Chevron-funded ‘Uttoron’ begins phase-two

“Uttoron- skills for better life”, funded by Chevron and by implemented by Swisscontact organized an event recently at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka to launch the second phase of its project.

The event titled as “Continuing the Momentum: Launch of Uttoron phase-II” had Mr.K M Ali Azam, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment as the Chief Guest.  Additionally, as special guests,Mr. Earl Miller, United States Ambassador for the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Neil Menzies, President, Chevron Bangladesh, Mr. Ismail Hossain Chowdhury, Director- Corporate Affairs, Chevron Bangladesh, Mr. Manish Pandey, Director  - South Asia, Swisscontact and Mr. Anirban Bhowmik, Country Director, Swisscontact Bangladesh attended.

Mr. K M Ali Azam while announcing the launch  of Uttoron phase – II spoke of Uttoron’s success and achievements and said, “More projects like Uttoron, which ensures increased female participation, utilizes innovative mechanisms such as boot camps and a well-developed trainee selection process, putting high emphasis on post-training employment and engaging stakeholders in every step, is needed in our country’’.

Uttoron -skills for better life Phase-I was a three-year skills development project, which commenced its journey in August 2016 with an aim to enhance employment opportunities for 1,400 community members in Sylhet, Moulavi Bazar and Habiganj districts. The project is funded by Chevron under the ‘workforce development’ component of its Bangladesh Partnership Initiative (BPI).

Uttoron has completed its phase-I journey in July 2019 and raised the awareness of around 53,000 community members on skills training while training 1449(21% female) youths in three sectors. A total of 983 graduates of these 1449 have successfully been employed in different industries.

Phase-II of the project will also be a three-year (2019 – 2022)project which aims to enhance the skills and employability of community youths in Sylhet and Dhaka division, while generating sustainable provisions for skills training near Bibiyana area, and creating opportunities of advanced welding training for youths in Bangladesh. The project will support 2,000 community youths to acquire skills on different industry demanded occupations and position them in gainful employment. On receiving market-valued skills and rewarding jobs, the youths will have the opportunity to increase their income and improve their and families’ living standards.

-rmc//