Providing greater and better social protection for the poor and sick in Pakistan

Context

The majority of people in Pakistan live and work without protection against risks like illness, unemployment, poverty in old age and property loss. Illness, for example, can spiral into poverty: it reduces a person’s ability to work and their productivity, while treatment drains their income. Conversely, a lack of income can lead to health problems. A lack of income makes investments in the future, such as education and healthy nutrition for children, impossible.

Despite a strong constitutional commitment to provide social protection, the current social protection programmes mostly provide social assistance for the officially registered. The social register for the entire population is currently being updated. Programmes for universal healthcare, basic financial protection, education and nutrition for the poor are being developed. Programme support to lift people out of poverty is also planned.

Objective

The Government of Pakistan provides improved access to social protection services targeted towards people living in poverty and those at risk of falling into poverty.

Approach

The project is contributing to developing and interlinking the social protection programmes of the federal government and autonomous provinces. It is also providing support to mainstream universal health coverage and to adapt social protection to climate change and disaster preparedness.

The project operates in three fields:

It supports targeted coordination and evidence-based decision-making among the institutions charged with reforming and implementing social protection.

It supports the professional development of the skills of public entities and their staff for effective protection in the event of illness.

It supports the national social protection programme – the Benazir Income Support Programme – in rapidly developing and expanding sustainable social protection measures across the country for households that are particularly poor.

Last update: September 2023