The ceremony was held at the Edhi House for female children here at Clifton on Saturday.

Abdul Sattar Edhi and USAID Mission Director Lisa Chiles signed the documents in the presence of Sindh Health Secretary Noshad Shaikh.

According to the agreement, the Edhi Welfare Trust will provide ambulance service to various districts in which the programme is being implemented. At present, it is implemented in Sukkur and Dadu districts of Sindh for which the USAID has provided US$1.5 billion.

On this occasion, Ms Chiles said maternal and infant mortality rates were very high in South Asia mainly due to illiteracy, while in every 20 minutes, a woman die due to pregnancy-related complications in Pakistan.

“USAID is working to improve maternal and child health indicators with the help of the private and public sectors under the PAIMAN project. For the purpose, help of the Edhi Welfare Trust is needed to

get ambulance services,” she added.

Mr Edhi commended the project and said that the Edhi Trust had always extended cooperation to any of the international organization working for the welfare of human beings.

CERTIFICATE DISTRIBUTION: The US government is keen to contribute towards economic empowerment of the people of Pakistan, particularly focussing on improved literacy rates and skill development with an aim to help the country to alleviate poverty and attain economic stability on sustainable basis.

This was stated by the USAIDS Mission Director, Lisa Chiles, while speaking at the certificate and employment letter distribution ceremony for women garment workers, trained under the Education Sector Reforms Assistance Programme, a component of USAIDS, here on Saturday.

She said the US government would provide US$1.5 billion to Pakistan in the next five years under the USAIDS programme.

With specific reference to the training programme for the garment workers, she said this was in specific backdrop of the fact that textile was a major industry in Pakistan.

The ESRA head, Suzzane Olde, speaking on the occasion felicitated 65 women workers who received training certificates for garment making programme and 15 graduates who also collected their employment letters.

She mentioned that ESRA, against US$71.5 million USAID sponsored programme, was supporting literacy and skill development schemes across Pakistan, but with particular focus in Sindh and Balochistan. —PPI/APP