The Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Employment Promotion, in charge of Vocational Training, Awaou Baco, received in audience at her office, on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, a delegation from Plan International Benin, led by its Resident Representative, Bernadette Monge. The discussions focused on potential collaboration opportunities between the two institutions in the fields of vocational training, youth employment, and entrepreneurship.
At the heart of the discussions was a question: “What can we do together?” This question reflects the desire of both parties to build a more structured partnership, relying on the grassroots experience of Plan International Benin and national guidelines regarding employment and entrepreneurship. Traditionally committed to promoting children’s rights, equal opportunities, and the empowerment of girls and women, Plan International Benin intends to strengthen its involvement in the fields of vocational training, youth employment, and entrepreneurship. This direction directly aligns with the concerns of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Employment Promotion, in charge of Vocational Training. On the Ministry’s table is thus a partnership proposal aimed at strengthening opportunities for the economic empowerment of youth through training, professional integration, and entrepreneurship. For the Ministry, the challenge is not merely to multiply initiatives, but to better coordinate partners’ interventions with national public policies. Minister Awaou Baco notably highlighted the strong community roots of Plan International Benin and its broad national coverage, two assets likely to contribute to achieving national objectives in employment and economic empowerment. From this perspective, Plan International’s interventions in the fields of employment and entrepreneurship would benefit from being more closely aligned with the national employment policy and the priorities of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Employment Promotion, in charge of Vocational Training. This alignment must help bring field interventions closer to the real needs of local areas and the economic opportunities existing therein. Beyond learning a trade, vocational training is called upon to play a central role in building pathways to autonomy. For Minister Awaou Baco, it must enable young people to develop skills that are directly marketable in the labor market, while also equipping them with the necessary capacities to create and develop their own activities. The interest shown by Plan International Benin in this dimension thus opens up prospects for collaboration around several links in the chain, including training, qualification, integration, entrepreneurship, financing, and economic autonomy. The outlook is therefore that of a partnership allowing for better coordination between the expertise of Plan International Benin, its community roots, and its capacity for intervention with public orientations and mechanisms in vocational training, employment, and entrepreneurship.
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