Fair on special youth held at Umeed-e-Noor

ISLAMABAD An 'Art and Awareness Raising Fair on Skills Training for Special Youth was held at Umeed-e-Noor, a programme of Hashoo Foundation, a centre for people with special needs. The Fair was conducted under the Skills Development Programmes project funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), in partnership with HOPE87. The project aims at training 172 men and women between the ages of 14-29 in skills such as pottery (clay work), tailoring, embroidery and housekeeping. Other training programmes was introduced for special people at Umeed-e-Noor include origami, basic computers and mobile repairing. On the occasion, a free seminar was also organised where speakers discussed issues related to training, career opportunities and entrepreneurship for people with special needs. Kaleem Imam, Inspector General Police, and Jamal Shah, Hunerkada were among the keynote speakers while representatives from STEP, KFC, BrightSpyre, Pakistan Fighting for Blindness, the organisations promoting employment of special youth, and Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) also spoke at the free seminar. The IT police also collaborated to created mass awareness about the event through its FM radio channel. After the question and answer session, certificates were distributed amongst the successful trainees of the project. Free medical consultation/referral was offered to enhance awareness on different conditions and treatments related to special needs in collaboration with National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM). Products made by youth with disabilities were also exhibited and sold to promote economic empowerment of special youth with skills.