Tuesday, June 4, 2019

How Grim is the State of Pakistan's Social Sector?

If you read Pakistan media headlines and donation-seeking NGOs and activists' reports these days, you'd conclude that the social sector situation is entirely hopeless. However, if you look at children's education and health trend lines based on data from credible international sources, you would feel a sense of optimism. This exercise gives new meaning to what former US President Bill Clinton has said: Follow the trend lines, not the headlines. Unlike the alarming headlines, the trend lines in Pakistan show rising school enrollment rates and declining infant mortality rates.

Key Social Indicators:

The quickest way to assess Pakistan's social sector progress is to look at two key indicators:  School enrollment rates and infant mortality. These basic social indicators capture the state of schooling, nutrition and health care. Pakistan is continuing to make slow but steady progress on both of these indicators. Anything that can be done to accelerate the pace will help Pakistan move up to higher levels as proposed by Dr. Hans Rosling and adopted by the United Nations.

Pakistan Children 5-16 In-Out of School. Source: Pak Alliance For Math & Science


Rising Primary Enrollment:

Gross enrollment in Pakistani primary schools exceeded 97% in 2016, up from 92% ten years ago. Gross enrollment rate (GER) is different from net enrollment rate (NER). The former refers to primary enrollment of all students of all ages while the latter counts enrolled students as percentage of students in the official primary age bracket. The primary NER in Pakistan is significantly lower but the higher GER indicates many of these kids eventually enroll in primary schools albeit at older ages. 

Source: World Bank Education Statistics


Declining Infant Mortality Rate: 

The infant mortality rate (IMR), defined as the number of deaths in children under 1 year of age per 1000 live births in the same year, is universally regarded as a highly sensitive (proxy) measure of population health.  A declining rate is an indication of improving health. IMR in Pakistan has declined from 86 in 1990-91 to 74 in 2012-13 and 62 in the latest survey in 2017-18.

Pakistan Child Mortality Rates. Source: PDHS 2017-18

During the 5 years immediately preceding the survey, the infant mortality rate (IMR) was 62 deaths per 1,000 live births. The child mortality rate was 13 deaths per 1,000 children surviving to age 12 months, while the overall under-5 mortality rate was 74 deaths per 1,000 live births. Eighty-four percent of all deaths among children under age 5 in Pakistan take place before a child’s first birthday, with 57% occurring during the first month of life (42 deaths per 1,000 live births).

Pakistan Human Development Trajectory 1990-2018.Source: Pakistan HDR 2019

Human Development Ranking:

It appears that improvements in education and health care indicators in Pakistan are slower than other countries in South Asia region. Pakistan's human development ranking plunged to 150 in 2018, down from 149 in 2017.

Expected Years of Schooling in Pakistan by Province 


There was a noticeable acceleration of human development in #Pakistan during Musharraf years. Pakistan HDI rose faster in 2000-2008 than in periods before and after. Pakistanis' income, education and life expectancy also rose faster than Bangladeshis' and Indians' in 2000-2008.

Now Pakistan is worse than Bangladesh at 136, India at 130 and Nepal at 149. The decade of democracy under Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has produced the slowest annual human development growth rate in the last 30 years. The fastest growth in Pakistan human development was seen in 2000-2010, a decade dominated by President Musharraf's rule, according to the latest Human Development Report 2018.

UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) represents human progress in one indicator that combines information on people’s health, education and income.

Pakistan's Human Development Growth Rate By Decades. Source: HDR 2018

Pakistan saw average annual HDI (Human Development Index) growth rate of 1.08% in 1990-2000, 1.57% in 2000-2010 and 0.95% in 2010-2017, according to Human Development Indices and Indicators 2018 Statistical Update.  The fastest growth in Pakistan human development was seen in 2000-2010, a decade dominated by President Musharraf's rule, according to the latest Human Development Report 2018.

Pakistan Human Development Growth 1990-2018. Source: Pakistan HDR 2019


Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future:

Pakistani leaders should heed the recommendations of a recent report by the World Bank titled "Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future" regarding investments in the people. Here's a key excerpt of the World Bank report:

"Pakistan’s greatest asset is its people – a young population of 208 million. This large population can transform into a demographic dividend that drives economic growth. To achieve that, Pakistan must act fast and strategically to: i) manage population growth and improve maternal health, ii) improve early childhood development, focusing on nutrition and health, and iii) boost spending on education and skills for all, according to the report".

Pakistani Children 5-16 Currently Enrolled. Source: Pak Alliance For Math & Science


Summary: 

The state of Pakistan's social sector is not as dire as the headlines suggest. There's reason for optimism. Key indicators show that education and health care in Pakistan are improving but such improvements are slower than in other countries in South Asia region. Pakistan's human development ranking plunged to 150 in 2018, down from 149 in 2017. It is worse than Bangladesh at 136, India at 130 and Nepal at 149. The decade of democracy under Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has produced the slowest annual human development growth rate in the last 30 years. The fastest growth in Pakistan human development was seen in 2000-2010, a decade dominated by President Musharraf's rule, according to the latest Human Development Report 2018. One of the biggest challenges facing the PTI government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan is to significantly accelerate human development rates in Pakistan.

Related Links:

at

107 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 5, 2019 at 4:33 PM

    The trend in Pakistan in health especially child-health is not keeping pace with other countries in South Asia. As a WHO worker, Pakistan seems to be a very difficult place to work. While setting up Polio Administration Programme, we had to get 24/7 armed guard protection because of a pervasive belief that the world was anti-Pakistan. That needs to change for Pakistan's sake.


    Morgan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Riaz HaqJune 5, 2019 at 8:26 PM

    Morgan: " we had to get 24/7 armed guard protection because of a pervasive belief that the world was anti-Pakistan"

    Yes, there are conspiracy theories driving anti-vaxxers in Pakistan as elsewhere in the world but , unfortunately, US CIA actions have reinforced such theories in Pakistan.

    Here's how a piece by Maryn McKenna published in Wired magazine describes the outrage:

    "I felt, and still feel, that the maneuver — which was belatedly acknowledged by the CIA — was a cynical attempt to hijack the credibility that public health workers have built up over decades with local populations. I especially felt it endangered the status of the fraught polio-eradication campaign, which over the past decade has been challenged in majority-Muslim areas in Africa and South Asia over beliefs that polio vaccination is actually a covert campaign to harm Muslim children — an accusation that seems fantastic, but begins to make sense when you realize some of those areas have perfectly good reasons to distrust vaccination campaigns."

    https://www.riazhaq.com/2012/05/american-hypocrisy-on-dr-afridis.html


    In spite of serious issues created by US war on terror, the latest PDHS survey indicates that 66% of the children in Pakistan have received all basic vaccinations, up from 35% in 1990-91 and 55% in 2012-13. Only 4% have had no vaccinations, down from 28% in 1990-91.

    https://www.riazhaq.com/2019/03/pakistan-survey-reveals-positive-trends.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Riaz HaqJune 6, 2019 at 11:37 AM

    People Can Prosper And Thrive If Pakistan Reforms Faster

    https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/03/18/people-can-prosper-and-thrive-if-pakistan-reforms-faster

    ISLAMABAD, March 18, 2019 – Pakistan urgently needs to invest more and better in its people if they are to be richer, better educated, and healthier when the country turns 100 years old in 2047, says a new report by the World Bank.

    Launched today at the Human Capital Summit, the report, Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future, urges Pakistan to overcome its boom-bust cycles through a deep-rooted economic transformation. It recommends the essential reforms Pakistan needs now to accelerate and sustain growth. This means increasing and improving human capital investment, boosting productivity, promoting social and environmental sustainability, ensuring good governance, and leveraging its location to connect more with neighbors and the world beyond says the report.

    “There are steps Pakistan can take today to boost its economic performance and thereby ensure a better future for its people,” says Hartwig Schafer, World Bank Vice President for South Asia. “These steps are ones that other countries have taken to open up their business sectors to competition and innovation and laying the foundations for growth, investment, and good jobs.”

    The forward-looking report argues that Pakistan’s greatest asset is its people – a young population of 208 million. This large population can transform into a demographic dividend that drives economic growth. To achieve that, Pakistan must act fast and strategically to: i) manage population growth and improve maternal health, ii) improve early childhood development, focusing on nutrition and health, and iii) boost spending on education and skills for all, according to the report.

    “Because the next generation is meeting only 40 percent of its potential it means that Pakistan is foregoing much of its economic growth, but this can change if women’s potential is unlocked,” says Annette Dixon, World Bank Vice President for Human Development. “When women and girls are empowered to make their own decisions, they stay in school longer, they start families a little later, have fewer children, contribute more to the economy, and invest more in their children. It’s a virtuous circle that’s good for families and good for the whole country.”

    https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31335

    ReplyDelete
  4. Riaz HaqJune 8, 2019 at 11:00 AM

    PM Imran Khan Focuses More On Attracting Investment In Social Sector Under CPEC

    https://www.urdupoint.com/en/business/pm-imran-khan-focuses-more-on-attracting-inve-637693.html

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has focused more on attracting investment in the social sector within the framework of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which would directly benefit the people of Pakistan, Focal Person of Chief Minister of Balochistan's Task Force on Youth, Sustainable Development Goals, Naseem Khan Achakzai said on Tuesday.

    "Within the CPEC project, the Chinese government is expected to help Pakistan build hospitals and schools. This is one of the Prime Minister's focuses, which will directly benefit the people of Pakistan," he said in an exclusive interview with Global Times during his visit to the Chinese capital city.

    On the construction of Gwadar Port and other CPEC projects, he remarked that for the growth of CPEC, the Gwadar international airport will be built three years from now, so the port is now somehow operational. There have been housing entities coming to Gwadar.

    Gwadar will have its new master plan as well. There's a lot of construction going on when it comes to development projects. Thanks to CPEC, a lot of people, mostly Pakistanis, are purchasing property, both residential and commercial, in Gwadar, he added He informed that there are military troops and the local police who are guarding CPEC projects. The port is not accessible to everyone, only relevant employees.

    "It's well understood that the development of CPEC helps improve Pakistan's infrastructure and its economy. It's beneficial for neighboring countries such as Iran and Afghanistan as well. If all goes smoothly, Pakistan will be an even stronger player in the South Asian region,"� he added.

    Naseem Achakzai said that increasing technology exchange is one of the important things that should be done. That can be best practiced in the agriculture sector, as Pakistan's economy is highly dependent on the agriculture sector.

    It is hoped that there should be greater cooperation in the agricultural field between China and Pakistan for local farmers and landowners to have more produce. A lot of technology has been used in farming in China. The same can be replicated in Pakistan.

    Pakistan, he said, also needs to focus even more on healthcare and education, and obviously under the umbrella would be needing further support in these sectors.

    He said education and employment are directly interrelated in that improved vocational and technical training, in particular, could better prepare the local labor force for wide-ranging job opportunities enabled by CPEC.

    As the project goes further, more jobs will be created and an increase in engineering and exchange in technical know-how will be expected, factoring into the vision that there will be industrial zones around the CPEC route, he added.

    While dispelling undue fears over the flagship project, he said since the announcement of CPEC in 2013, the security situation in the whole of Balochistan has improved substantially. From 2013 to date, figures show there's been a rapid decrease in attacks and other target killings.

    The Pakistani military has a special division assigned for the CPEC project, he added.

    Naseem Achakzai said the stability in Gwadar and Balochistan is very important for CPEC, since Gwadar is the heart and soul of CPEC. After the attack, Pakistan has already been acting more against the terrorist groups.

    At the end of March, the second international Gwadar expo was held in the port city, with many high-level Chinese and Pakistan officials attending the expo.

    ---

    "Once there's heavy traffic coming on the main route, there are side links attached to it, initially giving a boost to local tourism and local businesses such as restaurants. Everybody is excited about it," he added.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Riaz HaqJune 18, 2019 at 7:31 AM

    A #Library Thrives, Quietly, in One of #Pakistan’s #Gun Markets in #Tribal Area. The Darra Adam Khel Library, less than a year old and with more than 2,500 books, offers residents a respite from the #arms bazaar that dominates local life. #FATA #KP
    https://nyti.ms/2RmnQ9w

    It has even caught the attention of the market’s arms sellers. Noor Ahmad Malik, sitting inside his gun shop, has gotten interested in books about India and Pakistan and Islamic history, calling the library the “best thing that happened recently for the people here.”


    Darra Adam Khel was under Taliban control for years until the Pakistani Army cleared it in 2010. Still, it has been regularly targeted by militants, including a suicide bombing in 2012 that killed 16 people, and mosque attacks in 2010 that killed more than 60. With a population of more than 100,000, it is still largely no-man’s land, where Pakistani law wasn’t applicable until the merger of tribal areas in the neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last year.

    Now the military is helping Muhammad build a new library that can accommodate up to 65 people, seeing it as a way to help residents recover from years of traumatic violence.

    “People are still reeling from the militancy, which has killed hundreds of civilians and soldiers,” said a government official serving in the area, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak with the news media. “They are more prone to fear and stress, particularly among children, and now the availability of books is a good option for knowledge and education.”


    In the nine months it has been open, it has drawn about 240 members, who pay 150 Pakistani rupees, about $1, a year. Thirty members are women, even though Darra Adam Khel is a conservative area where women are not allowed to go outside unaccompanied. They select books using the library’s Facebook page.

