The work on employment and training has been and remains a high priority in Pakistan’s Decent Work Country Programme, as the country faces enormous challenges in developing the knowledge and skills of its workforce both to improve economic competitiveness, create greater opportunities for employment, and reduce poverty in the rural areas. Around 70 per cent of the population lives in rural areas. The majority of working poor – those living on less than US$ 1 per day – including a significant number of women and young people, have received a little or no formal education.
ILO’s experience in many countries, including Pakistan, has shown that skills development can play a major role in the alleviation of poverty, when carefully planned and implemented in the context of the available and emerging employment and income-generation opportunities. Skills development, particularly for socially and economically disadvantaged target groups, has been found to be most successful when it has been used as a key component of an integrated employment generation and poverty reduction strategy. Some of the key interventions on employment and training in recent years include:
- Policy advice;
- Capacity building and technical cooperation;
- Skills development and livelihood creation and poverty reduction; and
- Employment and skills support programmes.