Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) and its partner Hashoo Foundation have inaugurated a new community development project to establish two Human Development Resource Centers (HDRCs) to provide much needed vocational and technical training for young people in the Union Council Nar Sher Ali Khan district Bagh of Pakistan.

Following a detailed needs assessment, the two HDRCs, which are funded by ROTA and Hashoo Foundation, will provide training to 2,000 unskilled and unemployed young men and women in an area badly affected by an earthquake in 2005.

Each center will offer six courses covering relevant vocational, technical and agricultural training with course durations from one month up to three months.

"The two new HDRCs complement our accomplished projects in Bagh and are in line with ROTA's core objective to develop skills which improve the quality of life for young people within their own communities and help prepare them for the realities of local and global economies," says ROTA Director Essa Al Mannai.

When completed in 2014, the HDRCs will contribute strongly to the long term economic development of Union Council Nar Sher Ali Khan.

Specifically, both centers aim to meet the needs of the local market by graduating motivated young men and women with the necessary skills to take advantage of employment and self-employment opportunities, thereby increasing household income.

In addition, the project will ensure its long term sustainability through direct coordination with relevant bodies such as the Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority, as well as integrating HDRC activities within the local community with the potential to benefit an extra 12,000 people indirectly.

Addressing the audience at the project inauguration ceremony, Hashoo Foundation Program Director Muhammad Sadiq expressed his gratitude to ROTA and to the local community of Bagh District for their immense support in undertaking this initiative.

"Skills development shall play a pivotal role in the local economic development of the area. Now we need the youth, in particular young women, to participate in this training venture to improve the current unemployment situation and the area's long term future."

The two new HDRCs now under refurbishment in Nar Sher Ali Khan extend ROTA's commitment in the area following earlier initiatives to successfully reconstruct 17 schools, furnish and equip seven libraries and implement a Professional Support Program benefitting 66 teachers and 6,800 students.

QNA/AB