Youth urged to utilise their skills for betterment of society

Islamabad

To counter the mounting menace of unemployment, speakers at a ceremony on Monday urged youth to go for entrepreneurship and utilise their skills for the betterment of society. They also urged the government and society to provide alternatives and opportunities to youth for entrepreneurship to help boost economy and prevent them from slipping into the hands of extremist forces.

The ceremony was organised by Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA) at the closing of its project Pakistan’s Entrepreneurs Network for Youth (PENY) at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Islamabad.

PENY was a year-long project funded by USAID Small Grants and Ambassador’s Fund Program and is being implemented in six universities, three from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and three from Punjab. Under the project, more than 1000 male and female students were trained on entrepreneurship.

A political and rights activist, Zaheeruddin Dar said society needs to encourage young people to pursue their dreams. A major share of Pakistan’s population is consisting of youth and there is great need to provide them training and mentoring on entrepreneurship.

Abid Anwar from Small Grants Ambassador Programme said this is a great opportunity for students to learn from such training programs. He said the USAID is working on promoting entrepreneurship in Pakistan, however, they have received very small number of applications for funding in this thematic area. He urged young entrepreneurs to come with new ideas and serve your society.

SFEA Executive Director Mubashir Akram said doing a private or government job is not something bad but youth can work on new ideas. He said entrepreneurs make societies and it is high time to train and mentor youth to pursue their dreams and earn a living. He said there is great need to promote entrepreneurial thinking in our society.

SFEA Founding President Syed Ali Hameed said everyone talks of entrepreneurship but none talks of providing alternatives to youth so that they can be saved from slipping into the hands of extremists. He said the concept of PENY is based on promoting culture of entrepreneurship among university students.