INTRODUCTION

It is well known fact that different kinds of human skills increase the employment opportunities for people and decreases the chances of falling in poverty trap. Through the UC Based Rural Poverty Reduction Project, Government of Sindh commissioned NRSP-IRM and SRSO to improve the social and economic status of the poorest of the poor by imparting vocational skills to the selected recipients.

The Project is focused contributing to economic growth at the village level and the level of poor house holds. This will be done by the identifying the poorest of the poor house holds through NRSP developed poverty score card. Once identified, these opportunities will be adjust through linkages on a large scale for providing income generating grants to the destitute house holds, through micro-credits managed and run by VOs, a community savings programme, through vocational skill and employment creation and through linkages with government and other agencies for the delivery of social sector services. IRM's association in this project is directed at the capacity building component as our previous successful technical corporation experiences in skills and enterprise, employment promotion, income generation and local economic development in other projects across Pakistan, speak for themselves.

OBJECTIVES

• To build the capacity of most disadvantage groups (classified through poverty score cards) for economic and social empowerment through vocational skills training and employment opportunities.
• To build and strengthen sustainable structure for self reliance of the identified groups.

The methodology consists of a set of procedures for systematically identifying employment and income generating opportunities at the local/ community level. The major characteristics of the approach are given as under:

Pre-Training: Training needs identification, TNA, screening process, designing of the training, technical assessment, social assessment (village assembly).

Training: Quality training conducted in the field and at properly equipped institute with all necessary equipment and training material;

Post-Training: Facilitating trainees (wherever possible) for on job training or financial support. Post training services will be provided to those beneficiaries who start their own enterprise or need advice for placement. For effective feedback and coordination, the graduating trainees will be provided envelopes.

The project would be followed and carried out with the help of a strategic plan which would comprise of several approaches of effective training and plans for the betterment of the rural poor from the selected areas. Participants will be selected amongst the poorest of the poor with the utilization of Poverty Score Card. Training will be conducted by the NRSP-IRM team at field level, in Sukkur and Islamabad.