the scale up of the program (including the provision of in-kind assets and the “Start and Improve Your Business” (SIYB) training module) to about 22,000 beneficiaries over a five-year period;
the development and implementation of specific vocational skills training modules (in addition to the ILO standard training module currently implemented) specific to selected non-farming activities/occupations in demand based on the analysis of local economy.
Selection of beneficiaries would be based on the existing jobseeker registry (approx. 200 thousand unemployed), with an explicit (but not exclusive) targeting of jobseekers from the categories of vulnerable individuals as defined by the existing (government-funded) self-employment program: youth, women, internally displaced people, people with disabilities and those with lower levels of education, beneficiaries of the TSSA program. Activities to be financed under this component would be determined through a participatory approach through the involvement of the local planning committees. The development of the short skills training courses will be aligned with local labor market conditions as well as demand from program applicants. The modality of training provision needs to be defined: short-term vocational training provided under the AzSEP will either be outsourced, or it will leverage the existing supply of vocational training delivered through the VET schools or through the vocational training centers operated by the SES. To this end, a capacity assessment of the current professional training provision through these centers would be carried out.
