RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: A ceremony was held here on Friday to achieve goals of Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP) in Pakistan through bilateral teamwork between Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Islamabad along with the embassy and consulate of Italy.

In this connection, the PPAF held a ceremony here on Friday. Under a fully-entrusted 40 million euro soft loan from the Italian government to the Pakistani government to achieve goals of Poverty Reduction Programme (PPR), the last year of activities are based on a bilateral teamwork between the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and a number of Italian Excellencies.

In this regard, LUISS concluded a three-week long training session at the Pakistani Research Center on Water Resources, water being at the heart of human and land development, with the constant support of the Office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Islamabad and of the Embassy and Consulate of Italy.

The LUISS Business School supports the growth and transformation of LUISS Guido Carli University corporate and institutional partners in Italy and abroad by providing talents and competencies through its education and research activities allowing these partners to face present and future economic and social challenges. The LUISS is among the first 1% of business schools to make its students get a job after graduation.

The training activities carried out in Pakistan and focused on youth policies, health and nutrition, and information and communication technology applied to educational programmes were providing and sharing Italian and European developmental traditions, best practices and innovations. The expected results are: strengthening the skills and vision among staff of partner organizations; creating an enhanced integrated approach within the union councils (UCs); bringing improvements in Poverty Reduction Programme’s key areas being implemented by Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund and enhancing the overall effectiveness of the programme and ultimately its sustainability.

The closing ceremony was presided over by the Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation Office in Pakistan, Emanuela Benini and by the CEO of PPAF Qazi Azmat Isa.

Emanuela Benini recognizing the value of the Pakistan Italian teamwork said, “I have seen Italian instructors from Luiss Business School both present and through adaptive remote exchange conferences sharing with the participants during the three weeks sessions a set of insights and modalities comprehending innovation, sustainability and implementation of smart solutions, set as Action Plans, to drive their communities towards self-development, and have adapted the activities to the rich range of provenance of the participants. The next step being, how all participants will metabolize and organize among themselves and back to their communities the new drive to self-development which is as individual as it is collective. The participants are the first social communicators for development that my renewed office in Islamabad would like to listen to when travelling to the field.”

CEO PPAF Qazi Azmat Isa shared his thoughts about the training sessions and said, “I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Italian government, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and Luiss Business School for helping us conduct these trainings in an efficient manner. I believe such trainings could have a monumental impact in the lives of the underprivileged and help them gain valuable exposure. We look forward to more of such collaborations in order to forge a brighter tomorrow.”

As one of the largest sources of pro-poor spending in the country, the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund is the lead agency for poverty reduction in Pakistan. It embodies the spirit of public-private partnership to address the multidimensional issues of poverty with a view to achieving social and economic change.