QUETTA, Oct 2: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will set up a policy support and reform unit in Balochistan.

According to an official statement issued here on Wednesday, an agreement to that effect was signed by Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Aslam Shakir and UNDP Country Director Marc-Andre Franche in Islamabad.

Balochistan Chief Minister’s Chief Coordinator Dr Ishaque Baloch also attended the meeting.

The unit is part of the Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralisation Project of the UNDP recently launched in Pakistan. The unit will be set up at the Civil Secretariat in Quetta and will work under the guidance of Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch.

The establishment of the unit will be facilitated by the planning and development department of the provincial government.

The unit will focus on providing technical assistance, generating requisite analysis and facilitating policy research to develop the post-18th Amendment policy and institutional framework for an effective transition management in the province.

The unit will also be responsible for studying legislative, institutional and fiscal spaces provided to the provincial government by the 18th Amendment and the Seventh NFC Award. It will also provide technical assistance to respective tiers of the government on developing inter-sectoral policy frameworks.

Renowned economist Dr Kaiser Bengali will head the unit while the provincial government has nominated Dr Ishaq Baloch as the policy coordinator for the unit. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Franche expressed grief and sorrow over the huge human loss in recent earthquakes in Awaran and Kech districts of Balochistan. He said the UNDP was ready to use its resources to help the provincial government in the assessment of the damage caused by the earthquakes and in reconstruction and rehabilitation of affected areas and communities.

Aslam Shakir thanked the UNDP for offering help to the Balochistan government in reconstruction and rehabilitation of the quake-hit areas and the people.