MULTAN: Louis Berger with the financial assistance of USAID is launching Punjab Youth Workers Development Programme in four districts of South Punjab .25 centres are being established where unskilled and illiterate people (male and females) would get training in different field during the period of 12 months.Louis Berger's Chief Qaiser Nadeem said that USAID has allocated Rs.16 billion on this training programme so that people of less developed areas could stand on their own feet. He was addressing a Business Partnership Seminar jointly organised by Multan Chamber and USAID 's Punjab Youth Worker Development Project chaired by Begum Romana Tanvir Sheikh Senior Vice President of MCCI. Qaiser Nadeem said that products manufactured by these training centres would be soldout in the markets and we have been contacting the wholesalers for this purpose. He said that USAID (Pakistan) recently awarded Louis Berger with a three (3) year Punjab Youth Workforce Development Project (PYWD) to work with at-risk youth in Multan, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh and Bahawalpur to secure gainful employment and play a positive role in their communities. The Program will facilitate employment opportunities for 10,000 youth (including 35% women) will implement the following activities: a) proactive community engagements to mobilize at-risk youth; b) institutional capacity building and re-tooling of over 22 public/private vocational training providers; c) co-opting of prospective potential private sector employers for trainee placement; d) career counseling services; as well as e) providing access to finance for youth entrepreneurs.Mian Jamshed Waheed of Punjab Workers Development Project briefed that we have completed partnership with 100 entities.He said that the Partnerships, Placements, and Institutional Capacity Development Specialist assumes responsibility for developing linkages and partnerships leading to leveraging of resources, increase in scale, long term sustainability of institutions; and higher youth employment; and, building the capacity of institutions serving youth to ensure that the directly and indirectly trained youth gain productive employment.
Through ongoing interactions with stakeholders and capacity building of institutions, the Partnerships Specialist will ensure the satisfaction of short-term employment needs of trained youth and the long term impact and sustainability challenges.The Partnership Specialist’s specific responsibilities will include, but are not limited to the following: Develop an understanding of the primary actors who play a key role in the national and regional economy. Develop and maintain lists of private sector contacts and relationships in relevant program areas. Become knowledgeable about where financial resources that could contribute to the sustainability of contract activities and results are located.
Create and implement strategies for the development of partnerships with the private sector, public sector entities, and other non-governmental entities as required to achieve planned project results and enhance contract outcomes.Ensure the creation and maintenance of strong alliances at the local, provincial and federal levels and effective participation of multiple stakeholders (e.g., government, business, civil society organizations, and youth). Successfully engage private sector partners and others in an effort to leverage more resources for this contract.
Conduct due diligence research on proposed partners. Develop and apply appropriate partnerships risk assessment instruments to ensure the appropriate allocation of risk. Put action plans in place to operationalize partnerships to implement contract activities and achieve planned results.
Stay up-to-date on the most cutting edge aspects of public-private partnership, CSR initiatives, and best practices both regionally and globally, that could possibly apply to the contract and improve successful implementation. Begum Roman Tanvir Sheikh Senior Vice President singed Memorandum of UnderStanding (MoU)with Louis Berger and said that Women would be trained in entrepreneurship, Poultry, Cattle farming, agricultural business,Beauty parlour,knitting and sewing ,embroidary etc.She welcomed the USAID's training programme through Louis Berger (Pvt)limited and hoped that it would be beneficial for the unskilled and uneducated people of this backward are. Area Manager of Akhuwat Atique Zafar,Khawaja Muhammad Farooq,Vice President of MCCI,Imran Ashraf, Kamran Khan,Khurram Javed Secretary General of Multan Chamber.
