Youth, Labour and Employment Minister Ramji Yadav met International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Director Numan Ozjan at the ministry in Kathmandu on Tuesday to discuss cooperation on labour and employment, including strengthening skill, employment and entrepreneurship centres across all 753 local levels of Nepal. The meeting also focused on dignified labour, bringing workforce development and the quality of work into the same discussion.
A nationwide approach to skills and employment
The proposed focus on centres in all 753 local levels points to an agenda intended to reach communities throughout Nepal. Yadav and Ozjan discussed strengthening the centres, which bring skills, employment and entrepreneurship together as areas of cooperation. The meeting’s stated scope was nationwide, although the available details do not set out a local-level rollout plan or identify particular centres for immediate support.
Linking these three areas in one agenda reflects the range of issues covered in the discussion. Skill development concerns preparation for work, while employment centres relate to access to job opportunities and entrepreneurship centres to support for people pursuing business activity. The meeting summary identifies these as priorities for strengthening, but does not specify particular courses, services, industries or programmes.
The 753-local-level target is significant to the scale of the proposal: it frames the centres as an issue for every local level rather than a limited number of locations. The discussion therefore placed the question of nationwide reach alongside the practical subjects of skills, employment and entrepreneurship. No specific timeline or implementation mechanism was detailed in the information available about the meeting.
Dignified labour and cooperation
Dignified labour was another subject raised by the minister and the ILO country director. Its inclusion means the discussion was not limited to connecting people with work or strengthening employment services. The meeting also addressed the broader concern of how labour issues are considered alongside opportunities for workers. The reported details do not describe particular policies or measures discussed under this topic.
The two sides discussed cooperation on labour and employment matters. The meeting thus provided an opportunity to consider areas where the ministry and the ILO could work together, with the strengthening of local-level centres and dignified labour among the issues on the agenda. The available summary does not report a formal agreement, funding commitment or defined division of responsibilities, so the discussion is best understood as a conversation about cooperation and priorities.
For Nepal’s labour and employment agenda, the subjects raised at the meeting connect local access to skills and employment support with wider labour concerns. The proposed reach across all 753 local levels sets out the breadth of the centres’ intended coverage, while the focus on dignified labour broadens the conversation beyond service access alone. Yadav and Ozjan’s meeting in Kathmandu brought these themes together, with both sides discussing cooperation on labour and employment.
