Program to improve the quality and relevance of human resource training
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a $100 million loan to the government of Colombia to reform its human capital formation system. The program aims to improve the quality and relevance of human resource training as a means of raising productivity and labor qualifications in the country.
This operation is the first of three loans to facilitate the development of a National Qualifications System (SNC), a tool stating the human capital qualifications required by the productive sectors. SNC is an important resource in developing quality training programs to help equip people with relevant qualifications for the job market.
In this first phase, the Colombian government will consolidate and define operating procedures of the Interagency Commission for Human Resource Management (CIGERH), a governing body involving eight public institutions and the private sector in the implementation of the National Strategy for Human Resource Management (EGERH). This strategy sets out human capital formation processes through lifelong skills training and seeks to create the conditions for the population to accumulate human capital.
As part of the creation of the SNC, the program will also launch a pilot program in the ICT productive sector. This pilot will provide input for development of the general rules of operation and basic operational structure for job skills standardization, evaluation and certification processes.
To optimize information on human resource training, the operation will also develop a survey for firms to provide quantitative data on productivity and job training initiatives, as part of Colombia’s Sector Statistics Plan for Human Resource Management.
Loans to support policy reforms provide the recipient government with resources that can be used flexibly to meet priority fiscal needs. For a loan of this type, governments commit to specific policy reforms in a particular sector.
The IDB loan has a 12.75-year term with interest based on LIBOR.