ISLAMABAD (ILO News) - After launching a “rapid infrastructure rehabilitation” Project for the flood-affected people in Hanna Orak Baluchistan, ILO supports the Government of Pakistan in rolling out emergency employment project now in Jamshoro Sindh. The project will be delivered through Pakistan Workers Federation and will generate around 5,000 of person days of employment for the people of Manjhand.

Sindh and Baluchistan are among the provinces which are hardest hit by the devastating floods of 2022. In a rapid assessment done by the ILO, 50 per cent employment is lost or disrupted in Sindh topping all other provinces. This employment disruption and loss is mostly in agriculture sector and other informal parts of the economy. Women working in the agriculture sector are further disadvantaged because of the floods.

Mr Sajid Hussain Turi, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and HRD, lauded the ILO for its immediate response to the crisis caused by the floods saying, rapid infrastructure rehabilitation is not only a means to injecting cash by bringing people back to work but also a way of ensuring that dignity of people is respected in the process of recovery and reconstruction.

The rapid infrastructure reconstruction project launched in Manjhand Jamshoro is a small drop in the ocean, but a project that is scalable and can be complemented through an integrated approach that provides health, education, social services, and protection to people along with daily wages for the work they carry out, commented Mr Manzoor Khaliq, ILO Officer In charge for CO Pakistan. The project will ensure that employment opportunities created are in line with international labour standards and that no children is engaged in labour and women and men are provided equal opportunities.

Secretary Workers Welfare Board, Mr Saleh Jumani, ILO Officer In charge for CO Pakistan, Mr Manzoor Khaliq, Mr Waqar Memon, Pakistan Workers Federation joined the Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and HRD during his community visit where they met with those who have been registered with the emergency employment project and girls and boys who are enrolled with the nonformal education sessions organised in the community.

Explaining to the guests visiting the community of Manjhand, Mr Asad Memon, PWF, said that women in Sindh have indigenous skills and we are leveraging these by helping them make rallies and other local crafts and they will be assisted in making market linkages so these products can be sold.

Medical Officers of Sindh Employees Social Security Institution examined the affected community and provided basic medicine. The launching ceremony was attended by the senior leadership of PWF.