Launch of the employment adviser training workshop at Niger’s National Employment Promotion Agency (ANPE)
ANPE’s Director General calls for a high quality, user-focused service
On Monday 21 February 2022, as part of implementing the project ‘Helping to plot a strategic plan for Niger’s ANPE, and services provided to businesses and job seekers (plotting an operational roadmap)’, the ANPE launched its employment adviser training workshop in Niamey.
The official launch ceremony was chaired by Mr Aminou Brah, current inspector general and acting deputy secretary representing the minister for employment, work and social protection. It took place in the presence of the ANPE’s Director General, Mr Ibrahim NAHANTCHI, and Mrs OPELIE BOUQUET, representing the technical partner, and several people active in promoting youth employment.
This training aims to achieve objective 3 of the project, and has the theme: ‘Examining approaches to improving the delivery of services to businesses and job seekers.’
Made possible through technical support, with help from experts in the field of expertise requested by the main beneficiary, the overall aim of this project is to help to outline Niger’s ANPE’s strategic plan and the services provided to businesses and job seekers.
It specifically aims to conduct an organisational diagnosis of the ANPE’s system of services and to formulate recommendations to improve their job matching services for businesses and job seekers. It also aims to implement the training plan for ANPE advisers and teams, to strengthen the skills of ANPE employment advisers through training initiatives, and to carry out training for staff trainers.
In his speech to mark the occasion, the Director General of ANPE, Mr Ibrahim NAHANTCHI, paid tribute to the consultants from SOCIEUX+ (implementing partner) who had travelled to Niamey to facilitate the workshop.
He also reiterated that this workshop was the result of a working visit he made on 4–7 February 2020 to the French public employment services (Pôle emploi). ‘I must sincerely express my positive appreciation of our cooperation with Pôle emploi France, whose work with SOCIEUX+ has enabled ANPE, from 20 March 2020 to receive from this institution a funding agreement for the project, totalling 50 million CFA francs’,explained Mr NAHANTCHI.
ANPE’s Director General also took the opportunity to explain the role of employment advisers within his institution. He explained that these advisers are an interface between the ANPE and its users, namely job seekers and businesses. ‘In other words, the employment adviser’s role is, on the one hand, to help job seekers find decent work quickly, but on the other to generate job vacancies at business level, and to help them find and secure the skills they need’, he added.
This is why the ANPE’s Director General was confident that this training of employment advisers would be effective in strengthening their skills to provide a better quality service to users, who he said were « our reason to exist ». He therefore called for beneficiaries’ effective participation in all five days of training.
In this strategy, the ANPE is supported by SOCIEUX+, EU expertise on social protection, work and employment.
This is a technical cooperation platform that aims to meet the capacity-building needs of the EU’s international cooperation and development partner countries. It facilitates peer-to-peer exchange and institutional cooperation between EU Member States and partner countries.
The overarching objective of SOCIEUX+ is to help expand and improve access to better employment opportunities and to inclusive social protection systems in partner countries.
BOUBACAR HASSANE ISSOUFOU
Agence Nationale pour la Promotion de l’Emploi (ANPE),