    One of them is Shifa Raj, Muhammad’s 11-year-old daughter. A sixth grader and avid reader, she helps her father deliver books to the female members of the library.

    “I told girls in the school that we have a library in our area: If you are interested, I will provide membership forms,” she said. “The response was remarkable.”

    Muhammad considers the Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai “our pride,” for her efforts to champion education for girls and becoming the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.

    “I was born here,” Muhammad said. “I want the world to remember Darra Adam Khel with a good reputation, not for guns but for the books.”

    ReplyDelete
  6. Riaz HaqJune 19, 2019 at 5:24 PM

    USAID funding construction of 112 schools in Sindh

    https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/487012-usaid-funding-construction-of-112-schools-in-sindh

    SUKKUR: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Director for Sindh and Balochistan Michael Hryshchyshyn and Qazi Shahid Pervez, Secretary, School Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh inaugurated the recently completed school, Government Modern High School Sukkur, constructed with the USAID support.

    Local notables, community elders, teachers, students, and parents were present on the occasion. The USAID funded new building of Government Modern High School Sukkur, was constructed at a cost of the $159.2 million. The USAID is assisting Sindh Basic Education Programme (SBEP), in partnership with the Government of Sindh.

    Agha Fakhur Hussain, SBEP Programme Director, said the SBEP is a flagship partnership between the government of Sindh and the USAID. He said under the programme 112 schools would be constructed out of which 62 have been completed and 42 were handed over to the Education Management Organizations. The remaining 44 schools are in different stages of completion, he said.

    The programme aims to increase and sustain student enrollment in primary, middle, and secondary public schools in select areas of Sindh, with a special focus on providing opportunity to children who have dropped out of school. In addition to constructing schools, SBEP also supports the government’s reforms in education, community mobilization, public-private partnerships, and improving reading competencies of students.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Riaz HaqJune 22, 2019 at 7:07 PM

    Amjad Ali, #Karachi rickshaw driver, father of six daughters sending them all to school in #Pakistan. One of his daughter Muskan just won a scholarship to study at top #business school. #education #highereducation https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=2019062115073239

    https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1142580970215788544

    In a country where many women are still discouraged from getting an education and are married off early, Amjad Ali, a father of six daughters, and a rickshaw driver, has broken the mould by sending his daughters to Karachi’s leading universities, reports Samaa TV.

    “People often mocked and criticised me, saying that girls are bound to get married and move out and to stop wasting my hard-earned money on my daughters,” he said.

    But one of his daughters, Muskan, recently received a scholarship from the Institute of Business Administration, which is one of the top business schools in the country. “It was one of the happiest days of my life,” he said. “Be it a son or a daughter, the right to education is equal for all,” he believes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Riaz HaqJune 23, 2019 at 10:28 AM

    #Pakistani #Punjab’s social sectors get lion’s share in Rs. 350 billion ADP (Annual Development Program). 35% of it will be apportioned for south Punjab under the regional equalization policy to accelerate development in less developed areas. https://www.dawn.com/news/1488349

    The PTI’s Punjab government on Friday announced its second budget improving the allocation for Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2019-20 to Rs350 billion from Rs238bn in the outgoing fiscal year.

    Even this 47 per cent increase in the ADP fails to match the allocation of Rs635bn made by the Shahbaz Sharif government in 2017-18.

    Presenting the budget in the Punjab Assembly on Friday, Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht said keeping in view of PTI’s stated priorities of social protection, human development and regional equalisation, a sum of Rs125bn, or 35.7pc of the total ADP, allocated for social sectors.

    “Around 35pc of the ADP will be apportioned for south Punjab under the regional equalisation policy for bringing the less developed areas on a par with the developed ones,” he said.

    Major initiatives in the ADP include expansion of health insurance scheme to all 36 districts, construction of four dams, taming of hill torrents at three sites, enhancing productivity of four main crops (wheat, rice, sugarcane, oilseed), establishment of four universities and 63 colleges, rural accessibility plan worth Rs15bn, infrastructure development of three large industrial estates, and setting up of model agriculture markets.

    Among the social sector, education is the main beneficiary as a sum of Rs89.8bn has been earmarked for it, while health stands second with Rs47.5bn allowance. Water supply & sanitation will gain Rs22.4 billion, local governments Rs6.3bn, social welfare Rs1.0bn and women development Rs0.8bn.

    The second major share of ADP goes to special initiatives with Rs65.35bn allocation. However, no explanation of the initiatives has been included in the budget documents.

    Infrastructure development claims Rs87.7bn funds to stand at the third position. Of them roads construction will get Rs35bn, irrigation projects Rs23.4bn, urban development Rs13.5bn, public buildings Rs9.8bn, and energy Rs6.0bn.

    Production sectors like agriculture, food, livestock, forestry and fisheries, industries, mines and minerals get Rs34.5bn. Of it an amount of Rs15.5bn is the share of agriculture, Rs7.5bn of industries and skills development, Rs3.4bn of forestry, Rs3.5bn for livestock & dairy development, and Rs1.5bn of tourism.

    A sum of Rs20.6bn has been apportioned for services sectors. These included governance & IT (Rs6.0bn), labour and human resource development (Rs0.3bn), transport (Rs13.5bn), and emergency services (Rs0.8bn).

    The Planning & Development Department and PSFP will get Rs14bn, environment and human rights Rs1bn each, information & culture and Auqaf Rs0.3bn each, and archaeology Rs0.35bn.

    FOREIGN FUNDED: The ADP also includes 26 projects with foreign funding. The donors include the World Bank (12 projects), Asian Development Bank (three projects), DFID (three projects), and one each projects funded by AIIB, France, IFAD, Korea, China, and JICA.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Riaz HaqJune 27, 2019 at 10:34 PM

    #Pakistan's response to the #HIV outbreak in #Larkana has been fairly swift, involving various international agencies and provincial and federal governments. A new antiretroviral treatment (ART) clinic for children has been established in Larkana, #Sindh. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(19)30316-0/fulltext#.XRWlld77gBI.twitter

    In 2018, a UNICEF report ranked Pakistan as the riskiest place to be born in the world. Numerous health indicators, particularly those related to maternal and child health, are worse in Pakistan than elsewhere in the south Asian region. Preventable communicable diseases remain a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in the country; a situation that can be attributed to many complex societal, political, and structural factors that lead to inadequate sanitation, unsafe drinking water, overcrowding, low socioeconomic status, and poor vaccination coverage. Health literacy is low and varies geographically and by sex: estimates from the country's 2017–18 Demographic and Health Survey suggest that as little as 32% of women and 67% of men in the country had ever heard of HIV/AIDS, with comprehensive knowledge of the disease limited to 4% and 10%, respectively. These findings are despite the Pakistani Government launching the NACP, an HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness programme, in 1986–87.
    The reports of HIV epidemics in Pakistan linked to health providers (legitimate or not) have highlighted a potentially unappreciated source of the burden of bloodborne infections in the country, which has previously been attributed to transmission among the country's considerable population of injecting-drug users and sex workers. These reports are concerning for several reasons. First, they could indicate a worrying but potentially addressable knowledge gap in infection control processes and mechanisms of HIV transmission among health workers in Pakistan. Second, they could suggest a severe lapse in regulation of the country's health system, which allows people without appropriate training and certification to call themselves doctors. Third, they could lead to fear and mistrust of the health system, further exacerbating the country's health woes and putting health targets out of reach.

    The response to the HIV outbreak in Larkana has been fairly swift, involving various international agencies and provincial and federal governments. A new antiretroviral treatment (ART) clinic for children has been established in Larkana, although how long these treatments will be available is unclear, with access to ART generally limited in the country. The UN in Pakistan is supporting the federal government to develop short-term and long-term plans for identifying and mitigating causes of the outbreak, including strengthening the continuum of care for HIV, promoting health education, and reducing stigma. However, it should not have taken this tragedy to spur action. The health authorities in Pakistan must at least now use it as a catalyst for change.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Riaz HaqJune 29, 2019 at 6:32 AM

    #Pakistani #education #startup SABAQ shortlisted for Siemens Foundation’s global award. The award recognizes and endorses low-cost #technologies providing vital services and solutions for daily needs in developing countries. #technology #Pakistan https://www.dawn.com/news/1490721

    From a pool of 800 submissions from 86 countries, SABAQ is the only Pakistani startup to be among the 11 finalists for the empowering people Award (epAward) 2019 by the Siemens Foundation. The startup will be competing with other finalists for the Top 3 spots in Cairo next month.

    The award recognises and endorses low-cost technologies providing vital services and solutions for daily needs in developing regions. Projects submitted are examined on their technical functionality, local adaptability, social impact, team structure, and financial and business sustainability.

    In the next round, the finalists will present their enterprise in front of a multi-disciplinary international jury panel and a relevant audience from the international and Egyptian ecosystem, pitching their business concept and impact.

    The jury will determine the winners of the competition, announcing the first prize of 50,000 Euros, the second prize of 30,000 Euros and third prize for 20,000 Euros.

    Additionally, the runners-up will be awarded 10,000 Euros each. A Special WASH Award of 20,000 Euros will also be awarded.

    The Community Prize of 10,000 Euros will be given to the solution receiving maximum online votes. If you wish to vote for a project to help it win the Community Prize, click here.

    .SABAQ's flagship application, Muse, has led to improved learning outcomes for several primary grade students. — Photo courtesy: SABAQ
    “SABAQ is extremely honoured to represent Pakistan on this prestigious international platform. Previously this year, we were selected as the Top 6 Global EdTech startup at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai. We also took home the Transformers Roadshow Prize by the Islamic Development Bank in May. Now, being nominated for the Siemens Foundation global award greatly motivates us to continue our mission of revamping Pakistan’s education system and helping all children in Pakistan get access to quality education through our technology," SABAQ’s co-founder and CEO Hassan Bin Rizwan said.

    "Our journey so far has been only been possible through hard work and an unwavering dedication to build a better future for our children. We now need the Pakistani community to come forward and vote for us in our mission of educating every Pakistani child,” he said.

    Founded in 2015, SABAQ is an education technology initiative that has reached 100,000 children in low-cost and low resource environments till date.

    Its flagship application, Muse, has led to improved learning outcomes for primary grade students.

    Muse has also helped increase access to education technology for low-cost public and private schools in Pakistan, which are otherwise deprived of such resources.

    To date, Muse has been used in 1,000 schools across Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Riaz HaqJune 29, 2019 at 7:24 PM

    Every third child is underweight in Pakistan: survey

    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1989494/1-every-third-child-underweight-pakistan-survey/

    The National Nutrition Survey 2018-19 has painted a bleak picture of children’s health, stating that “every third child” in the country “is underweight”.

    The survey was released on Monday during a ceremony chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza and attended by Health Secretary Zahid Saeed, National AIDS Control Programme Manager Dr Basir Achakzai, Unicef representative and others.

    The survey was compiled by experts working under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Unicef.

    The report stated, “Breast-feeding has increased in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), while malnutrition in Balochistan and erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).”

    It stated, “Every four out of 10 children are malnourished. Over 40% children are affected by malnutrition in which the number of girls is higher than that of boys.”

    Giving the break-up of the malnourished children, the report stated, “In the country, 40.9% boys are malnourished, while 39.4% girls are victims of malnutrition and 28% are underweight.

    “Over 9% children are overweight. During the last seven years, the number of overweight children has doubled as in 2011 only 5% children were overweight while now the ratio stands at 9.5%. About 50% girls in Pakistan suffer from anemia while 48.4 % children are given mother’s milk. The ratio of children being fed mother’s milk stands at over 60% in K-P.

    “In Pakistan, 36.9% of the population face malnutrition. In Balochistan, 50% people are malnourished while in erstwhile Fata the ratio is 54.6%.”

    Addressing the ceremony, Health Adviser Dr Zafar Mirza said, “In line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Ministry of Health is taking drastic measures to overcome malnutrition.”
    Mirza said, “The data obtained from the survey will help in policy making and devising strategies.”

    He said they would join hands with the provinces in taking effective steps in the field of nutrition in light of the data obtained.

    “The incumbent government has already decided to tackle the biggest issue – undernourishment, especially in women and children,” said the PM’s aide, adding that the national survey had revealed that 40% children under the age of five were victims of stunting.

    Mirza acknowledged the fact that positive signs regarding more women feeding their milk to their newborns were received. “About 10% improvement has been recorded in mothers feeding their children their own milk.”

    Mirza said, “The ratio of people consuming clean water has increased, whereas only 21% water has been found fit for consumption.”
    He said information and steps regarding women giving birth had improved. “About 63% women come to clinics when they are pregnant, while 68% avail the expertise of experts, which has reduced the ratio of death among newborns,” said Mirza.

    About anemia, Mirza said, “Several women and children suffer from this condition. It has been reported that over 50% children suffer from anemia, while 62% lack Vitamin A.”

    He said that there had been an increase in the consumption of iodine salt, which “is a positive sign”.

    https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/National%20Nutrition%20Survey%202018%20-%20Key%20findings.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  12. Riaz HaqJuly 3, 2019 at 9:54 PM

    #Pakistan bringing services closer to communities affected by the #HIV outbreak. #UNICEF is refurbishing the pediatric HIV treatment centre at Taluka Headquarters hospital in Rotadero, #Larkana #Sindh https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2019/july/20190703_Pakistan

    A newly refurbished paediatric centre is to open in Ratodero, Pakistan, to serve families affected by the recent HIV outbreak in the district of Larkana. It is expected that the centre will be operational by mid-July.

