Multi Donor Initiative Skills4Recovery

Equipping people in Ukraine with skills to rebuild lives, careers, and the country

About 
Skills4Recovery

The Multi Donor Initiative Skills4Recovery equips Ukraine with the skilled workforce it urgently needs for recovery and future development. The war has left many companies without enough qualified staff, while thousands of people — women, displaced persons, veterans, older workers and young people — have lost their jobs or need new skills to start again.

Skills4Recovery responds to both challenges. It helps vocational schools and training centres improve their teaching and equipment in cooperation with businesses. At the same time, it supports people from different backgrounds to retrain, gain new professions, and find stable work.

By meeting the needs of both employers and individuals, the initiative reduces skill shortages, ensures that no one is left behind, and contributes directly to Ukraine’s economic recovery and integration with the European Union.

Skills4Recovery is jointly co-financed by the European Union, Germany, Poland, Estonia and Denmark. It is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Solidarity Fund PL (SFPL). It runs from 2023 to 2026 and covers all regions of Ukraine.

Our activities

Five key areas to strengthen vocational education and training in Ukraine

Strengthening VET providers

We help VET providers become more autonomous and cooperate with businesses to deliver training that meets labour-market needs. The focus is on activation and inclusion — displaced people, persons with disabilities, veterans, and women. Digital learning is advanced through teacher training, mentoring, and modern equipment.

Expanding vocational training opportunities

We support the development of modern short-, medium- and long- term programmes for new professions and the adaptation of existing ones. VET providers are opening their doors to adults who want to retrain or gain new skills, especially those most affected by the war.

Facilitating career paths and employment

We make it easier to move from school to training and from training to real jobs. Employment services are being revitalised and digitalised, with better guidance and support for those who need it most.

Improving VET policy development

We work with decision-makers to design clear qualification strategies and sectoral roadmaps. Experience from training providers and employers on inclusion, digitalisation and work-based training feeds directly into reforms such as the new VET Law, Ukraine’s Employment Strategy, and EU integration commitments.

Scaling up proven approaches

We replicate what works. Successful models are expanded through peer-to-peer exchanges, online seminars, and communication campaigns, showing how skills development drives Ukraine’s recovery and strengthens its economy.

Regions & providers

Key 
achievements

13,800 people

benefited from training, modernised equipment, and improved teaching

More than 1,400

teachers, school managers, and recruiters trained in inclusion, digitalisation, and school management

Around 1,500 units

of modern equipment transferred to training providers

Education for Veterans

platform, launched with 1,620 educational opportunities

Skills mapping

conducted in construction, transport and logistics, agriculture, and service sectors, helping to align training with labour-market needs

Success stories

News

Tools & resources

Strategy for Transition and Integration of Ukrainian Veterans into Education and Workforce

The strategy was developed by the NGO Ukrainian Marketing Association under the Skills4Recovery programme, involving a wide range of organizations and experts. It has been endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, and its provisions have been incorporated into the National Strategy for the Development of Inclusive Education until 2029.

“Education for Veterans” Platform

The “Education for Veterans” platform, developed at the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, offers over 1,620 educational opportunities — from short courses to full study programmes. Designed to meet labour market needs, it features a catalogue of formal and non-formal training with detailed entry requirements, forecasts of in-demand professions through 2027, and an inclusive interface adapted for people with visual impairments. Each programme also includes information on accessibility options for students with special needs.

Partners

Donors

Political partners

Implementation agencies