ISLAMABAD: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has entered into a contract with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to explore ways and means for the vocational skills of the registered beneficiaries of the social protection system. For this purpose, BISP Chairperson Rubina Khalid met Ghulam Nabi Marri, the national coordinator of IFAD, on Monday to discuss the issue and explore avenues for providing livelihood opportunities through human resource training and asset transfer initiatives for BISP beneficiaries. Ms Khalid highlighted the importance of a strong partnership with IFAD to maximise benefits for BISP beneficiaries. She stressed the need for boosting the agricultural sector in all provinces, with a special focus on Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly in the merged tribal districts. She said that skill training of BISP beneficiaries will not only improve their financial status but also enable them to contribute to the country’s economy and allow more deserving individuals to benefit from the programme. IFAD representatives commended BISP’s extensive database and assured financial and technical support for sustainable skill training and loan programmes for BISP beneficiaries. Both parties agreed on joint collaboration and decided to hold another meeting to further discuss the future modalities and concept paper.