    Alia (not her real name), the mother of a two-year old girl, lives in the village of Mirpur Bhutto, in Ratodero Taluka in Larkana district. Alia’s world has been turned upside down since her family was caught up in the HIV outbreak in the area.

    “My daughter was diagnosed with HIV just a few days ago, but she became so weak so quickly. She couldn’t eat anything we gave to her,” says Alia. After Sameera’s (not her real name) diagnosis, she was referred to Sheikh Zayed Children Hospital in Larkana to start antiretroviral therapy. The hospital is more than 50 kilometres away from the family home.

    “I got these dispersible tablets for Sameera and some fever medicine, and since she started her treatment, I have seen some improvements in my daughter’s health. Her fever has gone and before there was diarrhoea from which she also recovered,” explains Sameera’s mother.

    Alia’s husband is a farmer and earns less than two dollars a day. “We can hardly support our family of ten members,” she explains.

    Poor road conditions and economic constraints make it difficult for Alia and her daughter to travel from their village to the district capital Larkana, currently the nearest health facility where her daughter can receive the treatment she needs.

    Since the HIV outbreak was first reported in Larkana at the end of April, UNAIDS, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Sindh AIDS Control Programme and other partners have been calling for a new paediatric treatment centre in Ratodero to bring HIV services closer to the affected communities. As a result of these efforts and in the framework of the “Sindh HIV Outbreak Response Plan, May 2019-Apr 2020,” UNICEF is refurbishing the paediatric HIV treatment centre at Taluka Headquarters hospital in Rotadero, ensuring that treatment will be available in the area where Alia and her daughter live. When the new centre opens, HIV treatment services for Sameera will be less than 10 kilometres away.

    “I know my Sameera will be fine and that she will get married and have children. This is what the doctor told me. For this to happen she must continue her treatment forever. I will follow the doctor’s instructions because this is what will save my daughter’s life,” says Alia.

    By the end of June, 877 people had been newly diagnosed with HIV in the Larkana district. More than 80% of the new cases are among children aged under 15 years old. A total of 721 people had already been registered in care programmes and 482 people (365 of them children under the age of 15) were on treatment.

    “UNAIDS is working closely with the government, civil society organizations, the association of people living with HIV, UN agencies and all other partners to ensure that both the immediate response to the HIV outbreak and longer-term programmatic measures will be implemented and sustained,” said Maria Elena Borromeo, UNAIDS Country Director for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Riaz HaqJuly 26, 2019 at 4:32 PM

    Last Resort: #India and #Pakistan's Informal #Schools. The stories of struggle by children of marginalized communities in India and Pakistan have an uncanny resemblance. When governments fail, people rise to help their communities. #education@Diplomat_APAC http://thediplomat.com/2019/07/last-resort-india-and-pakistans-informal-schools/

    Pooja is enrolled at a small makeshift school with a frail structure and temporary ceiling that shivers when strong winds blow.

    “I want to become a teacher,” she says in a brittle voice.

    Her face glows with joy every time she talks about her school. Pooja’s school is no ordinary school. She receives education at a mobile school.

    Across the Radcliffe line in Maripur, Karachi, approximately, 1,000 kilometers away from Pooja, lives Roshail Atta Mahommad. The 17-year-old’s life has an uncanny resemblance to Pooja’s situation. She too has defied all social and cultural odds for education. Roshail, like Pooja, wants to become a teacher and contribute to her community’s well-being.

    Even after 70 years of independence, millions of children in India and Pakistan are deprived of education. Both countries are confronting the perils of their failure to educate their citizens, notably the poor. Pooja and Roshail are among the deprived generation who were left out of the state-run education system in their respective countries.

    The two may be divided by the border, but they are united by the failure of their governments to fulfill their basic fundamental right to education.


    For decades governments in India have made tall symbolic promises about improving the state of education in India. They’ve conceived policies and plans that have been nothing more than toothless paper tigers. The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-led government in Delhi has slashed education spending by nearly 50 percent in the last 4 years. Such misplaced national priorities deprive many like Pooja of education — a promised universal birthright.

    Echoes of similar hollow political promises are also responsible for the burgeoning education crisis in Pakistan.

    The two nuclear rivals inherited innumerable common issues. Education is one of them. In many ways their approaches to the issue have been similar too. The two arch-rivals have identical laws that ensure free and compulsory education but little has been done to implement them. The Right to Education Act, 2009 (RTE) in India recognizes free and compulsory education for children between the age of 6 and 14, under Article 21a of the Indian Constitution. Similarly, in Pakistan Article 25-A of the constitution guarantees the right to free education to all children between the ages of 5 to 16. The right to education was enacted, in both countries, with the idea to improve the state of education, but it has been haunted by procedural inefficiencies.

    ---

    The Heroes
    When governments fail to deliver fundamental rights, people rise to help their communities. Sandeep Rajput in India and Gamwar Baloch in Pakistan are two such heroes.

    The mobile school, run by Rajput, 41, is a free education facility on wheels. Rajput is known for chasing illiteracy in decrepit areas of Gurgaon in an old public bus. The decommissioned vehicle, once used by commuters, is now reconfigured to serve as a classroom on wheels. It is equipped with small tables and everything else a teacher might need to run a classroom. Rajput’s school on wheels, as it’s commonly known, is also recognized by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).

    Like Rajput, Pakistan too has a warrior, who fights against an unfair educational system. In 2013, Gamwar Baloch, 21, established a makeshift school named “Tikri Education Center.” The school provides free education to the deprived students in Maripur — a neighborhood of Kiamari town in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi. Baloch helps those who have been neglected by the state and are at the very bottom of Pakistan’s social ladder.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Riaz HaqSeptember 20, 2019 at 7:41 AM

    #Pakistan is leading the way with its #welfare state – the world can learn from its innovation. "Ehsaas", meaning empathy, launched by #ImranKhanPrimeMinister, is the most comprehensive welfare program ever undertaken by any government https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/pakistan-leading-way-welfare-state-world-can-learn-innovation/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw via @Telegraph

    ..Pakistan, for example, establishing a programme of Lady Health Workers. Health improvement starts in the community and if you tackle challenges at the source, whether it be health, education or skills training, it will have major health and economic benefits later. The community health worker model has been so successful that many years later it was picked up in high-income countries with New York, for example, now having a well-established network.

    This community-based approach allows health, education and other social issues to be tackled together in a holistic fashion. Girls and boys who are healthy, for example, are more likely to get a good education and go on to be productive members of society and live healthy lives. The strongest systems work across sectors, breaking through barriers to drive programmes and solutions that touch on health, education, economic livelihoods and beyond.

    This is why we should all be looking with particular interest at the work underway in Pakistan to build a sustainable welfare state. Called Ehsaas, which in Urdu literally means ‘empathy’, the new initiative is one of the most comprehensive welfare programmes ever undertaken by a national government, with an underlying ambition to create a social safety net for Pakistan that could transform the lives of millions. It is enormously wide-ranging and ambitious.

    ---------------

    Ehsaas is seeking to end the cycle of poverty faced by many Pakistanis. Acknowledging that no single area will unlock this ambition alone, Ehsaas encompasses 134 policies that range from tackling corruption to creating educational opportunities to providing the elderly with decent homes.

    The programme is led by Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, who has been mandated by Prime Minister Imran Khan to work in partnership across multiple federal ministries that these policies will be driven by, as well with provincial governments who have devolved powers including on education and health. Without a multisectoral approach, it would not be possible to create the welfare state envisioned by Ehsaas.

    The launch of a countrywide public consultation was particularly important as it was the first time a public policy in Pakistan had been developed in this way and demonstrates a new level of openness and transparency. Ehsaas’s impact will hopefully go much further than the borders of Pakistan. It will provide many lessons for low-, middle- and high-income countries.

    ------------

    We should seek to learn from the innovative approaches that Ehsaas plans to take to lift children out of poverty, to ensure girls get the same shot as boys in school and to ensure that millions of young people have both the skills training and a social safety net. This includes empowering the most marginalized women through the latest mobile technology and monitoring school attendance using biometric identification.

    There is a long road ahead to achieve the ambitions set out in the Ehsaas programme, which is still in its infancy. Whatever the eventual outcome, it is encouraging to see a country with Pakistan’s potential setting its ambitions so high. As with the community health worker system that turned global health on its head, the breaking down of silos is a vital step in building a welfare state in Pakistan but also provides a blueprint for how other countries can ensure essential services for all.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Riaz HaqSeptember 20, 2019 at 8:57 PM

    #Pakistan is leading the way with its #welfare state – the world can learn from its innovation. "Ehsaas", meaning empathy, launched by #ImranKhanPrimeMinister, is the most comprehensive welfare program ever undertaken by any government https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/pakistan-leading-way-welfare-state-world-can-learn-innovation/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw via @Telegraph

    ..Pakistan, for example, establishing a programme of Lady Health Workers. Health improvement starts in the community and if you tackle challenges at the source, whether it be health, education or skills training, it will have major health and economic benefits later. The community health worker model has been so successful that many years later it was picked up in high-income countries with New York, for example, now having a well-established network.

    This community-based approach allows health, education and other social issues to be tackled together in a holistic fashion. Girls and boys who are healthy, for example, are more likely to get a good education and go on to be productive members of society and live healthy lives. The strongest systems work across sectors, breaking through barriers to drive programmes and solutions that touch on health, education, economic livelihoods and beyond.

    This is why we should all be looking with particular interest at the work underway in Pakistan to build a sustainable welfare state. Called Ehsaas, which in Urdu literally means ‘empathy’, the new initiative is one of the most comprehensive welfare programmes ever undertaken by a national government, with an underlying ambition to create a social safety net for Pakistan that could transform the lives of millions. It is enormously wide-ranging and ambitious.

    ---------------

    Ehsaas is seeking to end the cycle of poverty faced by many Pakistanis. Acknowledging that no single area will unlock this ambition alone, Ehsaas encompasses 134 policies that range from tackling corruption to creating educational opportunities to providing the elderly with decent homes.

    The programme is led by Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, who has been mandated by Prime Minister Imran Khan to work in partnership across multiple federal ministries that these policies will be driven by, as well with provincial governments who have devolved powers including on education and health. Without a multisectoral approach, it would not be possible to create the welfare state envisioned by Ehsaas.

    The launch of a countrywide public consultation was particularly important as it was the first time a public policy in Pakistan had been developed in this way and demonstrates a new level of openness and transparency. Ehsaas’s impact will hopefully go much further than the borders of Pakistan. It will provide many lessons for low-, middle- and high-income countries.

    ------------

    We should seek to learn from the innovative approaches that Ehsaas plans to take to lift children out of poverty, to ensure girls get the same shot as boys in school and to ensure that millions of young people have both the skills training and a social safety net. This includes empowering the most marginalized women through the latest mobile technology and monitoring school attendance using biometric identification.

    There is a long road ahead to achieve the ambitions set out in the Ehsaas programme, which is still in its infancy. Whatever the eventual outcome, it is encouraging to see a country with Pakistan’s potential setting its ambitions so high. As with the community health worker system that turned global health on its head, the breaking down of silos is a vital step in building a welfare state in Pakistan but also provides a blueprint for how other countries can ensure essential services for all.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Riaz HaqSeptember 20, 2019 at 8:57 PM

    All You Need to Know About PM Imran Khan’s Poverty Alleviation Program ‘Ehsas’

    https://propakistani.pk/2019/04/13/all-you-need-to-know-about-pm-imran-khans-poverty-alleviation-program-ehsas/

    What is Ehsas?
    Ehsas is Pakistan’s biggest and boldest program for poverty eradication which aims to collaborate with all stakeholders—public, private, civil society, philanthropists, and expatriate Pakistanis towards one collective goal – poverty alleviation. The Poverty Alleviation Coordination Council, chaired by Dr. Sania Nishtar, developed the program after extensive consultation. It aims to change the lives of at least 3.3 million poor people in the next four years.

    PM Khan has allocated a massive amount of Rs. 80 billion –expendable to Rs. 120 billion by 2021 – for his anti-poverty derive which, according to him, is founded on the importance of strengthening institutions, transparency, and good governance.

    Following these necessary steps, Imran vowed to convert Pakistan into a welfare state where jobless, poor farmers and laborers, the sick and undernourished, lower-middle-class students, poor widows, and helpless elderly citizens are well taken care of. The program targets not only the underprivileged but also aims to provide them with the means to uplift their social status.

    Welfare State
    Pakistan is currently in Elite capture –where public resources are meant for a few families from the elite class. He wants to break the shackles by spending public money on the general public. The program Ehsas aims to empower the women economically; focus on the role of human capital formation for poverty alleviation, economic growth, and sustainable development.

    The Four Pillars of Ehsas
    According to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement, his poverty eradication drive is grounded on four fundamental pillars: countering elite capture and making the government system work to create equality; safety nets for disadvantaged segments of the population; jobs and livelihoods; and human capital development.

    In the following lines, we’ll discuss all four pillars of Ehsas in detail.

    I. Countering Elite Capture & Inequality of System

    The first and foremost part of this anti-poverty campaign is combatting the elite capture and inequity in the system which provides all the necessary facilities to the privileged only – be it tax relief, water distribution, crop choices, law & order, land use priorities and much more.

