahmad Hikmat, Program Manager of OSAA, welcomed all the guests and thanked the project donors and stakeholders, mostly UNICEF and HELP Germany INGO, for supporting this sustainable project for the most vulnerable children. He said that through the second round of the project, a total of 350 vulnerable children or their caregivers are enrolled as trainees in the six-month vocational classes in Herat city and Ghoryan, Adraskan, and Zawol districts. During this time, they learn vocational skills as well as general education, small business skills, and psychosocial support consultancy.

Then, Mr. Mohammad Farzan Hussaini, Child Protection Specialist for UNICEF, who was virtually connected to the event, commended DoLSA for their assistance with this project as well as the project implementation team for their exemplary management. He continued by saying that the major objective of the project is to help the children who are now working on the streets start their own small businesses.

Subsequently, Mr. Fraidoon Hamidi, Acting Country Director of HELP Germany INGO, gave a speech on the background of HELP’s achievements in the TVET sector during the last 15 years; he asked the graduated beneficiaries to make the most use of their toolkits and start their own small businesses for a better future for themselves and their families. Mr. Hamidi emphasized that efforts will be made to find a way to further support the graduates and develop the project in other remote areas of western Afghanistan.

The DoLSA director for Herat, Mr. Hafez Abumansoor, appreciated the Help and OSAA organizations’ excellent coordination and collaboration and urged the donors to encourage TVET initiatives as a viable and efficient sector with even more funding.

The celebration concluded with the awarding of certificates to the mobile VTC officers and vocational trainers and the delivery of toolkits to Ansari VTC graduates.

It should be noted that during the month of September 2023, toolkit distribution and farewell events were organized in the districts of Ghoryan, Adraskan, and Zawol as well as the JRC vocational class, and the project’s second round was successfully finished.