The government of Balochistan (GoB) and senior management of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) met to consolidate further and operationalize the time-bound action plan to sign an integrated MOU between PPAF and Planning & Development (P&D) Balochistan.
The meeting was chaired by Additional Chief Secretary, , Mr Roshan Khursheed; also present at the meeting were Additional Chief Secretary – P&D, Additional Secretary – PHE, Executive Officer – Culture and Tourism department Government of Balochistan (GoB). During the meeting, PPAF Group Head – Institutions, Integration, Integration (III), Mr Irshad Khan Abbasi and Group Head – Infrastructure development, Mr Shams Badruddin. PPAF presented suggestions for further collaboration and strengthening partnership in multiple sectors for the development of Balochistan and expanding the existing MOU, supervised by a steering committee under ACS, between both parties.
PPAF representatives put forward the notion to upscale existing joint development projects and initiate new innovative pilot projects. As a result, GoB Representatives agreed to support PPAF to hold a Water Strategy Workshop for the region in July, where a draft will be shared with multi-stakeholders. Furthermore, an understanding was reached to allocate an operational fund by the Balochistan Education Foundation(BEF) for 100 Community-based schools of PPAF in the region. Further, the GoB team also expressed interest in funding and implementing innovative projects with PPAF, especially to foster the eco-tourism industry and improve digital literacy in the province.
PPAF team members briefed the representatives about GoB about its multilateral and bilateral partnerships for uplifting communities out of poverty across 144 districts of Pakistan. ACS instructed his team to work on development opportunities with PPAF, keeping the Balochistan Development Strategy 2021 – 2025 in view, and sign an integrated MoU between PPAF and P&D Balochistan.
At the end of the meeting, PPAF representatives invited ACS Balochistan and his team to visit PPAF development projects, funded by its partners and own resources, across Pakistan. ACS Balochistan affirmed that such visits are bound to happen as the partnership between both parties evolves.