    To cater all these issues, Khan plans to introduce a new Constitutional amendment to move article 38(d) from the “Principles of Policy” section into the “Fundamental Rights” section – this minor tweak will make the provision of food, clothing, housing, education, and medical relief for citizens who cannot earn a livelihood due to infirmity, sickness or unemployment, a state responsibility.

    Secondly, he aims to increase social protection spending. In the fiscal year 2019-20 – an additional amount of Rs. 80 billion will be added to the social protection spending, which will increase to Rs. 120 billion in the next fiscal year.

    By digitizing the data of the poor class, the government aims to collaborate with pro-poor organizations to help needy. It is also going to earmark resources for pro-poor sectors to prevent channeling of funds to other sectors through ad hoc decision-making.

    He said that a one-window social protection operation would be conducted to avoid any duplication and abuse.

    Pakistan’s first ever official report on multidimensional poverty was released in 2016, and it revealed shocking figures. According to the study, 39 percent (38.8%) of Pakistanis live in multidimensional poverty, while 24.4 percent of those don’t even have enough money to satisfy their basic needs.

    To facilitate all of them, the government needs a database – and for this purpose, the government is establishing the National Socioeconomic Registry 2019 which will make the database of the poor class. Multiple validation procedures will be run for the collected data through follow-up review surveys to identify the real poor correctly.


    ReplyDelete
  17. Riaz HaqSeptember 20, 2019 at 8:58 PM

    All You Need to Know About PM Imran Khan’s Poverty Alleviation Program ‘Ehsas’

    https://propakistani.pk/2019/04/13/all-you-need-to-know-about-pm-imran-khans-poverty-alleviation-program-ehsas/

    Once the data is completed, the government will roll out two social protection programs Kifalat (sponsorship or support) and Tahaffuz (protection). Both programs will be run through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).


    Download [919.86 KB]

    Kifalat: Under the program, 5.7 million women across the country will get savings accounts in the nearby banks on one woman one bank account policy. The women of impoverished areas, without the bank facilities, will be given mobile phones to receive the funds.

    As many as 5000 ‘Digital Hubs’ will be established on Tehsil level all over the country which will provide details about job opportunities for the local youth and will make the government’s digital resources accessible.

    Tahaffuz: Tahaffuz or Protection will provide one-time financial aid to the poor against catastrophic events. This may aid interest-free easy loans for house-building (especially for landless farmers), free legal assistance in severe cases, financial aid for widows who don’t have children earning money, Ehsas homes for orphan children, Panah-gahs for homeless people, Sehat Card for 3.3 million people.

    Welfare for Elderly: An increment in the Old Age Benefit and minimum pension for elderly citizens, the establishment of Great Ehsas Homes (Old Age Homes) through Bait-ul-Maal.

    Government Increases Old-Age Pension By 20 Percent | propakistani.pk
    Labour Welfare: Creation of a labor expert group to provide its recommendations to address the following labor-related issues: loopholes in the existing laws which either keep the workers out of jobs or pay them poorly. The group will suggest amendments in the rules for minimum wage, and health and safety regulations, welfare and pension schemes for the informal sector.

    Overseas Pakistanis

    In a statement during a formal dinner with Saudi Royal Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Prime Minister Imran Khan requested him to take care of the Pakistani expatriates in Saudi Arabia and said:

    Please take very good care of my people (in the Kingdom). They leave their families and everything behind to work abroad. They are very near to my heart.

    His statement is reflected in the Ehsas program which suggests policy making for the welfare of overseas Pakistanis. The program aims to increase the number of community Welfare Attaches and Protector of Immigrants Officers to facilitate the expatriates. It will also involve well-reputed and well-off expatriates to facilitate the working class Pakistanis abroad.

    It includes policy making to allow free or subsidized air tickets to low-paid workers and productive negotiations with the governments to extend the duration of the working permit for unskilled labors as they hardly recover the cost of immigration their permit’s duration ends.

    III. Human Capital Development
    poor children pakistan
    Human capital development plays a significant role in the wealth of a nation and requires prioritizing investments in the early years by controlling malnutrition, providing preschool or early education and protecting children from harm.

    This will help against stunting in children by providing de-worming drugs, iron, folic acid, micronutrient supplements through government hospitals. Besides setting up a Multi-sectoral Nutrition Coordinating Body and the first-ever university-hosted National Centre for Human Nutrition, it also includes the 5+1 model of desi chicken and goat asset transfer, kitchen gardening, seed distribution for poverty alleviation and nutrition.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Riaz HaqNovember 18, 2019 at 7:39 PM

    Bombed by the Taliban: UAE brings schools to thousands denied an education in Pakistan
    A joint initiative in the Swat valley has seen dozens of schools rebuilt after being destroyed by militants

    https://www.thenational.ae/uae/education/bombed-by-the-taliban-uae-brings-schools-to-thousands-denied-an-education-in-pakistan-1.938561


    Growing up, all Naeem Hakeem had wanted was to study to become an electrical engineer.

    But in 2008, his dream was shattered when the Pakistan Taliban blew up his school in the country’s north-west Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

    The militants had emerged as a dominant force in the mountainous Swat valley district, and had begun enforcing a strict version of Islam.

    They banned modern education for both boys and girls as part of their efforts to prevent any semblance of a modern education system.

    A year later, Naeem, along with his family, had no choice but to leave their home when the Pakistan military launched a counter-offensive.

    The area became too dangerous to risk staying, with frequent firefights between combatants as well as numerous deadly roadside bombings.

    “That was the most terrible moment of my life, seeing my school being burnt out in front of my eyes,” Hakeem, now 21, told The National.

    “I spent around two years in a makeshift tent, far away from my hometown and missed my education too. Three years of my life were wasted.”

    Hakeem, now an undergraduate student in Swat’s capital Saidu Sharif, told how - more than a decade later - his life was finally back on track.

    He and his family were able to return to his rural hometown of Matta in 2011, and he had since resumed his studies.

    The reason for his change of fortune, he revealed, was largely down to a UAE decision to help fund the rebuilding of dozens of schools in Swat.

    Through the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme, the Emirates has allocated $41.52 million (Dh152m) for the reconstruction of 60 schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

    More than 50 have already been built, with an initial focus on two districts – Swat and South Waziristan. More than 30,000 students are now enrolled.


    “The militants had blown up our school at night, making it unable to be used for education purposes,” said Mohammad Alam, 48, a teacher at Government Boys High School Ahingaro Dherai – a second school just outside the town of Mingora that also became a target.

    “But you can’t imagine [how incredible it is] now seeing this beautiful two-storey building constructed with the financial assistance of the UAE.”

    According to UNICEF, Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children, with an estimated 22.8 million aged between 5-16 not attending classes.

    The 2018-19 Pakistan Economic Survey found the country’s literacy rate for those aged 15 and above was at 57 per cent.

    Meanwhile, Maldives tops the South Asia region at 98.6 per cent, followed by Sri Lanka at 91.2 per cent, Iran at 84.7 per cent and India at 69.3 per cent.

    Because of the fighting in Swat, child literacy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is now lower than the national average, at 55 per cent.

    But that statistic is fast being improved, due in part to the intervention of international donors such as the UAE.

    The Swat valley now has a total of 1,647 public schools, Dr Jawad Iqbal, an education activist, revealed.

    ----------
    “I got admission in this school for its excellent environment for female students,” said Fatima Ali, a 10th grade student whose name has been changed to protect her identity.

    Her school, some six kilometres outside of Mingora, and was first set fire to and then completely demolished by the Pakistan Taliban.

    “My parents couldn’t afford private schools’ fee, so I had to wait till reconstruction of this school in my area,” she said. Now, as many as 1,300 students study at the new premises built by the UAE.

    “The UAE is developing many humanitarian projects in Pakistan and our special focus is on improving education facilities for the youth,” said Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Al Zaabi, the UAE’s Ambassador to Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Riaz HaqNovember 21, 2019 at 7:35 PM

    65.6% #BISP recipients perceive Benazir #Bhutto and her family to be the source of BISP money being received by the beneficiaries. #Pakistan #PPP

    https://www.brecorder.com/2019/11/21/546324/citizenship-and-social-welfare/

    In comes this on-going research by Rehan Rafay Jamil, a PhD Candidate at Brown University, whose thesis essentially explores the subject of social policy and changing citizenship boundaries in Pakistan, where one of the key questions being explored is whether or not cash transfers programs create more active citizenship.

    Speaking at Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund's third conference on research and learning held on Oct 30-31,2019, Jamil's survey findings reveal that both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of BISP perceive Benazir Bhutto and her family to be the source of BISP money being received by the beneficiaries. The percentage was higher in the case of beneficiaries (65.6%) compared to the non- beneficiaries (60.3%) – but both segments thought that late PM and her family are the source of this financial assistance, rather than the federal government in power.

    But before PTI supporters cry foul, here is another finding worth brooding over. Jamil's sample-based research in Faisalabad, Muzaffargarh, Hyderabad and Thatta also found out that despite beneficiaries' close association of BISP with Benazir Bhutto and her family, voting patterns were split between those who voted for the PPP and those who voted for the Shirazis (or the independents) in the last general election. In other words, BISP's close association with the late PM and her party does not reinforce clientelism.

    Hopefully Jamil would expand this research to explore province-wise responses, and perhaps by districts that have high percentage of BISP beneficiaries as against those that have much less percentage of beneficiaries. Other nuggets from Jamil's ongoing research are also sort of myth-busting or at least raise important questions.

    For instance, many critics argue that handouts such as cash grants under BISP or free food under Ehsaas-Saylani Langar Scheme (ESLS) make beggars out of people and erode basic human dignity. Jamil's research thus far instead shows that these social welfare programmes do not appear to create social stigma. If anything, the impact is quite the reverse.

    His preliminary findings show that a vast majority of beneficiaries and their male household members reported feelings of “pride and dignity on being cash transfer recipients" and “being recognized by the state as citizens".

    This coils back the discussion to earlier question whether or not cash transfers programs create more active citizenship. Jamil seems to be resting his thought on the notion of ‘citizenship as a bundle of rights', including the right to social welfare that often creates a sense of affiliation and belonging with the society at large.

    It should not come as a surprise if Pakistan's government, current or next, ends up citing this research (once completed), especially the virtues of how social welfare increases citizenship to justify expansion in social welfare.

    But in that vein, while state's social welfare may well be a necessary condition to achieve higher level of citizenship among citizens, it is surely not a sufficient condition. And in the absence of full spectrum of political, economic and civic rights, expansion in social welfare can only increase the level of citizenship to a certain degree. If anything, if the state grants its citizens the full spectrum of political, economic and civic rights, the need for social welfare programme may in fact grow less, not more.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Riaz HaqNovember 21, 2019 at 7:45 PM

    BISP, Citizenship and Rights Claims in Pakistan


    By Rehan Rafay Jamil


    https://researchcollective.blogspot.com/2019/03/bisp-citizenship-an...


    Taking Stock of Ten Years of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP)

    Over ten years since its establishment, the Benazir Income Support Progamme (BISP) has become Pakistan’s largest social safety net, providing coverage to over 5.6 million women and their households across the country. The expansion of BISP over the past decade marks an important shift in social policy in Pakistan. BISP has now been overseen by three elected governments and has resulted in a significant increase in federal fiscal allocations for social protection. Despite vocal reservations about its name expressed by some political parties, the program remains Pakistan’s largest flagship poverty alleviation program with international recognition.[1]

    Third party impact evaluations of BISP have largely focused on its poverty alleviation, nutritional and gender empowerment impacts.[2] [3] These evaluations point to important reductions in poverty and improved nutritional levels for beneficiaries and their households. Oxford Policy Management’s 2016 evaluation finds reductions in BISP households’ reliance on casual labor and an increase in household savings and asset accumulation.[3]

    BISP is one of the largest cash transfer programs targeted exclusively at women in the Global South, making the gender impacts of BISP important to understand. In their evaluation, Ambler and De Brauw (2017) find some changes in gender norms and attitudes amongst beneficiaries and their families. Their study finds that female beneficiaries are more likely to have greater mobility to visit friends without their spouse’s permission, are less likely to tolerate domestic violence and male members are more likely to contribute to household work.

    BISP and the transition from Cash Transfer Beneficiaries to Citizens

    The evaluation reports provide some evidence that BISP has also had a wider set of intended and unintended consequences in influencing beneficiaries’ access to public institutions and spaces. Perhaps the most frequently cited impact of BISP has been a marked increase in rural women’s access to computerized national identity cards (CNICs), a prerequisite for obtaining the program. CNICs can be seen as the first step to citizenship and rights claims in Pakistan. The most significant impact of the rapid increase in CNIC registration amongst BISP beneficiaries has been with regards to voting. Ambler and De Brauw (2017) find evidence that BISP beneficiaries are more likely to vote in national elections. But whether BISP beneficiaries are empowered by the cash transfer to make a wider set of rights claims and access local state services, is less clear.

    In order to understand some of the changes brought about by BISP in the lives of rural women, I conducted qualitative field work, including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with beneficiaries and their spouses, in the district of Thatta in Lower Sindh. Thatta has a high proportion of BISP beneficiaries (47 percent), being a high poverty district. The aim of the fieldwork was to develop an understanding of how beneficiaries and their families perceive of BISP and whether the program has brought about any changes in their engagement with local state services.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Riaz HaqDecember 12, 2019 at 6:28 PM

    Human Development Report 2019
    Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century
    Briefing note for countries on the 2019 Human Development Report
    Pakistan


    http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/PAK.pdf


    Pakistan’s HDI value for 2018 is 0.560 (India 0.647)— which put the country in the medium human development
    category—positioning it at 152 (India 129) out of 189 countries and territories.


