Linking Livelihoods to Markets

LAHORE (ILO News): A national conference on “Sustainability Exchange” was organised by the Engro Foundation with the support of TVET Reform Support Programme, which is funded by the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Royal Norwegian Embassy, and commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on 27 November 2014.

The main objective of the conference was to promote a profound dialogue between the public and private representatives on the TVET reform, with the objective to improve the livelihoods through relevant skills training, job creation and sustainable investment.

As a key player in providing decent jobs through skills training and human resource development, the ILO shared its stance on need for ‘demand driven’ training. Mr Francesco d’ Ovidio stressed on the importance of developing a sector wide approach to harmonize all the existing and upcoming Skills interventions in the province. As a first step, the ILO has designed a framework for ‘Skilling Punjab for Employment and Enterprise Development (SPEED)’ that is being reviewed by various stakeholders and will lead to a systematic intervention of skills training for employment creation.

The conference further highlighted the role of the corporate sector in employing policies that can effectively help Pakistan reap benefits of the youth dividend specifically with regards to the ongoing TVET reform.

Experts including Shahnaz Rahat Kapadia, Group Head, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Ali Sarfraz, CEO, Punjab Skills Development Fund, Jawad Qureshi, COO, TEVTA Punjab, Benje Williams, CEO, Amal Academy, Faraz Khan, CEO, Social, Entrepreneurship and Equity Development (SEED) and ILO Country Director, Mr Francesco d’ Ovidio took part as panelists. In deliberations on linking Livelihoods to Markets, panelists stressed that there is a greater need and scope to invest in skills programmes supported by the public sector and backed by the industry demand.

They argued that the corporate investment, therefore, should be designed to take advantage of Pakistan’s competitive strengths and fulfill the country’s social and economic needs. In this context the quality of the training was mentioned so that the passing-outs wan indeed be picked up by the industry.

Mr Larsh-Gunar Wigermark, Ambassador of European Union, Mr Marcel de Vink, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Dr. Cyrill Nunn, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Leif Holger Larsen, Ambassador of Norway, were the guests of honour on the occasion who addressed and expressed their views regarding the role of technical and vocational skills in the present economic scenario of the country.

For further information please contact:

Ms Rabia Razzaque
National Program Coordinator (ILS Compliance Project)
ILO Country Office for Pakistan
Email 
Tel: +92 51 2276456-8