On the 24th of May 2017 Ms. Florence Duvieusart, Consul and Head of Development Cooperation at the Consulate General of Belgium met the two young Palestinians who were selected to compete in the PalestineSkills competition and their trainers to hear about their experiences and their preparations for the upcoming WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi.
 
Sobheya Abumusallam is a 21-year old graphic designer from Nablus. She won the silver medal at the first PalestineSkills National Competition. Ibraheem Qawasma is a 20-year old graphic designer from Hebron. Ibraheem won the gold medal at the first PalestineSkills National Competition.

In order to prepare for this competition, Sobheya, Ibraheem and their trainers, supported by the Belgian Development Agency (BTC), received an intensive training in Belgium over the course of 2 weeks in March 2017.

In his introduction Mr. Michael Buechele, Technical Delegate of WorldSkills Palestine, stressed the importance of training the trainers, because without them good results wouldn’t be possible.

Both Sobheya and Ibraheem emphasized how important it was to exchange experiences with the Belgian trainers to give them a different look on international graphic design standards and techniques.

Later this year both of them will participate in the WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi as well. This unique skills competition is aimed at raising interest for vocational training, showcasing the excellence of young talents from over 70 member countries competing in some 50 different domains as diverse as pastry making, painting, graphic design, carpentry, electronics and many more. For the Palestinian youth it will be the first time they have the opportunity to participate.

During his opening remarks Mr. Bart Horemans, International Technical Advisor ECIB at BTC, emphasized the importance of supporting Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in partnership with the private sector to tackle youth unemployment in the Palestinian Territory. TVET graduates have an 80% employment rate thanks to traineeships and Work-Based Learning (WBL) in the private sector.

About the Enhancing Capacities for Institution Building (ECIB) Program Since 1997, the Belgian Government has been supporting the development activities and emergency interventions in the Palestinian Territory. Since July 2013 the ECIB program focuses on improving the qualitative and quantitative aspects of Work Based Learning (WBL) Initiatives in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs in the Palestinian Territory in partnership with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labour and the private sector.