    The GDI is calculated for 166 countries. The 2018 female HDI value for Pakistan is 0.464 (India 0.574) in contrast with
    0.622 (India 0.692) for males, resulting in a GDI value of 0.747, placing it into Group 5. In comparison, GDI values for
    Bangladesh and India are 0.895 and 0.829 respectively (see Table D).


    Between 1990 and 2018, Pakistan’s HDI value increased from 0.404 to 0.560, an increase of 38.6 percent.
    Table A reviews Pakistan’s progress in each of the HDI indicators. Between 1990 and 2018, Pakistan’s life
    expectancy at birth increased by 7.0 years, mean years of schooling increased by 2.9 years and expected
    years of schooling increased by 3.8 years. Pakistan’s GNI per capita increased by about 62.4 percent
    between 1990 and 2018.

    Pakistan’s HDI for 2018 is 0.560. However, when the value is discounted for inequality, the HDI falls to
    0.386, a loss of 31.1 percent due to inequality in the distribution of the HDI dimension indices. Bangladesh
    and India show losses due to inequality of 24.3 percent and 26.3 percent respectively. The average loss due
    to inequality for medium HDI countries is 25.9 percent and for South Asia it is 25.9 percent. The Human
    inequality coefficient for Pakistan is equal to 30.2 percent (see Table C).


    The most recent survey data that were publicly available for Pakistan’s MPI estimation refer to 2017/2018.
    In Pakistan, 38.3 percent (India 27.9 percent) of the population (75,520 thousand people) are multidimensionally poor while an
    additional 12.9 percent (India 19.37 percent) are classified as vulnerable to multidimensional poverty (25,454 thousand people).
    The breadth of deprivation (intensity) in Pakistan, which is the average deprivation score experienced by
    people in multidimensional poverty, is 51.7 percent. The MPI, which is the share of the population that is
    multidimensionally poor, adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations, is 0.198. Bangladesh and India have
    MPIs of 0.198 and 0.123 respectively.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Riaz HaqJanuary 4, 2020 at 5:02 PM

    Donors pledge Rs350 million as Shaukat Khanum Hospital turns 25. Construction of Pakistan’s third and largest #shaukatkhanumhospital in #Karachi is about to begin and it will benefit people of Sindh and Balochistan #Pakistan #Cancer #Hospital @SKMCH https://nation.com.pk/01-Jan-2020/donors-pledge-rs350-million-as-shaukat-khanum-hospital-turns-25

    Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is chairman of the hospital’s board of governors and celebrities Ali Zafar, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Maya Ali, Hira Mani, Reema Khan, Shoaib Akhter, Javed Miandad, Jahangir Khan, Hamid Mir and Salim Bokhari joined the celebrations to encourage the donors.

    At the programme, Imran Khan narrated SKMCH&RC’s journey and said the dream of building a cancer hospital in Pakistan appeared to be unachievable in the beginning, but people’s unprecedented trust and generous support made this possible. He said the hospital has now become a symbol of hope for thousands of cancer patients in the country. “Construction of Pakistan’s third and largest Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Karachi is about to begin and it will benefit people of Sindh and Balochistan. They will be provided state-of-the-art cancer diagnostic and treatment facilities under one roof,” he said.

    During the four-hour long programme, SKMCH&RC supporter from across the globe continued to call and pledged Silver Jubilee donations. People also called to become ‘Ambassador of Hope’ for Shaukat Khanum and pledged to donate on a monthly basis. Pledges of Rs350 million were received in a short time. They are the proof that donors’ trust in SKMCH&RC has increased over the period of time.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Riaz HaqFebruary 23, 2020 at 9:30 PM

    India falls behind Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal in global hunger index; ranks 102nd among 107 countries

    https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/102-india-falls-below-pakistan-bangladesh-nepal-global-hunger-index/story/385002.html

    India has ranked 102nd among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI). In 2018, India had ranked 55 among 77 nations listed in the GHI. South Asian countries like Pakistan (94), Bangladesh (88) and Sri Lanka (66) have fared better than India, says a report prepared by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

    India is among 45 countries that have serious levels of hunger. The report says several countries have higher hunger levels now than in 2010, and around 45 countries are set to fail to achieve low levels of hunger by 2030. The GHI report says hunger is the highest in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara region. "South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara are the regions with the highest 2019 GHI scores, at 29.3 and 28.4 respectively, indicating serious levels of hunger," says the report.

    India's 'child wasting rate' (low weight for height) is extremely high at 20.8 per cent -- the highest wasting rate of any country, says the report. Child stunting rate in India, 37.9 per cent, is also categorised as "very high" in terms of its public health significance. In India, just 9.6 per cent of all children between 6 and 23 months of age are fed a minimum acceptable diet, it says.

    The report says as of 2015-2016, around 90 per cent of Indian households used an improved drinking water source while 39 per cent of households had no sanitation facilities. Contradicting the government's claim of making India open defecation free, the report says "open defecation is still practised" in the country. "In 2014, the prime minister instituted the "Clean India" campaign to end open defecation and ensure that all households had latrines. Even with new latrine construction, however, open defecation is still practised," it adds.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Riaz HaqMarch 15, 2020 at 11:06 AM

    Ticking Bomb of #Coronavirus? "..India will have a national disaster in a few weeks to months. SouthAsian nations have fragile & skimpy health management capacity in the best of times" #India has reported 102 cases, 2 deaths so far. #SouthAsia https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/is-south-asia-a-ticking-time-bomb-for-the-coronavirus/288446/#.Xm5rsjI3qmY.twitter via @ozy

    The world’s most densely populated region, South Asia is home to a quarter of the planet’s people, yet has so far reported just 169 cases, or a little more than one in every thousand of the total 156,000 patients globally. India has reported 102 cases, Pakistan 31, Afghanistan 11, Maldives 10, Sri Lanka 10, Bangladesh 3 and one each in Bhutan and Nepal. Two people — both in India — have died.

    But growing evidence suggests that the virus is far more widespread in the region, sparking concerns among leading public health experts and virologists that South Asia might be a time bomb waiting to explode. The region’s countries have focused their prevention strategy on scrutiny of incoming travelers at their international airports. India, for instance, said in early March it had screened 650,000 arriving passengers over the previous five weeks. But it was watching the vast majority for visible symptoms, and fewer than 1 percent actually underwent tests. And several cases appear to have slipped past, coming to notice only later, after they had been in contact with dozens of people.

    On March 8, the Kerala government declared three confirmed cases of the virus — people who had returned from Italy more than a week earlier. A 76-year-old American tourist was diagnosed with COVID-19 in Bhutan, after he had spent several days previously in India, traveling up the Brahmaputra river on a houseboat. Bangladesh’s first three cases of the coronavirus were all people who had recently returned from Italy but weren’t identified as positive at the airport. The cases in Pakistan too — all involving recent travel to Iran or Italy — weren’t detected at airports.

    Last week, the Indian government suspended most visas for foreigners until April 15, a drastic step that appeared to acknowledge its failure in screening visitors at airports. It has also banned passengers and crew from all foreign cruise ships until March 31. And on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on his other South Asian counterparts to prepare a joint regional strategy to combat the virus.

    --------

    What makes the challenge even more acute in the region is the lack of adequate basic facilities such as personal protective equipment, ventilators or intensive care units, says John. That makes any move to random testing among communities, as a strategy, difficult for countries like those in South Asia. It also means that death rates among vulnerable populations — such as patients who also have pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome — could eventually prove higher in India than in the West, he adds.

    A flood of misinformation over claimed cures that has swept the region is also worrying doctors and scientists. In India, some legislators have claimed cow urine and cow dung could heal you from the coronavirus — assertions with no scientific basis. India’s government has suggested that a cocktail of six herbs could help treat the virus. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, a misleading Facebook post suggested an incorrect way of wearing face masks.

    The spread of misinformation, on top of the coronavirus, is a scenario South Asia — and the world — can ill afford.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Riaz HaqApril 3, 2020 at 10:59 AM

    Can Pakistan's 88% BCG vaccination rate against tuberculosis (TB) help reduce the impact of coronavirus? A New York Institute of Technology study using data from 178 countries has concluded that both the incidence and mortality of COVID-19 are significantly lower in countries with BCG vaccination programs against TB. Will this study help prove Dawn News' alarming forecast of over 2 million
    confirmed cases by June 1 and 20 million actual infections wrong?


    Scientists have speculated that BCG vaccine may boost the innate immune system not just against TB but also against a variety of other pathogens from invading the body or from establishing an infection. Here are some of the key findings of the study summarized below:

    1. Countries that do not have a BCG vaccination policy against TB have seen 10X greater incidence and deaths from Covid-19 than the countries that do, according to a study of data from 178 countries by New York Institute of Technology researchers.

    2. BCG, or Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, is a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB). It is administered at birth in many developing countries that have historically suffered from the disease, such as India and Pakistan. Most of the developed nations, including US, Italy and the Netherlands do not have universal TB vaccination programs. Japan is among the few developed OECD nations that still do. The East Asian nation had some of the earlier cases, but the mortality is low despite not having adopted some the more stringent social distancing rules.

    3. The study looked at Covid-19 instances and mortality for 15 days between March 9 and 24 in 178 countries and concluded that incidence of Covid-19 was 38.4 per million in countries with BCG vaccination compared to 358.4 per million in the absence of such a program.

    4. The death rate was 4.28 per million in countries with BCG programs compared to 40 per million in countries without such a program. Out of the 178 countries studied, 21 had no vaccination program, while the status was unclear in 26 countries. The latter group was treated as not having a policy for the purpose of this study.

    http://www.riazhaq.com/2020/04/can-pakistans-tb-vaccination-program.html

    ReplyDelete
  26. Riaz HaqApril 5, 2020 at 5:44 PM

    #Pakistan is leading the way with its #welfare state – the world can learn from its innovation. PM #ImranKhan's #Ehsaas initiative is one of the most comprehensive welfare programs ever by a national government. #EhsaasEmergencyCash
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/pakistan-leading-way-welfare-state-world-can-learn-innovation/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw via @Telegraph

    This is why we should all be looking with particular interest at the work underway in Pakistan to build a sustainable welfare state. Called Ehsaas, which in Urdu literally means ‘empathy’, the new initiative is one of the most comprehensive welfare programmes ever undertaken by a national government, with an underlying ambition to create a social safety net for Pakistan that could transform the lives of millions. It is enormously wide-ranging and ambitious.

    ----------------

    Despite some progress since the turn of the millennium, a quarter of people in Pakistan still live in poverty, with rates of rural poverty more than double those in urban areas. With one of the fastest growing populations in the world, Pakistan will have to create a million new jobs each year just to keep up with the number of young people entering the job market. Educational attainment is some of the worst in the region and health indicators are not promising, demonstrated by the fact that Pakistan is one of only two countries where the wild poliovirus remains endemic.

    This is the context in which Ehsaas is seeking to end the cycle of poverty faced by many Pakistanis. Acknowledging that no single area will unlock this ambition alone, Ehsaas encompasses 134 policies that range from tackling corruption to creating educational opportunities to providing the elderly with decent homes.

    The programme is led by Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, who has been mandated by Prime Minister Imran Khan to work in partnership across multiple federal ministries that these policies will be driven by, as well with provincial governments who have devolved powers including on education and health. Without a multisectoral approach, it would not be possible to create the welfare state envisioned by Ehsaas.

    The launch of a countrywide public consultation was particularly important as it was the first time a public policy in Pakistan had been developed in this way and demonstrates a new level of openness and transparency. Ehsaas’s impact will hopefully go much further than the borders of Pakistan. It will provide many lessons for low-, middle- and high-income countries.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Riaz HaqApril 6, 2020 at 3:57 PM

    Pakistan's average daily per capita calorific intake was estimated by ADB at 2,440 kcal in 2013. Cereals accounted for 48% of daily calorific intake in 2013. Calorific intake from animal sources comprised 22%, while fruit and vegetables accounted for 2%. The average daily per capita protein consumption was estimated at 65.5 grams, while the average dietary energy supply adequacy was estimated to be 108% in 2015-2017.

    https://www.brecorder.com/2020/01/08/559976/political-instability-disasters-hinder-agri-output-adb/

    Approximately 46% of agricultural production comes from the cropping sector, compared with 54% from livestock. Buffalo meat was the single most valuable commodity produced in Pakistan in 2016 at around $9.8 billion. Other important commodities produced included buffalo's milk ($9.4 billion), wheat ($7.4 billion), beef ($5.5 billion), cotton ($3.3 billion), and chicken meat ($3.2 billion).

    Sugarcane was the largest crop produced with 65 million tons in 2016. Other important products included wheat (26 million tons), rice (10.2 million tons), maize (6.1 million tons), and cotton (5.3 million tons). Around 4.5 million tons of fertilizers were used in Pakistan in 2016, and a further 913,000 tons were imported into the country that year.

    Pakistan's livestock sub-sector, on the other hand, has demonstrated steady growth, especially in the face of increasing demand for livestock products due to a growing and rapidly urbanized population.

