ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Development Pro­gram­me (UNDP) and the International Labour Orga­nisation (ILO) have decided to impart vocational training and job opportunities to 200 women who were dislocated from North Waziristan because of Operation Zarb-i-Azb and are now living in Bannu.

An agreement to this effect was signed on Wed­nesday under the UNDP’s ‘Community Resilience Project for North Waziristan Agency Displaced Families’.

UNDP Country Director Marc-Andre Franche said the two agencies were jointly working for `Early Recovery Frameworks’ in the post-crises situations in Pakistan.

ILO Country Director Francesco d’Ovidio expressed the hope that the UNDP’s financial support would help the uprooted families in finding decent employment.

The project will engage private and public vocational centres and civil society organisations for providing quality training and post-training support in case of emergencies with focus on cultivating construction skills. These workers would help in reconstruction of North Waziristan, now in a shambles, he said.

Women will be imparted separate training at their convenience for additional family income.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014