By Asim Hussain
ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP) on Tuesday brought United Nations agencies onto its Digital Youth Hub platform during a high level meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Chairman PMYP Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, UN Resident Coordinator Mohamed Yahya and UN Youth Task Force members discussed expanding access to jobs, skills training, internships, scholarships and entrepreneurial opportunities for Pakistan’s 100 million youth aged 10 to 29.
The meeting, chaired by Rana Mashhood, focused on consolidating the Digital Youth Hub as Pakistan’s central platform for youth development, integrating verified profiles, opportunity listings and analytics to bridge supply and demand gaps across sectors.
Rana Mashhood described Pakistan’s youth as the nation’s most vital demographic force, urging the government and UN system to channel that energy into jobs, education and enterprise through accelerated collaboration.
Mr Khan credited UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited for technical support in building the hub, alongside UNFPA, UNDP, ILO and UNESCO for contributions to skills, employment and social programmes. PMYP, he said, has already channelled over PKR 305 billion into youth financing and trained hundreds of thousands, but the scale demands urgent, unified action.
Rana Mashhood added that hub’s three pillars include a youth supply registry, an opportunity demand registry for governments, NGOs and employers, and a real time analytics engine spotting skills shortages and regional divides. It will be enshrined under the FAYDA Act 2026, mandating federal ministries to list youth initiatives.
Mohamed Yahya onboarded UNHCR during the session, a key step toward UN alignment with national goals.
He was tasked with leading all UN agencies’ registration within 60 days.
The platform is live, drawing youth registrations nationwide. Rana Mashhood pressed UN bodies to post internships, fellowships and scholarships, while calling on private employers to tap young talent.
The government pledged facilitation under FAYDA.Participants highlighted the hub’s fit with AI and sustainable development trends, positioning it as Pakistan’s data-smart response.
Both sides committed to wider outreach, especially for marginalised youth.