    The country's livestock sub-sector represents approximately 56% of value addition in agriculture and employs roughly 30 million people. Despite the increased production of poultry products, its external trade is low and has not realized the potential experienced in other livestock sub-sectors. In 2016, total poultry exports were valued at $2.7 million.

    Pakistan imported $7.1 billion worth of agricultural goods in 2016, compared with $3.7 billion in agricultural exports. Pakistan's main agricultural export commodities were rice ($1.7 billion), wheat flour ($173 million), tangerines and mandarins ($158 million), beef ($155 million), sugar ($123 million), and dates ($103 million). Palm oil was Pakistan's main food import at $1.7 billion, followed by cotton lint ($581 million), tea ($490 million), rapeseed ($464 million), soybeans ($383 million), and coffee ($329 million).

    ReplyDelete
  28. Riaz HaqApril 6, 2020 at 4:42 PM

    Highlights (food security, nutrition and health conditions)

    http://www.fao.org/3/ca5585en/ca5585en.pdf

    • Pakistan’s food security and nutrition status has much room to improve (slide 12).
    • In 2015–2017, one-fifth (20.5 percent) of its population was undernourished; the percentage
    was higher than the Southern Asian average (15.2 percent), the Asian average (11.5 percent)
    and the world average (10.8 percent).
    • In 2012, 45.0 percent of children in Pakistan were stunted (chronic malnutrition); the
    percentage was higher than the Southern Asian average of 37.9 percent, the Asian average of
    27.1 percent and the world average of 24.9 percent.
    • In 2016, 52.1 percent of Pakistan’s women of reproductive age (15–49 years) were anaemic; the
    percentage was much higher than the world average (32.8 percent).
    • Pakistan’s total protein intake increased from 59.4 g/day per capita in 1993 to 65.5 g/day in 2013
    (slide 13). Its 65.5 g/day per capita total protein intake in 2013 was slightly higher than the Southern
    Asian average (61.7 g/day), yet much lower than the world average (81.2 g/day) (slide 14).
    • Pakistan’s life expectancy at birth in 2017 was 67 years (68 years for women and 66 years for men),
    which was lower than the Southern Asian average (69 years), the Asian average (73 years), the
    developing regions average (71 years) and the world average of 72 years at that time (slide 15).

    Pakistan: 20.5 percent of the population (nearly 40 million people) were undernourished in
    the mid-2010s – the percentage was higher than the Southern Asian average (15.2 percent),
    Asian average (11.5 percent) and world average (10.8 percent); a large proportion (45 percent
    in 2012) of children were stunted.

    Pakistan: Total protein intake increased from 59.4 g/day per capita in 1993
    to 65.5 g/day per capita in 2013; the share of animal protein in total protein
    increased from 33.4 percent to 41.6 percent, yet the share of fish and
    seafood declined from 1.3 percent to 0.9 percent.

    Pakistan’s total protein intake in 2013 was 65.5 g/day per capita, slightly higher than the Southern Asian
    average (61.7 g) but only 80 percent of the world average (81.2 g); its animal protein was 41.6 percent of
    total protein, slightly higher than the world average (39.6 percent) and much higher than the Southern
    Asian average (22.5 percent); its fish protein was 0.9 percent of total protein, much lower than the
    Southern Asian average (3.1 percent) and world average (6.5 percent).

    Pakistan: In 2017, life expectancy at birth was 67 years, lower than the Southern Asian
    average (69), developing regions average (71) and world average (72); women are
    expected to live longer than men in Pakistan (68 years versus 66 years).

    Highlights (contribution of fish to food and nutrition)
    • Pakistan’s 27.3 g/day per capita animal protein intake in 2013 was slightly lower than the world average
    (32.1 g/day) but twice as much as the Southern Asian average (13.9 g/day) (slide 18), yet fish
    contributed only 2.2 percent of the country’s animal protein intake in 2013 (slide 19), declining from
    3.8 percent in 1993 (slide 20), much lower than the Southern Asian average (13.7 percent) and world
    average (16.3 percent) (slide 19).
    • In 2013, 82.8 percent of Pakistan’s fish production was food fish for direct human consumption, and
    17.2 percent was for non-food uses (slide 21).
    • In 2013, 98.8 percent of Pakistan’s food fish supply was from domestic production, and food fish import
    accounted for 1.2 percent (slide 21).
    • In 2013, 67.1 percent of Pakistan’s food fish utilization was for domestic consumption, and 32.9 percent
    was for export (slide 21).
    • Only one-third of the increase in Pakistan’s food fish supply during 1993–2013 went to domestic
    consumption; the other two-thirds were accounted for by net export. The 28 percent increase in total
    fish consumption during the period is only half of the 56 percent growth in its population, resulting in a
    decline in its per capita fish consumption from 2.8 kg in 1993 to 1.9 kg in 2013 (slide 22).

    ReplyDelete
  29. Riaz HaqApril 8, 2020 at 9:19 PM

    Estimation of Per Capita Food Consumption Patterns and Related Poverty
    in Swat villege of Kabal in Pakistan

    To analyze the per capita food consumption and related poverty, village Kabal a rural area of district Swat, Pakistan was selected. The average household size, based on 100 households was estimated as 6.5. It appears that on average an adult equivalent takes 372.51 g of flour, 74.68 g of meat, 70.29 g of rice, 177.12 g of vegetables, 28.31 g of pulses, 66.39 g of fruits, 166.34 g of milk, 53.60 g of fats, 6.76 g of black tea, and 73.21 g of sugar daily. Moreover, an average household spends Rs.16714.45 of their monthly income on food consumption. An individual member (adult-equivalent) of the surveyed household takes food, yielding 2857.27 calories per day. Since an adult person needs 2350 calories daily to live a normal life, this level is thus considered as the base to determine whether a person is on, above or below the poverty line. Based on average calorie intake, the surveyed households are found, on average, above poverty line (PL=1.2). The poverty status of the households surveyed shows that out of 100 households studied, 68.3% are above, 23.31% below, and 8.39% on the poverty line.

    ------------------------

    Pakistan has made significant progress in increasing the per capita
    availability of all major food items like cereals, meat, milk, sugar, and
    eggs over time. Seasonal vegetables like cabbage, brinjal, ladyfinger,
    onion, cucumber, better guard, tomato etc. [2]. Population with high
    income consume more beef, mutton, poultry, and fruits. In pulses
    mung, masoor, beans, and g while in tea black tea and green tea and
    milk are the pillar of food consumption in rural and urban population
    of Pakistan as a result, the average per capita calorie intake increased
    from 2078 in 1949-50 to 2450 in 2012-13. Similar trends have been
    reported for protein and fats


    https://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/estimation-of-per-capita-food-consumption-patterns-and-related-povertyin-kabal-2151-6219-1000357.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  30. Riaz HaqApril 8, 2020 at 10:45 PM

    Per capita nutrition supply in India among the lowest in the world


    https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/GzUIDPQXzktVDBEiE2ZPfI/Per-capita-nutrition-supply-in-India-among-the-lowest-in-the.html

    When demand is low, an increase in local production need not translate into increased availability as a larger portion of the produce may be exported. In India’s case, it also depends on changes in government stocks. The Economic Survey show that net cereal production has hardly changed at 465gm per person per day from 2000 to 2013. However, per capita availability of cereals has increased from 422gm in 2000 to 468gm in 2013. However, it was largely a function of changes in government stocks. In the previous two years, availability of cereals was lower at about 410gm per person per day.

    The average Indian had access to 2,455 kcal per day with protein and fat availability at 60gm and 52.1gm, respectively, according to OECD. This is far lower than the at least 3,000 kcal per day availability for OECD nations. Things have also not improved since the beginning of this century (see chart 3). Factors such as wastage of stocks are also to blame for poor availability. For instance, Food Corporation of India data show 3,000 tonnes of foodgrains were damaged in 2015-16. In 2014-15, quantity of damaged grains stood at 19,000 tonnes .

    ReplyDelete
  31. Riaz HaqApril 14, 2020 at 12:02 PM

    In this (coronavirus) race, Pakistan also joined on February 26, 2020 when a citizen entered the border with Iran. Public transportation is found more than other borders on this border, because Shia people travel to the place of Karbala through Iran for visitors. After China, Iran was suffering from this disease thousands of visitors were standing in front of the interior doors of Pakistan. The first case spread a wave of concern within the provincial governments with government members. The lack was showing an increase in the anxiety of the higher authorities. But one of the charismas of power was that in 23 days less than 1,000 people were affected, while the number reached thousands in the United States and China.


    https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2020/04/12/pakistan-fights-coronavirus-abnormally/

    After a month, the number reached about 1600. Pakistan was divided into seven parts regionally, in which the number of confirmed cases in Punjab is 2171, sindh 1036, Khyber pakhtunkhwa 560, gilgit-baltistan 213, balochistan 212, Islamabad 102 and azad Kashmir have registered 28 cases. According to the government database, confirmed cases 4322, the number of healthy patients are 572 and the number of worried people is 31. The number of people who are living in poverty is 63. The number of people working in the daily wages is limited to home. All sources of trade and global transportation have been closed. The government has stopped the country to prevent it .I understood the lockdown as a result of which the spread of the virus was considerably lower than other countries.

    The positive case on the border of Tiftan created such a wave of fear that life took place in the snow. The people who were surrounded by people were also looking for food. The streets of the desert business became a jam. All the businesses were stuck except for food items.The Pakistani economy has suffered a loss of 30 billion Pakistani rupees. The country’s deficit of $180 to 185 million is also in view of the lockdown. The deficit is touching the sky, but 13 million people will lose jobs. 3 to 5 million people will suffer structural unemployment.

    The rate of unemployment will increase by 45-50 percent. In this war from the house to the youth, everyone is divided into the next front. From the crowd to the mosques, the ban was applied. The people of the army and the police vehicles are forcing the people to stay confined to the houses. After the implementation of section 144, the market is deserted and the human being is showing trouble. To avoid the shortage of food, the government has approved the budget of the largest country of 1200 billion.Which includes deserving and working on daily wages. In the foreign aid, Pakistani friend China took the most part. $40 million was announced by the government of China. With 12000 test kits, 30000 fee masks and 10000 safety suits are also included.

    The social worker and alibaba foundation sent 50 thousand test kits and 50 thousand masks to the Pakistani people. $4 million Chinese aid will be spent on establishing hospitals and qarntina centers and completing medical accessories. In view of the situation, the Pakistani nation’s war along with Karina Empty stomach and salafis are also from masters who look at their facebook or twitter account information in exchange for a mask in street coaches, where they are seen to be stopped to take help with the poor. 1 crore 20 lakh families will be sponsored for rs 4,000 a month. You have to use the network 3 times for government assistance, you have to spend about 7 to 8 rupees for this stage yet 4 Rs 30 lakh 44 thousand 60 SMS has been received.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Riaz HaqApril 14, 2020 at 12:31 PM

    March 16, 2020—Aisha Yousafzai, associate professor of global health (at Harvard University), is the principal investigator of two large randomized controlled trials focused on early childhood development in Pakistan—Pakistan Early Child Development Scale-Up (PEDS) and Youth Leaders for Early Childhood Assuring Children are Prepared for School (LEAPS).

    https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/helping-vulnerable-children-thrive/

    What do you see as policy and research priorities in early childhood development?

    We know that young children need good health, proper nutrition, and early learning opportunities. But they also need security and stability. It’s important that they have consistent caregivers in early life who they can trust and rely on. When children don’t have these things, it can be harmful to their development and impact their health and future prospects.

    Policies that support families and help children thrive include investing in parenting programs and ensuring access to good quality, affordable child care and parental leave. And we should not be separating children from their caregivers who provide safe stable nurturing care.

    We still need to better understand what works for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, such as those living through a humanitarian crisis. It’s not enough to focus just on the immediate emergency phase. We need to address the long-term needs of these children and their families. Another understudied population is children with developmental delays and disabilities. We need to look at how to strengthen health care systems to address their needs.

    What results have you found from PEDS and LEAPS?

    In the PEDS trial, we wanted to see if Pakistan’s Lady Health Workers (LHW) program—which provides home visits to promote health and nutrition in mothers and young children—could also effectively promote children’s development. Community health worker interventions like the LHW program were set up in recent decades in low- and middle-income countries to promote child survival. Now that we are seeing improvements in child survival in many countries, we need to think about how these programs can deliver interventions beyond survival that help children thrive.

    For this study, we adapted a curriculum developed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, and evaluated it in a randomized controlled trial. Results were favorable up to age two, and some of the benefits to children’s cognitive-language and motor development were sustained at age four.

    But alarm bells were raised when we saw that only about a quarter of children in rural communities had access to preschool—and even those who did weren’t necessarily getting quality education.

    That challenged us to think about the continuity of services for children, from the first 1,000 days of life to the early years of education and beyond. We developed a way to address the need for better preschool in Pakistan that also helped fill a gap in training and employment for young women. Working with Pakistan’s National Commission on Human Development, we established a training program for women ages 18–24 to become preschool teachers (LEAPS) and placed trainees in villages with no established preschool services.

    Our pilot found that this program provided a good school readiness benefit for children as well as a boost to youth employment. Now, we’re scaling up across four districts, and also looking at how well the country’s education system is able to absorb this intervention.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Riaz HaqJune 26, 2020 at 7:10 PM

    Bilawal repeats challenge to govt on hospitals

    https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/677550-bilawal-repeats-challenge-to-govt-on-hospitals

    Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Wednesday repeated his challenge to the government on hospitals saying that it had been 72 hours since he had challenged the PTI to name a government hospital on a par with the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) they have made in last nine years.

