Capacity building in the field of vocational education and training (VET) Ethiopia is the second most populous nation in Africa, with a population of about 115 million people. Despite two decades of economic growth and poverty reduction, Ethiopia still ranks among the least developed countries in the world. The bottom 10% of the population has not grown in terms of consumptions since 2005 and inequality is on the rise. Ethiopia’s development challenges include ensuring food security, curbing the pressure on natural resources, sustaining fast, broad-based, and transformative economic growth, promoting basic services and gender equity, expanding democratization and good governance and fostering stability in the Horn of Africa. 

From 2020 to 2021, Ethiopia’s GDP growth slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has also increased existing vulnerabilities. The pandemic will likely leave a long-lasting impact on the country: urban employment levels have not recovered fully, households and companies continue to report loss of income and poverty has increased. The conflict in Tigray, which started in November 2020, has also challenged the development of the country and has affected the livelihoods of millions of people and hindered economic recovery (World Bank, 2022). 

Despite the challenges the nation is facing, Ethiopia is seen as an example for other states in sub-Saharan Africa due to the consistent economic growth it has realised. However, while the economy has been growing fast, the labor market of Ethiopia has not seen a similar growth in terms of job creation. 
For these reasons, unemployment and underemployment is a problem in the country and there are many Ethiopian citizens migrating abroad hoping to escape poverty and improve their living conditions. Once these migrants return to Ethiopia they often find themselves unemployed again. Skills development is seen as key to increase opportunities for migrants to find higher quality employment and engage in upward socio-economic mobility, both in Ethiopia and abroad (ILO, 2020). 

The Ethiopian government recently launched its 10-Year Perspective Plan. The new ten year development plan focuses on industries like mining, tourism, urban development and innovation and technology. With its new plan, the nation aims to sustain the growth that has been made and shift towards a more private-sector-driven economy. Currently, several important sectors is growing in Ethiopia. These sectors include manufacturing (textile, footwear, and garment industries), agricultural production and exports, and construction. Furthermore, the service industry is showing potential for future growth (ILO, 2020). 
TVET provides the necessary training for skilled labor, allowing these sectors to continue to grow and providing pathways to career for Ethiopia’s large under- and unemployed workforce. The Ethiopian Ministry of Education aims to create a ‘competent, motivated, adaptable and innovative’ workforce that contributes to reducing poverty and socio-economic development (MoE, 2008). 

With this proposal, we organize and implement sustainable capacity building activities and cooperation among the Ethiopian TVET colleges. The cooperation in the project is based on multilateral partnerships between organization actives in the field of TVET, both in Europe as in third countries not associated to the Programme. The capacity building activities aim to support relevance, accessibility (for all!) and responsiveness of the Ethiopian VET colleges to challenges they face in the transition from TVET to a career. To create an inclusive smooth transition from TVET to a career, overcoming the skills mismatch and making TVET more inclusive and attractive for all, leading to less dropouts. Strengthening TVET colleges in Addis Ababa (Oromia), Dire Dawe (Afar), and Bahir Dar (Amhara) in Ethiopia, via capacity building. Three TVET colleges