Sudan: Learning the Way out of Poverty

UNIDO has often been called in where others fear to tread. Its efforts to bring countless villagers in the south of war-torn Sudan ...

...closer to their goal of learning the skills needed for self-employment was one such instance where hope was fading fast. Both living conditions and the economy reflected the strain of years of civil conflict. Poverty was rife and the war had left a number of disabled ex-combatants as well as a generation of young, jobless people with little to look forward to.

The Malakal Training Centre, built some years earlier to provide vocational training to young Sudanese, had fallen into disrepair. Much of the equipment had been lost, stolen or damaged and the buildings were showing clear signs of dilapidation. The image of the institution itself had fallen prey to the popular misconception that vocational training was a last resort for those who were incapable of doing anything else. This was the white elephant inherited by UNIDO when it was asked both by the Sudanese Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan to put the Centre back on its feet so that young people would finally have a chance to learn the skills needed to earn a living. UNIDO saw its first task as revamping both the facilities and the image of the Training Centre in such a way as to bring it closer to the community. To overcome the initial lack of enthusiasm, UNIDO decided to involve the local community in its rehabilitation.

First, the problem of missing tools and equipment had to be tackled. With support and donations from the University of Amsterdam, UNIDO was able to buy new and second-hand equipment and machinery at very favourable rates from the multinational Philips that was refurbishing its own training centre in the Netherlands. The shopping list included machinery for welding, glass-blowing, cutting, grinding, lathing and for fine mechanical work. The next task was to set about getting the training halls in order and this proved to be a hands-on learning experience for countless young men and women, many of whom were considered displaced persons. They came from surrounding villages, on foot, on bicycles, the luckier ones by bus, and soon discovered that the skills acquired on the building project could enable them to gain an understanding of entrepreneurship and earn a livelihood for themselves and their families.

The number of female students has grown from two to over 100 in the two years since the project began. Many of them have been learning food-processing skills, and are now running a small catering business at the Training Centre. Some of the local peace-keepers come by for a pizza at lunch-time. Lessons learned from trainers from the United Republic of Tanzania were particularly valuable. Women food producers in Tanzania had themselves learned how to build small businesses from what had hitherto been a home chore. Pooled knowledge and shared experience is always useful, particularly when similar conditions prevail. Malakal is a good example of UNIDO’s efforts to encourage technical cooperation among developing countries.

Since many of the young people, especially women in the food processing sector, had received little or no schooling, the programme included functional literacy skills. The addition of a communications satellite has enabled Internet access and a LAN system while the finishing touches are being put to an Internet café that will help reduce the digital divide. Classes in IT technology have drawn an enthusiastic attendance, particularly amongst young women, and will undoubtedly help in the development of business skills.

Although there is still a lot of work ahead before the Malakal Vocational Training Centre is fully functional, it has already attracted a great deal of attention. Because of its catalytic role in southern Sudan, Khartoum State asked UNIDO to rehabilitate a training centre in North Sudan and launch four completely new ones to promote young entrepreneurs. A market analysis has identified the sectors to be targeted and UNIDO is in the process of supplying material and equipment.