President for capacity building, career counselling of persons with disabilities.

ISLAMABAD -- President Dr Arif Alvi has urged the need for the capacity building and career counselling of persons with different abilities (PWDs), and matching their skills with jobs. He said 10-14% of Pakistan's population was suffering from some form of disability, adding that collective measures needed to be taken by the government and the private sector for the financial and social inclusion of PWDs.

The President gave these remarks during a presentation on 'the role of financial services for the facilitation of persons with disabilities' given by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Rural Support Program (NRSP), Dr Rashid Bajwa, here at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on Thursday. CEO of NOWPDP, Mr Omair Ahmad, Executive Director of NAVTTC, Director Islamic Finance Department of the State Bank of Pakistan, Mr Ghulam Muhammad, Additional Finance Secretary, Mr Aamer Mehmood Hussain, Technical Advisor at WHO, Dr Maryam Mallick, and senior government officials attended the meeting.

The President said that differently-abled people (DAPs) in Pakistan faced various physical and financial limitations and they needed to be facilitated by providing them access to financial services and employment opportunities to make them financially independent. He added that society required to play its role for the welfare and facilitation of DAPs. Dr Rashid Bajwa highlighted the steps taken by the NRSP for the empowerment of DAPs and women and the support being provided...