Closing ceremony of Chevron funded Uttoron project held

Uttoron- Skills for better life project funded by Chevron and implemented by Swisscontact completed its six years journey. Today, in presence of all the stakeholders, in marking the end of this odyssey the closing ceremony was organised in Dhaka. The project worked to capacitate promising youths, create access to training for youth and capacitate the government.

In first phase (2016-2019) the project worked in three regions (Habiganj, Moulavibazar and Sylhet) and in the second phase (2019-2022) worked in five regions of the country (Dhaka, Habiganj, Khulna, Moulavibazar and Sylhet), reads a press release.  

Md. Mahbub Hossain, Honorable Senior Secretary, Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of the Government of Bangladesh graced the programme as the chief guest; Ms. Nasreen Afroz, Honorable Executive Chairman (Secretary), National Skills Development Authority, Prime Minister's Office of the Government of Bangladesh ornated the event as special guest and Eric M. Walker, President and Managing Director, Chevron Bangladesh was the guest of honor of this occasion.

The second phase of Uttoron came into existence in 2019, and this time, with a more holistic approach to confront the challenges of the skills development domain. In this phase, total of 2014 youths of the age bracket 18-35 from Dhaka (Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation); Habiganj (Nabiganj Upazilla); Moulavibazar (Kamalganj, Sadar and Sreemangal upazilla); Sylhet (Khadimpara, Khadimnagar, Tukerbazar, Tultikor Union and Sylhet City Corporation) were enrolled in eight market demanded trades, out of these 1931 graduated. 24% of the trainees were female. 74% of the graduates joined employment (self-employment and wage-employment) already.

The project established a sustainable permanent training facility at the heart of Sylhet, in partnership with Sylhet City Corporation (SCC), which will run beyond the project period. This facility has 9,000 square feet of dedicated space. In five (05) trades annually 800 trainees can be trained from this facility. The project in partnership with the country's prime welding body Khulna Shipyard established 4,000 square feet of sophisticated advanced welding, where 3G to 6G international-level welding training will be provided, trainees will be assessed on international standards and will be certified by globally well-recognised certification institute Bureau Veritas (BV).  

Chief guest Md Mahbub Hossain said, "I would like to thank Swisscontact for implementing Uttoron in such an innovative way. The partnership with city corporation, government training institutes like Khulna Shipyard TTC are examples of NGOs activities successfully supporting government in achieving SDG goals. Highly commendable work."

Special guest Nasreen Afroz said, "The Public-Private -Partnership has become more important than ever before. Uttoron is a good example of such partnership. Uttoron maintained a close working relationship with NSDA. With guidance from NSDA it has developed competency standard for Packaging and Finishing Operation trade, a new trade that will address the demand of skilled workforce in the packaging sector. I am happy to inform you that it has already been approved by Prime Ministers Office. In collaboration with us it has developed the national standard for Welding Inspection Trade for the Welding Inspector occupation. All these efforts are praiseworthy."

 Guest of honor Eric M Walker said, "At Chevron, we believe that we are the community we live in, and our work in economic development, education and health is a testament to that core value that we live by. We are especially proud to be a part of Uttoron, which is the skilled workforce development component of our Bangladesh Partnership Initiative – a multi-year, multi-pronged social investment programme built on our core commitment to support economic development in our areas of operation in the north-east of the country. Specifically, Uttoron is focused on addressing Bangladesh's technical skills shortage through the delivery of high-quality, vocational training programs to aspiring community youths, many of whom are women."

Country Director of Swisscontact Bangladesh in his concluding remarks said, "Today we are gathered here to celebrate the achievement of the Uttoron project, which focused on making a difference in the life of the youth of Bangladesh. The journey of Uttoron started in 2016, and over six years, we have come a long way. We achieved more than we anticipated."

Chevron is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, involved in virtually every aspect of the energy industry. In Bangladesh, Chevron operates three gas fields in the northeast of the country. Chevron Bangladesh Block Twelve, Ltd. and Chevron Bangladesh Blocks Thirteen & Fourteen, Ltd ("Chevron Bangladesh") is the largest producer of natural gas in Bangladesh, accounting for over 60% of total domestic natural gas production and over 80% of the domestic condensate production. Chevron Bangladesh works with communities across its operations, building long-term partnerships that foster economic development and lasting benefits to them. Social investments in communities are one of the core values of Chevron's global business practice. 

In Bangladesh, Chevron has been managing social investment programmes since 2006. Chevron Bangladesh invests in activities and programmes that focus primarily on livelihood support, access to education, primary health care facilities, skill development and entrepreneurship support. Chevron carries out most of these projects in partnership with leading nongovernmental organisations.