    Bilawal tweeted his challenge and said he was still awaiting a response from the PTI to name any government hospital, which they had built in last nine years.

    "It’s been 72 hours since I challenged PTI to name ONE government hospital they have made in the last 9 years that can compete with any of the hospitals they are trying to steal from Sindh; like NICVD. Still waiting.”

    He also posted the pictures of 10 hospitals across Sindh which provide free of cost treatment to all including the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi; Chest Pain Unit, Lyari; NICVD, Khairpur; NICVD, Tando Muhammad Khan; NICVD, Mithi; NICVD Larkana; NICVD, Nawabshah, NICVD, Sujjur; NICVD, Sehwan; and NIVCD, Hyderabad.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Riaz HaqJuly 8, 2020 at 4:48 PM

    Pakistan Literacy rate increased by only 2pc in last four years

    https://www.dawn.com/news/1563338


    Pakistan has not made any tangible improvement in literacy rate which increased only 2pc during the last four years and at present stands at 60pc.

    “A literacy rate of only 60pc considerably limits opportunities towards acquiring skills and technical knowledge for higher productivity and better-earning levels,” says Economic Survey released on Thursday.

    It said according to the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2018-19, the literacy rate of the population (10 years and above) is 60pc compared to 58pc in 2015-16.

    “The literacy rate is higher in urban areas (74pc) than in rural areas (51pc),” read the survey. Province-wise analysis suggests that Punjab has the highest literacy rate with 64pc followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (excluding the merged tribal areas) with 57pc, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including merged areas) with 55pc and Balochistan with 40pc.

    The Economic Survey said large investments in education access and quality are required to obtain the objective of educated and skilled human resources, along with comprehensive planning, removal of gender inequalities, and enforcing more accountability in the sector.

    Education plays a leading role in improving the economic condition of the country and is a vital investment for human and economic development.

    The survey while pointing out overall assessment in education sector said that overall education situation based on institutes, and teachers, have shown a slight improvement. It said the total number of enrolments during 2017-18 was recorded at 51 million compared to 47.6 million during the same period last year, which shows an increase of 7.1pc.

    The survey while highlighting uniform education system, said that present government is making efforts to introduce single national curriculum with the aim to eliminate the disparity between curriculums, facilities, medium of instruction, and have a fair and equal opportunity for all children to receive a high-quality education.

    Phase-I of single national curriculum (for class 1-5) has been developed, and its implementation would be completed by March 2021. Similarly, phase-II of single national curriculum (for class 6-8) would be ready by March 2021 and implemented by March 2022, while the phase-III curriculum (for class 9-12) would be ready by March 2022 and implemented by March 2023.

    While discussing, Net Enrolment Rates Net Enrolment Rates (NER), primary level refers to the number of students enrolled in primary schools of age 6 to 10 yea group, the survey said that NRE saw slight improvement as it was 66pc in 2015-16 and now for year 2018-19 it was recorded 66pc.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Riaz HaqSeptember 11, 2020 at 1:18 PM

    Social Safety Program Amid COVID19 Pandemic:


    https://www.cgdev.org/blog/using-what-you-have-scale-payments-covid-response-early-indications-south-asia

    India
    India is able to reach a high percentage of households through the combination of multiple programs including food rations, pensions, LPG cooking gas subsidies, food-for-work programs, farmer subsidies and making transfers to holders of Aadhaar-linked Jan Dhan accounts. Already, this approach appears to have been able to support quite a high proportion of poor households by scaling up food rations and various financial transfers. Initial survey results suggest that the system has provided material assistance, although some difficulties have been reported in cashing out payments and using the funds to purchase supplies.

    In addition to the federal government, many states have announced their own programs to help people who fall through the system, especially migrants. But states face hard budget constraints due to expenditure ceilings imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. Although the central government has allowed states to borrow up to 50 percent of their yearly credit needs upfront, the current uncertainty may prevent them from significantly expanding the range, scope, and scale of social assistance programs.

    Lessons so far: The architecture of direct benefit transfers and JAM facilitates both scale-up and portability of benefits. But it is not possible to get an integrated view across programs which hinders coordination between the central and state-level initiatives. Many people fall through the cracks, especially migrants whose place of current residence does not match their registration location. In crises that disrupt supply chains there is an important role for efficient in-kind systems, but these have to be designed to ensure portability across states.

    Pakistan
    Building on the platform for BISP, the main social safety net program, Pakistan has announced a major scaleup of financial assistance to people affected by COVID-19. The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program distributes cash to 12 million families whose livelihood is severely impacted by the pandemic or its aftermath. People apply for the benefits through mobile phones. Their claim is assessed, which can include a check against databases, linking records with the national ID number. If they are approved, they can collect their benefit, after biometric authentication, at one of 17,000 cash disbursement centers that have been set up. From its inception in early April, cash has reportedly reached about one quarter of those entitled to the transfer, indicating a significant degree of state capacity to scale up transfers quickly.

    Lessons so far: Pakistan is able to use its ID system and mobiles to initiate a large-scale centrally managed transfer program to uniquely identified and verified recipients. Because of the links with the National Socio-Economic Register and several other databases, the government can apply a range of exclusion rules to help target the transfers without making beneficiaries go through time-consuming application and verification procedures. Drawing on its past experience disbursing flood relief in 2007, Pakistan is also using mobile technology to offer recipients a choice of providers, although special payment points are needed because of low financial inclusion. It is not known how easily people are able to purchase supplies with their financial grants.

    Bangladesh
    Bangladesh has announced a range of programs but has not yet begun to implement them, and faces questions on how it will proceed. Some programs will be able to disburse through mobile money accounts, but many will not. There are also questions about the resilience of the mobile agent network: many agents provide service as a side business while their main income is from small shops, including in markets. They may not find it worthwhile to offer cash-out services if they are not able to open for normal business.


    ReplyDelete
  36. Riaz HaqDecember 18, 2020 at 1:41 PM

    Human Development Report 2020
    The Next Frontier:
    Human Development and the Anthropocene
    Briefing note for countries on the 2020 Human Development Report

    http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/PAK.pdf

    My reading: Deep in the report in table F they show the extreme income poverty of 3.9% in Pakistan, the lowest in South Asia region. Income poverty in India is 21.2% and Bangladesh 14.8%. The average for South Asia is 18.2%.


    Pakistan’s HDI value for 2019 is 0.557— which put the country in the medium human development
    category—positioning it at 154 out of 189 countries and territories.
    Between 1990 and 2019, Pakistan’s HDI value increased from 0.402 to 0.557, an increase of 38.6 percent.
    Table A reviews Pakistan’s progress in each of the HDI indicators. Between 1990 and 2019, Pakistan’s
    life expectancy at birth increased by 7.2 years, mean years of schooling increased by 2.9 years and
    expected years of schooling increased by 3.7 years. Pakistan’s GNI per capita increased by about 64.1
    percent between 1990 and 2019.

    --------

    The 2010 Human Development Report introduced the MPI, which identifies multiple overlapping
    deprivations suffered by individuals in 3 dimensions: health, education and standard of living. The health
    and education dimensions are based on two indicators each, while standard of living is based on six
    indicators. All the indicators needed to construct the MPI for a country are taken from the same
    household survey. The indicators are weighted to create a deprivation score, and the deprivation scores
    are computed for each individual in the survey. A deprivation score of 33.3 percent (one-third of the
    weighted indicators) is used to distinguish between the poor and nonpoor. If the deprivation score is
    33.3 percent or greater, the household (and everyone in it) is classified as multidimensionally poor.
    Individuals with a deprivation score greater than or equal to 20 percent but less than 33.3 percent are
    classified as vulnerable to multidimensional poverty. Finally, individuals with a deprivation score greater
    than or equal to 50 percent live in severe multidimensional poverty.
    Since 2018, HDRO and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative jointly produce and
    publish the MPI estimates. The latest release from July 2020 covers 107 developing countries (countries
    that lack survey data that allow for the calculation of the MPI are not included): ‘Charting pathways out
    of multidimensional poverty: Achieving the SDGs’ (also available in French and Spanish). Definitions of
    deprivations in each indicator, as well as methodology of the MPI are given in Technical note 5.
    Continuing with the practice from the previous years, HDRO is making public the statistical programs
    used in the calculation of the 2020 MPI for a large selection of countries (see
    http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/mpi-statistical-programmes).
    The most recent survey data that were publicly available for Pakistan’s MPI estimation refer to
    2017/2018. In Pakistan, 38.3 percent of the population (81,352 thousand people) are multidimensionally
    poor while an additional 12.9 percent are classified as vulnerable to multidimensional poverty (27,419
    thousand people). The breadth of deprivation (intensity) in Pakistan, which is the average deprivation
    score experienced by people in multidimensional poverty, is 51.7 percent. The MPI, which is the share
    of the population that is multidimensionally poor, adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations, is 0.198.
    Bangladesh and India have MPIs of 0.104 and 0.123, respectively.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Riaz HaqJanuary 23, 2021 at 8:26 AM

    The project approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) includes Rs45 billion for new healthcare facilities, Rs7 billion for national health surveillance, Rs13 billion water sanitation, hygiene as well as interventions in less developed areas, said Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar.

    https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-federal-government-approves-largest-healthcare-project-worth-rs70-billion-1.76673020



    Besides the healthcare project, the economic body also approved several projects regarding infrastructural and human development, education and water resources worth around Rs209 billion.

    Focus on heath amid pandemic
    Pakistan is investing in stronger health systems after the coronavirus pandemic unveiled the shortcomings of the country’s health system. The government’s focus is on strengthening the health system and engaging communities to protect people from future health threats. Pakistan government has also allocated $250 million initial funds for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine and has announced to provide coronavirus vaccines free of charge to its citizens.

    Universal health coverage
    Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to improve healthcare spending and also announced universal health coverage for all citizens for the first time in Pakistan. The programme, first initiated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2020, would soon be extended to other provinces. Under the universal health insurance programme, each family would be entitled to medical treatment of up to Rs1 million ($6,000) a year at over 250 government and private hospitals across Pakistan.

    “The development of the Universal Health Coverage benefit Package of Pakistan and its implementation will become the cornerstone of health reforms across Pakistan” believes PM’s Special Assistant on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan.

    ------------------

    The government plans to establish 48 nutrition centres under its Ehsaas programme to overcome common health problems like stunting, underweight and overweight in children under five years of age, especially in under-developed and poor areas of the country.

    https://www.dawn.com/news/1601030/48-nutrition-centres-to-be-set-up-under-ehsaas-programme

    Under this programme, nutrition/health services and conditional cash transfers will be made available to mothers and children. In the beginning, these centres will be set up in 13 districts.

    This was decided at a meeting of the Ehsaas Na­­shonuma (nutrition) Steer­ing Committee presided over by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on So­­cial Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar here on Monday.

    The meeting was informed that the programme was being implemented in partnership with the World Food Programme and provincial governments. The participants of the meeting discussed issues related to coordination between the parties which will implement the programme and how to effectively address the issue of undergrowth and malnutrition in the country.


    The meeting was infor­med that it is a three-year programme which delivers conditional cash transfers to vulnerable pregnant women, mothers and children under five and provide them specialised nutritious food, immunisations and health-awareness sessions.

    Representatives from the federal and provincial ministries, Foreign Commonwealth and Deve­lopment Office, Wor­­­­­ld Bank, World Food Pro­gramme, Wor­ld Health Orga­nisation, Asian Develo­p­ment Bank and Unicef atten­ded the meeting. Nutri­tion under the Ehsaas progra­mme aims to support multi-sectoral stra­tegies through poor-friendly programmes by targeting mothers and children.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Riaz HaqJanuary 30, 2021 at 5:16 PM

    How Pakistan is Using Moringa Tree to Alleviate Malnutrition


    https://www.voanews.com/episode/how-pakistan-using-moringa-tree-alleviate-malnutrition-4561791

    As part of an ongoing project in Pakistan’s Sindh province, efforts are underway to integrate a uniquely nutritious and drought-resistant tree called Moringa, into the local diet to help alleviate malnutrition. Muhammad Saqib has details from Matiari in Sindh province in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.

    ------------------

    Moringa contains many healthful compounds such as:

    vitamin A
    vitamin B1 (thiamine)
    B2 (riboflavin)
    B3 (niacin), B-6
    folate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
    calcium
    potassium
    iron
    magnesium
    phosphorus
    zinc
    It is also extremely low in fats and contains no harmful cholesterol.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Riaz HaqJanuary 30, 2021 at 5:22 PM

    Growing moringa to cure malnutrition in Sindh

    https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/773297-growing-moringa-to-cure-malnutrition-in-sindh

    Plant nursery managers in Sindh have started to understand the growing demand and importance of moringa (oleifera) tree, because of its nutritional and medicinal value.


    Nursery managers collect moringa seeds from neighbourhood trees and also buy from the local markets. Hundreds of plants are readily available for sale at the nurseries to meet the rising demand from the locals.

    Alisher Hajano, associated with the government's social forestry department, near the famous Mayani forest, Hyderabad said, “It is only recently that this tree got popularity at a larger scale.”

