Sudan - Some 215 trainees, including 100 young men and 115 young women, have graduated from a 5-week IOM-sponsored program at Sudan’s El Fasher Technical Schools for Boys and Girls in North Darfur. The young men graduated in plumbing, welding, construction and auto-mechanics and the young women in tailoring, handicrafts, food processing and computer skills. Participants received start-up kits that will enable them to apply their skills in the local labour market. The program, which is designed to enable young men and women to gain marketable skills, is the second of its kind and was implemented by IOM in partnership with Sudan’s Ministry of Education and with funding from the Government of Japan. Students were selected based on vulnerability criteria, and originated from internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in North Darfur, host communities in El Fasher town and El Fasher rural areas. Local authorities support the program and have committed to support the new graduates with job placements and access to markets. Vocational trainings and income-generating activities are part of the IOM’s strategy to increase the self-reliance and coping capacities of vulnerable communities. Director of the Technical School for Girls Wahiba Abdelgadir Mohammed said: “Demand for this type of training is high and we are grateful to the IOM and the Government of Japan for providing young girls with the opportunity to promote and diversify their livelihoods.” “Graduates from last year’s courses are now active in El Fasher and surrounding IDP camps, proving the success of the intervention and of supporting mechanisms for building individual and community resilience,” said IOM Sudan Chief of Mission Mario Lito Malanca. For further information please contact Letizia Dell’Asin at IOM Sudan, Tel: + 249-9224-06689, Email: ldellasin@iom.int