On September 6 and 7, a regional technical meeting focused on vocational training for the rural sector as a path to development with equity is being held in Bogota, Colombia, together with the National Apprenticeship Service - SENA of Colombia and ILO/Cinterfor.

SENA staff from different units and regions participated in the meeting, as well as representatives from the National Rural Learning Service -SENAR- of Brazil; the National Learning Institute -INA- of Costa Rica; the Technical Vocational Training Institute -INFOTEP- of the Dominican Republic; UNESCO Peru's "Horizons" Programme for the education of young people in rural schools and the SNA Educa rural training schools in Chile.

More than 123 million people live in rural areas of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC); one out of every five people working in the region is in the rural sector, for a total of 50 million. However, 76.2 percent of rural workers are in informal labor conditions.

According to ECLAC (2019), poverty (45.7 percent) and extreme poverty (21.7 percent) rates in rural areas are two and three times higher than in urban areas. The rural territories of LAC produce food for more than 800 million people; they grow 14% of the world's crops; are home to a large part of the planet's global biodiversity, freshwater and natural forests; produce half of the region's energy and provide ecosystem services on which cities depend (ILO, 2021).

There are many challenges that the sector represents for public policies on development, competitiveness, productivity and social inclusion, some of which focus on supporting productive transformation, stimulating the growth and sustainability of rural entrepreneurs, generating greater integration with formal value chains in favor of modern family agriculture and expanding basic rights such as social security and decent work. In addition, technological and environmental changes are also pushing for a new generation of rural development policies that are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support productive transformation.

What is special about the rural sector in the region is that it has enormous potential for generating formal employment and decent work. In particular, activities such as agriculture and livestock, forestry, fishing and aquaculture, ecotourism, agro-gastronomic tourism, the revaluation of local production and ancestral knowledge represent a potential for growth and income generation that could favor greater business development and the transition to formality with a better position to promote inclusive social and economic development.

With this context in mind, the objectives of the meeting were:

• To learn about and analyze training experiences for the rural sector carried out in a selection of specialized institutions.
• To review and exchange practical knowledge on key axes in integrated rural development and the role of vocational training according to the experiences presented.
• Identify opportunities for advancement, deepening and further technical exchange in the training experiences presented.
• Highlight areas of attention in rural vocational training such as women, small entrepreneurs, peasants, ethnic minorities and other groups at high risk of vulnerability.
• Share experiences aimed at increasing the productivity and competitiveness of the sector's value chains, as well as the use of new technologies.

The event will be broadcast live.