Kathmandu, December 12:

International Labour Organisation (ILO) is all set to start an employment project in the post-conflict Nepal, focusing mainly on Ramechhap and Dhanusa districts.

This is the first joint venture project of this sort between the ILO and the Nepal government, focusing on employment generation. The project is likely to start within the next six months as it is still in the formulation phase.

According to ILO officials, the project worth $3 million, will run for a period of three years. The identified components of the project are infrastructure development, skill development and small enterprise development, aimed at creating employment opportunities.

ILO believes that local economic development will help in poverty reduction through local employment and empowerment, decentralisation trend in many developing economies, globalisation and localisation. A study shows that there is a disconnection between demand and supply in the project proposed districts.

The project to be funded by the Dutch government will initially make its entry in the micro and small enterprises, local infrastructure and skills development. The districts identified by the executing agency will get a boost in planning, local economic development creating more employment opportunities in a changed post-conflict environment in Nepal.

The districts do not have effective institutional framework for planning, coordination and implementing local economic enhancement programmes, according to the ILO. The ministry of local development is the responsible government agency.

During the project time, the responsible agencies will work for empowering marginalised people, including women, dalits, janajatis, and insufficiency mainstreamed in and benefiting from local economic development.

The joint project will effectively move towards utilising available capacities, skills and resources establishing a district-level institutional framework for planning, coordinating and implementing local economic activities.

According to Gopal Joshi, informal economy specialist of ILO, who has prepared an ILO approach paper to focus on local economic development as a process and product, it focuses on upgrading entrepreneurial activities through linkages in a specific sub-sectors within a territory.

Joshi said that while carrying out the project, it is required that partnership arrangements between local residents and private and public stakeholders of a defined territory is established. Equally important is the mobilisation of local resources and competitive advantages.