25 years ago, on September 20, 1993, UNESCO's UNEVOC Implementation Unit was officially inaugurated in Berlin. The establishment of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Bonn followed in 2002.

On its anniversary, Mr. Shyamal Majumdar, Head of UNESCO-UNEVOC, noted how the team “takes collective pleasure seeing UNESCO-UNEVOC standing proud now, grounded on the hard work and dedication of people who were instrumental to its foundation and eventual growth.”

Over the past 25 years, there have been several important milestones along the way:

• The establishment of the UNEVOC International Centre as a specialized centre for TVET in Bonn.
• The development of a global UNEVOC network to strengthen cooperation amongst TVET institutions.
• The launch of the TVeT forum to facilitate online discussions and knowledge sharing amongst TVET experts from around the world.
• The launch of strategies in alignment with the SDGs and the UNESCO TVET Strategy to build capacities in TVET, for example through the UNEVOC TVET Leadership Programme.
• The strengthening of knowledge development and coordination of TVET and skills demands with the UN agencies in Bonn to promote an intersectoral approach.

These milestones have served as an inspiration for UNEVOC to continue to move forward in support of the Member States in their efforts to transform TVET.

Mr. Hans Krönner, Former Chief of Information and Network of the UNEVOC International Centre, asserted, “Governments and international organizations increasingly understand and appreciate the role of TVET. I am sure that UNEVOC has contributed to this change of paradigm.”

Indeed, this paradigm shift has brought increased attention to TVET.

During this time of reflection, UNESCO-UNEVOC extends its sincere appreciation to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for their commitment and support of UNESCO’s work on TVET. In his remarks, Mr. Majumdar added, “I wish to express our gratitude to everyone --- our UNEVOC partners, former and current colleagues, and interns, whose efforts have contributed to the achievement of UNEVOC’s goals, firstly as an Implementation Unit and then as a full-scale International Centre.”