Speakers advise youth to get training, not rely on employment in public sector. PHOTO: FILE
Youth Employment Project (YEP) deputy project manager Qasim Naqvi said this during a youth convention, titled ‘Skills and Employment Opportunities for Youth’, organised by the Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO).
The convention, held on Thursday at the main auditorium of the Memon Industrial and Technical Institute (Miti), was attended by over 500 participants, most of which were young women.
The convention aimed at creating interaction between key stakeholders and jobless young men and women of Korangi. SPO, with the support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has recently launched YEP in three different underprivileged areas of the city - Lyari, Sultanabad and Korangi.
Youth Affairs Minister Abid Hussain Bhayo urged the young participants to acquire skill-based training for a better future. “We all have to make efforts for a better and developed Pakistan,” he said, adding that the provincial government is ready to help organisations that will work for Sindh’s youth and ensure that his department will coordinate with all stakeholders who are responsible to train the youth of Karachi.
“An empowered woman can lead the entire family to success,” said SPO founder and member of the board of directors Sadiqa Salahuddin, while highlighting the role of women in a developing state. “It is not possible to progress without the participation of women.” Women are the last hope for the progress of Pakistan, she said.
SPO regional head Ellahi Bakhsh Baloch emphasised the importance of training the youth, saying that it is very important to shape better lives. Giving an example of Kenya’s education system, he said that every student having a matriculation certificate in the country acquires some kind of technical skills as well.
“We want to give our youth technical training so they can have a respectful status in society,” said Miti chairperson HM Shehzad, requesting the government to ensure technical skills among students along with school and college certificates. It is the need of the hour, he said, adding that it was not possible for the government to provide jobs to all the jobless youth.
Miti trains young, educated men and women, who are making positive social and economic contributions to the society, he said, adding that everyone has to play their role for the betterment of the country.
The three-year YEP project started in 2015, aiming not only to train jobless young men and women but to also help them get jobs in the garment sector, said Naqvi, adding that his organisation will expand this project to other areas of the city and parts of Sindh.
Naqvi said that 1.4 million jobs are required every year for the youth of Pakistan. “It is not possible for the government to accommodate all of them,” he maintained. “For this reason, we have to promote technical training.”
SPO programme specialist Raheema Panhwar said that YEP is providing an opportunity for young men and women who want to get jobs without wasting their time in seeking employment. Most of the candidates wanting to acquire the skill-based training lack national identity cards, she highlighted, demanding the government to ensure an easy process for young citizens to get NICs.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2016.
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