National and Regional Advisory Groups Ethiopia - January 2024

On Wednesday January 10, the National Advisory Group Ethiopia met for the first time in Haile Grand, Addis Ababa. This strategic group is foreseen to meet four times a year, in person or online. This group exists of senior representatives of the Ethiopian Ministry of Labour and Skills, Ministry of Education, the Netherlands Embassy, and the European Union Delegation to Ethiopia , two business associations (the Ethiopia Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association and the Ethiopia – Netherlands Business Association), Maastricht University, Hawassa University and Aeres Green Education Group from academia, as well as IOM. In the meeting, the purpose of the national advisory group and its composition was discussed. It was agreed to also invite ILO and the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the next meeting. Unfortunately, the Netherlands Embassy and the Ethiopian Ministry of Education could not attend this time. 

One pertinent topic discussed was the issuing of passports for the selected students, which needs special attention and a fast-track procedure. 

One day later, in Hawassa, the Sidama Regional Advisory Group met. This group is meant to support the MOBLISE project more operationally, eg. linking with companies and helping in the implementation of the talent development program. Participants were relevant stakeholders from the Sidama region, which is the regional state in which Hawassa is located. These were the Jobs, Skills and Enterprises Development Bureau, Bureau of Agriculture, Bureau of Education, companies and the local branch of EHPEA, NGOs, Hawassa university and the Hawassa branch of the immigration office. As the group met for the first time, the project, operational updates and the possible collaboration of the stakeholders in the project were presented and discussed. The group appreciated the project purpose and its huge potential impact in terms of its scalability and policy implications for Ethiopia. One participant from the NGO Save the Children suggested to also include in the project governance a youth organization, giving voice to the final beneficiaries of MOBILISE.