The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) signed a partnership agreement for enhancing skills in youth. A model linking non-formal education and job placement is going to be developed as part of the ‘Generation Unlimited’ partnership.
The statement was issued on eve of signing an agreement on Saturday between the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Punjab Skills Development Fund(PSDF). The agreement is to implement a research and development program in support of adolescent and youth education, skills development, and job placement as part of the ‘Generation Unlimited’ partnership in Pakistan.
Read more: WEF and PSDF Collaborate to Set Pakistan’s Future Skills Agenda
Pakistan Skill development Fund will work with United Nation International Children Emergency Fund, federal and Provincial governments, partners from civil society organizations, and the private sector to design and pre-test the Non-Formal Education to Job Placement model in Punjab.
Moreover, the project will focus on offering a unique, integrated solution by providing adolescent and young people age 10-19 who are outside the formal education system with the opportunity to enroll in an Accelerated Learning Program.
So they can achieve foundational skills in literacy and numeracy at primary school, equipping those who achieved grade 5 competency level with job and entrepreneurial skills through training to enhance their capacities to access non-hazardous income generational opportunities and linking young people who have successfully graduated from the program to labor market.
Javed Khan, the CEO of PSDF said ‘We are proud that UNICEF has partnered with PSDF in Pakistan for this landmark initiative to educate and skill out-of-school adolescents, this is the recognition of PSDF as the most innovative and progressive development sector organization of the country.”
The project is part of the Generation Unlimited (GenU) partnership in Pakistan which aims at creating a movement to help young particularly adolescent girls and boys between the ages of 10 to 19 to acquire the education and skills training to access employment opportunities.
The GenU multi-sector partnership platform brings together government, private sector, civil organizations, and development partners and forges innovative collaboration with young people intending to expand and link formal education and skill development.
