Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the relevant authorities to ensure that coordinated and effective measures are in place to provide employment opportunities to the youth under the National Youth Employment Policy. This directive was issued during a progress review meeting on the policy's implementation roadmap held in Islamabad today.
According to Radio Pakistan, the Prime Minister emphasized that providing dignified employment to the country's skilled and talented youth ranks among the government's top priorities. He highlighted the government's launch of the first-ever National Youth Employment Policy as a testament to their earnest efforts in this direction. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif underscored the necessity of inter-ministerial cooperation and a comprehensive strategy for the successful implementation of the policy. He also announced that progress review meetings would be conducted monthly.
The Prime Minister instructed that special focus should be placed on transforming the nation's youth, particularly women, into a skillful workforce to ensure their inclusion in new employment opportunities. He stressed the importance of providing job opportunities to the youth of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the policy. Institutional reforms have been introduced in the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission and SMEDA to align the country's skilled workforce with both domestic and international business and industrial demand.
An awareness campaign regarding the benefits available to the youth under this policy is to be launched as per the Prime Minister's instructions. The meeting was briefed that the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission is undertaking special measures to provide a workforce equipped with international certifications and language proficiencies required for employment abroad. Youth are being trained according to market demands to facilitate overseas employment opportunities.
The government has also initiated the Digital Youth Hub, a platform that provides the youth across the country with information on domestic and international employment opportunities. The meeting revealed that all ministries and relevant institutions are working in coordination and consultation to ensure the policy's effective implementation. It was further informed that Youth Development Cells are being established in educational institutions to provide guidance, career counseling, and information on employment and skills-development opportunities.
Chairman of the Prime Minister's Youth Programme, Rana Mashhood, also provided the Prime Minister with updates on measures taken in line with his directives.