Virtual Skills Fair

A series of webinars were held in 2020 focussed on Skills Development thematic areas and on sectoral approaches. During these webinars, participants identified South South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) priorities for the development of:

• Quality apprenticeships,
• Skills need anticipation (focus on Skills for trade and economic diversification),
• Digital skills and digital transformation and
• Skills training in specific sectors

The identified priorities are assessed as potential subjects for South-South and Triangular (SST) partnerships and will form the basis for discussions in the virtual skills fair.

The objectives of the event is the development of partnerships among participating institutions, which may lead to solutions for the implementation of future-focused skills development initiatives. For this reason, we believe the Virtual Skills Fair is also a good opportunity for participating organizations to:

• Promote your projects and activities
• Expand your network of contacts
• Learn what other organizations are doing on the topics mentioned above
• Establish collaboration with other organizations, who share your goals
• Share knowledge both south south and triangular

The two-day event will closely mirror the flow and appearance of a real fair. The fair will be open to all. It will have a number of parallel sessions focussed both thematic and sectoral. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from experts, share their experiences with others, interact with participants from other countries and visit the exhibition hall where a number of booths will be set up by a selected set of institutions.

The fair will be run on a dedicated online trade fair and conferencing application.

This platform has numerous benefits:

• Move beyond the traditional webinar space and create a larger digital virtual eco-system;
• Cost-effectiveness for large outreach and reduced carbon footprint in comparison with physical fairs, supporting current trends as part of UN reform and COVID-19 crisis;
• Reach global audiences with no need to commute and travel;
• Visually-rich virtual environment with engagement possibilities for participants via audio and video.

Participants will have the possibility to:

• Access the event through a virtual lobby;
• Use an info desk in case of questions or technical issues;
• Visit the exhibition hall where different online exhibition booths present projects, organizations, companies, or institutions;
• Participate in the collective auditorium to view live webinars, pre-recorded videos, and semi-live sessions;
• Receive a virtual bag to record all the online resources and share business cards with other participants