Govt committed to support returnees to find better employment prospects, says Turi

ISLAMABAD     –   Federal Minister for overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Sajid Hussain Turi Thursday said that the government was committed to supporting returnees and the local population to find better employment prospects and income sources.

Addressing an event organized by Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF), he applauded OPF and GIZ for their efforts to find out sustained self-employment for the returning migrants. The event was a part of OPF’s efforts to foster decent working conditions in the country in order to realize its vision of a “prosperous human resource, prosperous Pakistan.” OPF is implementing a program in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Pakistan.

It is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development Germany, (BMZ) and is part of BMZ support for the voluntary return & sustainable reintegration.

174 participants including women received the toolkits in the fields of culinary arts, Tailoring & fashion designing, Digital tools and e-banking services, Solar PV systems, plumbing, electrical, carpentry and, masonry. The participants have already completed comprehensive training in their respective fields. Dr. Sebastian Paust, Head of Development Cooperation, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany was also present at the occasion. Managing Director OPF, Dr. Amer Sheikh, Tobias Becker, Country Director GIZ, OPF Board of Governors, senior government officials, representatives of international organizations and civil society representatives also attended the event. A Pakistani-German Facilitation & Reintegration Centre (PGFRC), the major component of this programme, has been established in OPF premises, Lahore. The program also has an advisory desk at OPF head office Islamabad.

PGFRC is supporting and assisting returning migrants and the local population with their social and economic reintegration. Head of PGFRC, Dr. Mansoor Zaib Khan shared, “The objective of the programme is to support returning migrants and local population to find better opportunities for better living conditions and sustainable sources of income to support themselves and their families. He said, more than 1,000 Pakistani citizens including women will get benefit from this capacity building leading to In-Kind support intervention. “I am also pleased to say that PGFRC is open to all Pakistanis and all our services are free of charge” he added.

Dr. Mansoor also highlighted that under the programme a special intervention for vulnerable groups has been planned, and today the beneficiary of this intervention is also receiving the toolkits in the fields of culinary arts, tailoring and fashion designing and Digital tools & e-banking services.