ISLAMABAD: An agreement was signed today between the Government of Balochistan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to establish the Policy Support and Reform Unit in Balochistan.
The agreement was signed Wednesday in Islamabad by Mr. Aslam Shakir Baloch, Additional Chief Secretary Balochistan and Mr. Marc-André Franche, Country Director UNDP in Pakistan. Chief Coordinator to the Chief Minister Balochistan, Dr. Ishaque Baloch also attended the meeting.
This unit is part of the Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralization project recently launched by UNDP Pakistan. This unit will be located at the Civil Secretariat in Quetta and will work under the guidance of the Chief Minister, Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch. The establishment of the unit will be facilitated by the Planning and Development Department of the Government of Balochistan.
The policy support and reform unit will be focused on providing technical assistance, generating requisite analyses and facilitating policy research to develop the post 18th Amendment policy and institutional framework for an effective transition management in the province. The unit will also be responsible for studying the legislative, institutional and fiscal spaces provided to Balochistan by the 18th Constitutional Amendment and the 7th NFC Award. It will provide technical assistance to the respective tiers of the government on developing inter-sectoral policy frameworks.
Dr. Kaiser Bengali, who served as a member of the 7th NFC Award will head the unit in Balochistan while the Government of Balochistan has nominated Dr. Ishaque Baloch as the Policy Coordinator for this unit. The Government of Balochistan will second public servants for the unit.
Mr. Franche took this opportunity to offer his condolences for the grieved families of the victims of the earthquake and said that “UNDP is ready to utilize its existing resources to help the Government of Balochistan with the assessment of the damage caused by the earthquake and to help with the reconstruction of the affected communities.”
Mr. Baloch acknowledged the importance of the policy unit for assistance with developing policy and institutional frameworks. He also thanked UNDP for offering help to the Government of Balochistan towards reconstruction of the earthquake affected families. He said, “We look forward to working together in the future and further strengthening this partnership and I assure to extend continued cooperation by the Government of Balochistan.”
< Lahore Times >
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