The European Union says vocational training is the future for renewable energy and climate change focused development in the Pacific.
The steering committee for the EU's Technical Vocational Education project is holding consultations with representatives from 15 Pacific Islands nations this week in Suva Fiji, the outcome of which will guide the roll out of the project over the next three years.
The European Union's Jesus Lavina. Photo: SPREP
EU Pacific Acting Head of Cooperation, Jesus Lavina says his office is working with the University of the South Pacific and the Secretariat of the South Pacific to try and move away from the traditional ad hoc trainings which he says are short lived and have limited impact in the long term.
"The idea is to link the challenges and the problems that the Pacific is facing in terms of energy and climate change adaptation. And try to transform them into opportunities for labour mobility for job opportunities and for that you need people to be trained to be to have the necessary skills."
Countries involved in the 6.1 million euro project include Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
