Vanuatu Skills Partnership

The delegation included the Director of the Vanuatu Skills Partnership, Fremden Yanhambath, Director of Tertiary Education, John Kaltau, representative of the Public Service Commission, and representatives of the Australian High Commission.

The Vanuatu Skills Partnership, through its Ambae Recovery Project, has been working with the Government with the aim to build back the livelihoods of the people of Ambae in line with the Government's Ambae Recovery Plan 2019-2022.

The collaboration has seen the extraordinary growth of the creative industries sector, including the establishment of the first-ever provincial production and marketing hubs: the Malampa Handicraft Centre, the Torba Handicraft Centre and the Sanma Creative Industries Community Company.

“In our joint agreement, we reaffirmed our commitment to strengthening this critical sector - through skills development, improved market access and intellectual property protection - and look forward to continued inclusive growth that is environmentally sustainable,” VSP said.  

Acting High Commissioner Clemency Oliphant, Director General Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Gregoire Nimbtik and Director General of the Ministry of Education and Training, Bergmann Iati signed an agreement formalizing the extension.

Dr Nimbtik acknowledged skills training as a national priority and cross-sector need central to achieving the goals in the People’s Plan as covered in the National Human Resource Development Plan.

Iati emphasized the Ministry’s support for the Partnership and looked forward to this work continuing.

The agreement will initially support professional capacity development of 24 government staff, including Area Administrators and Area Council Secretaries, in TAFEA Province.

During the official signing ceremony, Department of Local Authorities (DLA) Director, Leith Veremaito, acknowledged VSP as a key partner in implementing the Vanuatu Government’s decentralisation policy.

“I would like to thank the Tafea Skills Centre’s continuous support for provincial development, including initiating this ICT training initiative,” Veremaito said.

The Market House, the first of its kind will increase income generation for farmers and members of the community.

The Australian High Commission said the market is the result of a collaboration between the Torba Skills Centre, through the Vanuatu Skills Partnership, and the Department of Agriculture Vanuatu, as well as the Motalava Area Council.

The agreement confirms the organisations’ commitment to working together to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind in the nation’s recovery efforts.

This builds on years of collaboration in the implementation of Vanuatu’s National Disability Inclusive Development Policy, and more recently supporting people with disabilities in the aftermath of Cyclone Harold, under the Ministry of Justice and Community Services.

The two organisations committed to become partners in this project following separate consultations carried out in July.

The new partnership will support the use of climate information to build resilience and manage climate risks impacting the tourism sector in a negative way.

Additionally, the partnership will ensure that activities and programs are carried out collaboratively to promote sustainable development for the Tourism industry.

The main objective of the Professional Development training is to provide targeted skills development training to address skills gaps and needs identified by DARD Officers.

Over 50 officers throughout the country including Provincial Agriculture Officers (PAO), Assistant Agriculture Officers (AAO) and Technical Officers learned a lot of important information to equip them do their work better.

This is the first time an integrated program to meet the training needs of extension officers has been delivered in partnership with the VSP.