The healthcare conglomerate recognized as a Global Growth Company supports the World Economic Forum’s initiative
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Monday, June 1st 2015 [ME NewsWire]
VPS
Healthcare has committed to train 1000 youth by the end of 2017 as part
of the new initiative launched at the World Economic Forum on the
Middle East and North Africa, recently held at Jordan.
With more
than half of its population under 25 years of age and the world’s
highest regional youth unemployment rate, the Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) region faces critical challenges. High unemployment,
particularly among the young, female and the educated parts of the
population, is considered by many to be the most important
socio-economic challenge currently facing the region.
To help
curb this, 9 Founding partners from across the region, including VPS
Healthcare, Abdul Latif Jameel, Alghanim Industries, Consolidated
Contractors Company (CCC), Crescent Enterprises, Crescent Petroleum,
Jumeirah Group, Olayan Financing Company and Zain Group have committed
to scaling their corporate initiatives or undertaking new initiatives
aimed at closing the skills gap in the region. Collectively, such
initiatives are poised to offer skilling opportunities to 49,000 people.
VPS
Healthcare aims to train 1000 young people of the region for job
readiness by 2017 and will also focus on Emiratisation to boost Arab
Employment. “I am extremely proud to be a part of this initiative
focusing on curbing the unemployment prevalent in the region. We would
focus on equipping the youth with relevant skills to fill that vital gap
in the region as well as train them about the spirit of
entrepreneurship”, said Rajesh Verma, Director – Human Resource, VPS
Healthcare.
The responsibility for helping the youth of the
region and fulfil their aspirations on the whole continues to rest with
governments. Increasingly, they are looking to create job opportunities
by pumping investment into the social sector or infrastructure
development. The private sector is seen as a silent, compliant, less
proactive partner. But creating job opportunities solely through
governmental intervention will not address the region’s growing
unemployment problem.
Commenting on this, Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil,
Managing Director, VPS Healthcare, said, “Partnership between the Public
and Private sector is what will boost the human capital flow in rural
areas in future and will provide the best of healthcare services and
highest quality of care all across the region.”
Built on clear
objectives and metrics, the initiative is poised to track progress on
existing commitments and create strategic cooperation between public and
private sectors to make further relevant skilling and training
interventions. At the same time, the Regional Business Council has
launched a ‘Call to Action’ to other business leaders, governments and
organizations to join this collaborative effort to maximize impact.
“We
have decided to start with training 1000 youth currently but the
numbers will increase gradually and we will do everything at our end to
support this initiative in the best possible manner,” said Dr.
Shamsheer.
The New Vision for Arab Employment Initiative is one
of several regional projects within the World Economic Forum’s broader
Global Challenge Initiative on Employment, Skills and Human Capital,
which produces analysis and fosters collaborative action to combat
unemployment and skills gaps around the world.
Contacts
Anshul Sharma
Senior Executive – PR & Communications
VPS Healthcare
M: +97155-5895070
Email: anshul.sharma@vpshealth.com
Neeraja Nair
Trainee – Corporate Communications
VPS Healthcare
E-mail: neeraja@vpshealth.com
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Monday, June 1st 2015 [ME NewsWire]
