Balochistan Minister for Planning and Development, Zahoor Ahmed Buledi said the provincial government while implementing its vision has started providing resource for harnessing youth through development, which needs reliable and reconcilable data
QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 19th Aug, 2024) Balochistan Minister for Planning and Development, Zahoor Ahmed Buledi said the provincial government while implementing its vision has started providing resource for harnessing youth through development, which needs reliable and reconcilable data.
Speaking at the policy dialogue roundtable, DATA for Development (D4D), Youth and Employability Challenges in Balochistan, Transforming Obstacles into Opportunities, jointly organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS) with the support of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Minister mentioned that the initiative ‘Data for Development (D4D)’ was being tailored to the present days needs of the provincial government in empowering Baloch youth.
Unveiling the initiative for discussion, Lead of the initiative ‘D4D,’ Deputy Executive Director, SDPI, Dr. Sajid Amin Javed said the aim was to enhance the capacity of the government, mainly the planning and development ministry and department, for evidence-based development planning in the country, particularly at the provincial level, said a news release.
“This will be achieved through demand-driven evolving agenda of programme, which caters the needs of stakeholders, robust oversight and mechanisms to ensure quality, and strong partnerships,” he said.
He added objective of the initiative was to promote and cultivate data culture in Pakistan, strengthen ecosystem for data-driven & people-centric development, planning & policy making, strengthen the capacity of National & Provincial Statistical System, by helping the planning and development departments to deliver on data-driven planning and decision making by producing evidence and data on critical issues, such as climate change, population, and gender through research studies and baseline surveys.
Member National Assembly of Pakistan from Quetta, Nawab Zada, Jamal Khan Raisani in his address said, finally the government of Balochistan has prepared and adopted ‘Youth Policy for the 64 percent of the population, which is looking up to jobs carriers in the framework of the policy.
“Lack of reconcilable and reliable data is the biggest obstacle in the implementation of the policy. This is the reason, I am personally keen to help the initiative and will take the debate to the National Assembly of Pakistan,” MNA Raisani said.
Vice Chancellor, BUITEMS, Prof. Dr. Khalid Hafeez in his closing remarks, said AI and other fields of IT are very popular now a days, but we all must remember that without data they are useless and that is the reason BUITEMS will soon launch a major programme, on DATA Science for filling the gap.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Dr. Luay Shabaneh, UNFPA representative in Pakistan ensured his full support to the programme.
Technical Specialist SRH and FP, UNFPA Baluchistan, Sarmad Saeed Khan said he would ensure full support at the local level.
