The MCA Namibia Education Project seeks to improve the education sector’s effectiveness, efficiency and quality through infrastructure improvements, institutional strengthening, policy reform and targeted technical assistance to ensure sustainable results.

International Education Week 2009 (Nov 16-20) is an occasion to celebrate the benefits of worldwide learning and exchange.  International cooperation prepares citizens in every country to live, work and compete in the global economy. MCC is working with partner  nations to improve their education and training systems so that students learn the skills to get good jobs and boost economic growth in their countries and communities.

Youth development is central to a healthy, skilled and productive workforce. Investing in human capital through education and training is critical for improving productivity and economic growth and for reducing poverty and unemployment. About 36 percent of MCC’s $358 million direct investment in education is focused on youth development through technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

In El Salvador, working through FOMILENIO (which is the government entity accountable for compact implementation), MCC is helping to renovate 20 middle technical schools, revise curricula, train instructors, and  provide scholarships to deserving students, who will get jobs in agronomy, tourism and information technology — all areas crucial to the development of the country’s northern zone.

In Mongolia, MCC’s investment is helping to reform the TVET legal and policy framework so that schools are financially sustainable and can respond effectively to labor market demand. Competency-based curricula are being developed in key sectors like mining and construction. Selected schools are being renovated and equipped with modern technology and teachers trained in its use.

MCA-Namibia will be constructing and equipping regional study resource centers (like the one pictured) in underserved areas in an effort to improve access to documentation, information resources, training materials and programs, and study facilities.

In Namibia, MCC supports community-based resource and study centers to provide basic job skills and information services for unemployed youth and low-skilled adults.  Also, the MCC investment is helping the National Training Authority develop demand-led programs, and a National Training Fund will ensure that the TVET system is financially viable.

In Morocco, TVET focuses on key artisan trades (leather, wood, metal, pottery, and textiles) whose products are in demand in the home, export and tourist markets. About 15 schools will be renovated and equipped with facilities to teach students the skills needed by employers and the market.

International Education Week is a great moment for MCC,  partner countries and agencies to highlight the strategic importance of youth development. The links between education and economic growth, income distribution and poverty reduction are well established.  Income, productivity and growth are closely linked to educational opportunity.  Strengthened TVET programs are particularly valuable for developing countries with large youth populations in need of the skills that lead to decent jobs, which in turn drive growth and reduce poverty.

It was a great pleasure to help welcome an impressive group of distinguished guests to MCC last week to mark Africa Day.  What continues to unite Africa—a continent of 53 countries each with their own distinct culture and history—is a shared vision for a new day of opportunity and prosperity to transform the lives of the continent’s poorest.  The U.S. Government’s MCC is proud to play a role in realizing this goal by diligently implementing results-driven programs that are making a difference in the lives of Africa’s poor.

We have invested more than 70 percent of our total grant funding-more than $4.7 billion-to fight poverty and stimulate sustainable economic growth in 18 African countries.  Our partners are using these investments

• to boost agricultural productivity so as to increase food security,
• to educate girls and teach mothers how to prevent HIV transmission to their newborns, and
• to build roads not only to help farmers get their crops to market but also to help families get to schools and health clinics.

MCC’s partnerships throughout Africa are helping the poor earn the income they need to pull themselves and their households out of poverty and toward a better future.  MCC is proof positive of the Obama Administration’s support for Africa, even in the midst of the current economic crisis.

Commemorating Africa Day at MCC (l to r): President of Catholic Relief Services and MCC Board Member Ken Hackett; President of Bread for the World David Beckmann; Acting MCC CEO Rodney Bent; Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Relief, Stabilization, and Development at the National Security Council Gayle Smith; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Ambassador Johnnie Carson; African Union Ambassador Amina Salum Ali; and Chair of Africa Day and Moroccan Ambassador Aziz Mekouar.

Those who joined us for Africa Day from the Administration, the diplomatic corps, and the development community spoke with one voice:  Africa’s promise is vast and the commitment to partner with Africans to realize such potential is firm.  Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Relief, Stabilization, and Development at the National Security Council, Ambassador Johnnie Carson, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Rodney Bent, our acting CEO here at MCC, Her Excellency Ambassador Amina Salum Ali from the African Union, His Excellency Ambassador Aziz Mekouar of Morocco and chair of Africa Day, Ken Hackett, President of Catholic Relief Services, and David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World, discussed the continent’s constraints to growth and realistic approaches for overcoming them.  Their special insights offered pragmatic, practical, and results-driven solutions that are meaningful and sustainable for the people of Africa.   View the event’s video for details.

Ambassador Johnnie Carson joins Jonathan Bloom, MCC’s Deputy Vice President for Compact Implementation in Africa, and Darius Mans, MCC’s Vice President for Compact Implementation, to discuss MCC’s partnerships in Africa.