The VET centre San Viator and the mobility organisation Asociación Mundus are the managing institutions of SAAM, who led the virtual kick off meeting which gathered all SAAM partners, EU delegates in Africa, and the SAAM Quality Board.

SAAM, Africa-EU partnership funded with more than 4M€, kick started the 7^th May through a virtual meeting attended by more than 80 people representing VET centres, non-profit organisation and public institutions, as well as mobility and education experts.

The SAAM (Supporting Alliance for African Mobility) project was one of only two pilot projects approved in January to promote exchanges in the field of vocational training between Africa and Europe for teachers and students from both continents.

“It is time to work and grow together. And international mobility will be the tool that will help us get to know each other.”

Alfredo Garmendia, project manager and head of international projects at Centro San Viator, welcomed attendees from 25 different countries: “It is time to work and grow together. And international mobility will be the tool that will help us get to know each other.” SAAM will, in the next three years, to plan and implement the mobility of 300 African students who will carry out exchange periods in European companies, and more than 200 European and African teachers who will do job shadowing periods in the opposite continent with the aim of bringing both educational systems closer and facilitating mobility between Africa and Europe in the field of VET.

“We need people to be able to create jobs. This is going to be an opportunity for the young people and by default for the schools who train this young people for the future.”

SAAM is part of the AU-Skills for Youth Employability programme, through which it aims to encourage the creation of youth employment. Deirdre Lennan, European Commission’s International Cooperation officer: “We need people to be able to create jobs. This is going to be an opportunity for the young people and by default for the schools who train this young people for the future.”

“From the beginning we knew what we wanted to offer in this unprecedented call. We were aware that the most important thing was to build a coherent partnership.”

The virtual meeting consisted on introducing the management team and roles, as well as the partner organisations, and taking a tour of what will happen in SAAM in the next 40 months. Beatrice Bellet, project manager and head of strategy and development for Asociación Mundus, emphasised SAAM’s uniqueness: “From the beginning we knew what we wanted to offer in this unprecedented call. We were aware that the most important thing was to build a coherent partnership.” In this initial meeting, management (presented by San Viator), communication (by Asociación Mundus) and evaluation (led by the Greek entity AKMI) plans were also presented.

This alliance aims at promoting the exchange of ideas and good practices between regions, improving the skills of teachers and students, increasing the standards of management and training quality, and finally improving the curricular project of vocational training centres.

This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union, under the Africa-EU partnership. Its contents are the sole responsibility of SAN VIATOR and ASOCIACIÓN MUNDUS and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union’