    Each nursery at the highway grows as much as 10,000 to 50,000 plants of moringa for contributing to annual tree plantation drives. Many people mostly use leaves and pods as organic food.

    Hajano receives a number of people from different areas demanding two-five kilogram of fresh leaves to cure some ailments. He doesn’t own mature trees himself, and procures the product from neighbouring villages.

    Moringa leaves are dried by these people at room temperature, to later use for curing some diseases. “I know many entrepreneurs in the neighbouring villages, who sell moringa fresh and dried leaves, powder and roots, which they prepare at homes and farms. They also consume fresh and dried leaves, pods and roots themselves as an organic vegetable,” he said.

    In the past, people preferred planting neem and other varieties of fruit trees at home and workplaces, but now they prefer moringa trees because of its various uses.

    Moringa tree saplings are available at almost all private nurseries for Rs20-80 each, depending on size and health.

    Various government and non-governmental organisations have taken initiatives to tackle malnutrition via community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM). However, very few long-term interventions have been noted that are linked to building the capacity of local communities, especially in the areas of cropping, plantations and livelihood mechanisms.

    After realising the importance of moringa in eradicating malnutrition, many organisations have taken different steps to promote this magical tree on a larger scale, while also disbursing knowledge and awareness about its usage as food and for curing health problems.

    A report of Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tandojam shows that they had initiated a project in Tharparkar district, to address the issue of malnutrition. The university had planted 5,000 moringa trees with 500 households, believing in its nutritious value for both humans and livestock.

    Residents of Thar Desert, due to inherent structural poverty, poor socioeconomic indicators and limited livelihood options, suffer from chronic food insecurity. Moringa tree is considered the best substitute to provide necessary nutrition to children under five, and pregnant and lactating mothers.

    The report said that 5,000 mature trees would be sufficient not only for the communities’ own consumption, but also for their livestock. Apart from this, parts of the tree could be used to treat various diseases.

    Muhammad Siddiq, leading Rural Development Association (RDA) in Mithi, Tharparkar district claims to have planted 5,600 moringa saplings in different areas of the desert. Some plants cultivated in 2017, have now matured and people have access to fresh leaves and pods to use as vegetables.

    “It is a fast growing tree and the desert area is suitable for its plantation. It has also been proved one of the best solutions to tackle malnutrition on a sustainable basis,” he said.

    There are more species of moringa, but oleifera is said to be more effective with medicinal properties. The tree is highly rich in nutrients, which are required by children under the age of five and pregnant and lactating mothers.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Riaz HaqMarch 9, 2021 at 10:31 AM

    To provide survivor-centered care, health workers in Pakistan learn to ask about gender-based violence with empathy

    https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/to-provide-survivor-centered-care-health-workers-in-pakistan-learn-to-ask-about-gender-based-violence-with-empathy

    Early in her career, Dr Rukhsana Bashir, a clinician in Pakistan, was used to seeing women in her clinic with symptoms of pain, headaches, insomnia and depression. She would listen and treat each symptom, but the underlying causes went unnoticed.

    She did not know that some of those women were experiencing gender-based violence (GBV) – a pervasive health challenge throughout the country and world, and one she personally had experienced.

    Approximately, 34% of ever married women in Pakistan have experienced spousal violence, either physical, sexual or emotional, in their lifetime, with rates increasing as high as 52% in Khyber Paktunkhwa Province.

    “It never came to my mind that these women might be experiencing gender-based violence,” says Dr Bashir, who works at the Family Planning Association of Pakistan’s Family Health Hospital in the city of Lahore.

    Now years later, Dr Bashir has been trained by WHO to use its clinical and policy guidelines: Responding to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women. She further trains health workers how to provide survivor-centered care including how to ask about violence and how to provide first-line support.

    Dr Bashir is one of more than 1000 doctors, nurses, hospital administrators and community health workers, including midwives who were trained between 2018-2020 as part of the roll out of the clinical and policy guideline package by Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination and provincial health departments, with technical support from WHO and sister UN agencies, to strengthen the country’s health systems response to gender-based violence.

    Thanks to the training she received, Dr Bashir has changed her practice. Unexplained symptoms of chronic pain or headaches, insomnia or depression, lead her to ask more questions to women about potential violence at home.

    “When women come to the clinic, they don’t think that they are going to discuss the problem [of violence], but I have to ask them a few bold questions. In the beginning they are afraid and don’t want to tell me anything, but you have to identify their problems. Only then can you offer better services and treatment.”

    A decade long effort to support survivors
    The training Dr Bashir completed is part of a decade long effort WHO’s Pakistan office to work with the Government to strengthen the health and multisectoral response to gender-based violence. However, in order to strengthen the health sector response, the country needed manuals, job aids and trainings for health workers. In 2010 there were none.

    In response, the Government developed a national protocol for medico-legal care for gender-based violence survivors in 2011. This was accompanied by ongoing policy dialogues and advocacy to strengthen health sector response to gender-based violence.

    In 2017, the WHO clinical handbook: Health care for women subjected to intimate partner violence or sexual violence, was adapted and piloted in selected provinces and districts. The adaptation process, led by the Government and WHO, included multiple stakeholders, such as provincial ministries of health, UN Women, UNFPA, non-governmental organizations, medical associations and health workers.

    As a result, the Pakistani clinical handbook for health workers on the management of sexual and gender-based violence, and localized job aids and materials for training providers were produced. The Government and WHO conducted 30 trainings for master trainers, health workers, and medico-legal experts in four provinces.


    ReplyDelete
  41. Riaz HaqMarch 11, 2021 at 8:57 AM

    #Pakistan PM #ImranKhan launches initiative to feed the hungry. Free meals will be provided through Ehsaas Food Trucks at designated delivery points to people in need, especially those at risk of or experiencing #hunger. #poverty #malnutrition #Covid19

    https://nation.com.pk/11-Mar-2021/pm-imran-khan-launches-initiative-to-feed-poor

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday formally launched ‘Ehsaas Koi Bhuka Na Soye’ (No One Sleeps Hungry) initiative at a ceremony held here.

    Addressing the launching ceremony, the Prime Minister regretted that there were many areas in Pakistan where people go to bed hungry.

    “Most people in Pakistan are on daily wages and when they don’t get their wages, they have to sleep empty stomach,” he added.

    He said that the government is starting the programme in Islamabad at the moment but it would soon reach other cities as well. “One day, these vans would feed people in entire Pakistan.”

    As per the programme, cooked meals will be provided through mobile trucks at designated delivery points to people in need especially those at risk of or experiencing hunger.


    Initially, the Ehsaas Food Trucks are being operated in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and at later stage this programme will be further expanded to other parts of the country.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan said the programme is a step towards a welfare state, which always cares for its poor and deserving people.

    He said he always feels happy to see that deserving people are given shelter and food with honour and dignity at various Panahgahs established across the country.

    He also announced to launch a subsidy programme by June this year under which money will directly be transferred to the accounts of 30 million families.

    He said it will enable the poor and deserving people to procure kitchen items.

    It was his dream to extend the ‘Koi Bhuka Na Soye’ programme to the whole country and “Insha Allah we will do it”, he added.


    Imran Khan said a large number of philanthropists in the country desired to participate in such programmes, and he believed that the success of pilot project in the twin cities would help win their trust to contribute towards its extension across Pakistan.

    He also mentioned with pride the government’s health card scheme in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Gilgit Baltistan, under which each family was entitled for medical treatment worth Rs one million from any public or private hospital.

    The prime minister, in a briefing on the occasion, was informed that after extensive deliberations on different avenues, the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM) initiated the Meals on Wheels programme to tackle the extended demands of Panahgaahs.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar said the programme was aimed at providing two time hygienic packed food – lunch and dinner – to the needy individuals through real time mobile kitchens in urban and rural areas of Islamabad. The project would be later scaled up to other areas of the country.

    PBM Managing Director Aon Abbas, in his briefing, said at present two Ehsaas food trucks were serving free quality cooked food at various points across the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, including hospitals, bus stations and other public places with utmost dignity. The meals were cooked, stored and distributed from the truck kitchen.

    As per estimates, each food truck would feed two meals to around 2,000 people daily, and would target those, who could not reach the Panahgaahs for food.

    The programme had been designed in a public private partnership mode whereby the PBM would be responsible for the operations of food trucks and Saylani Welfare International Trust would be responsible for the provision of meals.

    The Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal had already been working on the component of Panahgaahs to provide food and shelter to the extremely poor and needy.It had so far established 15 Panahgaahs in different provinces.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Riaz HaqMarch 26, 2021 at 1:53 PM

    #Pakistan to get $1.3 billion #WorldBank loan for social safety net (#EhsaasKafaalat), #infrastructure & governance. Projects include 35 small rainwater-fed #groundwater recharge #dams in #Sindh: #Karachi, Jamshoro, Thatta, Dadu, & Tharparkar. #water
    https://www.geo.tv/latest/341738-pakistan-strikes-13-billion-development-agreement-with-world-bank


    Pakistan has reached an agreement with World Bank to work on seven projects worth $1.3 billion aimed at improving social protection, infrastructure, and governance, a statement from the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Friday.

    Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar witnessed the signing ceremony of seven project agreements at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

    "This financing will support the government’s initiatives in Social Protection, Disaster and Climate Risk Management, Improving Infrastructure for Resilience, Agriculture and Food Security, Human Capital Development and Governance Sectors," the statement said.

    The agreement includes the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection Programme (CRISP) worth $600 million. The objective of the programme is to support the development of a more adaptive social protection system that will contribute to future crisis-resilience among poor and vulnerable households in the country.

    "The programme is focused on the key initiatives being undertaken by Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) under the Ehaas Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes," the statement said.

    The second project worth $200 million is the Locust Emergency and Food Security Project that will introduce a set of customised activities — such as conducting locust surveillance and controlling operations, rehabilitating livelihoods of affected rural communities and farmers — to effectively address the desert locust outbreak.

    The third project worth $200 million is the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Human Capital Investment Project.

    It aims to improve the availability, utilisation, and quality of primary healthcare services and elementary education services in four districts — Peshawar, Nowshera Haripur, and Swabi — of KP that have been hosting refugees.

    The Sindh Resilience Project worth $200 Million — the fourth project — is to mitigate flood and drought risks in selected areas and strengthen Sindh’s capacity to manage natural disasters and public health emergencies.

    "The project will support the establishment of the Sindh Emergency Service, including the development of six divisional headquarters operational facilities, provision of equipment, and training of personnel," it said.

    It will also support the construction of 35 small rainwater-fed recharge dams in drought-prone regions of Sindh including Karachi, Jamshoro, Thatta, Dadu, and Nagarparker in Tharparkar districts.

    The fifth project and sixth projects, Balochistan Livelihood and Entrepreneurship, and Balochistan Human Capital Investment Projects, worth $86 million aim to promote employment opportunities for rural communities; achieve sustainability of enterprises, and improve utilisation of quality health and education services in the province.

    The final and seventh project, the Supporting Institutional Interventions for Management of Refugees Project, worth $50 million, aims to improve organisational and institutional capacity for managing refugees and host communities.

    Secretary Ministry of Economic Affairs Noor Ahmed signed the financing agreements on behalf of the federal government, while representatives of Sindh, KP, and Balochistan signed their respective project agreements online.

    World Bank's Country Director Najy Benhassine signed the agreements on behalf of the World Bank. The country director assured his institution's continuous financial and technical support to Pakistan in a bid to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Riaz HaqMay 15, 2021 at 6:25 PM

    #WorldBank recognizes #Pakistan's #EhsaasEmergencyCash among world's largest. Pakistan is among top 5 lower middle income nations by level of #social protection spending. #Mongolia (8% of #GDP), #Zimbabwe (5%), #Bolivia (3%), #Pakistan (1.2%), Others <1% https://www.brecorder.com/news/40092285

    As per World Bank’s latest report titled Social Protection and Jobs Responses to COVID-19: A Real-Time Review of Country Measures, India’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) program with over 206 million individuals covered, is the largest Covid-related cash transfer scheme worldwide. Such program is followed by three cash transfer interventions all reaching over a hundred million people, namely the US first stimulus check (160 million), Japan’s one-off universal program reaching about (116.5), and Pakistan’s Ehsaas (100.9).

    The report stated that Pakistan was also among the top 5 lower-middle-income countries by level of social protection spending. The highest level of spending in lower-middle-income countries is observed in Mongolia (8% of GDP), Zimbabwe (5%), Bolivia (3%), Pakistan (1.2%), and with a range of others spending 1% of GDP.

    As per the report, Pakistan’s provincial governments also implemented supportive fiscal measures from the onset of the shock, including cash grants to low-income households, tax relief, and additional health spending (including a salary increase for healthcare workers).

    The government of Punjab implemented a PKR 10 billion cash grants program. The government of Sindh's measures included a cash grant.

    The Government of Pakistan allocated Rs. 203 Billion (USD 1.23bn) to deliver one-time emergency cash assistance to 15 million families at risk of extreme poverty. This represents nearly 109 million people. Each family receives Rs. 12,000 (USD 75) for immediate subsistence.

    The Economic Coordination Committee approved Rs. 75 billion among 6.2 million daily-wage earners with cash assistance for the daily wagers working in the formal industrial sector and who had been laid off because of the COVID-19 outbreak. It was part of the PM’s Relief Package of Rs 200 billion.

    As part of the supportive fiscal measures, the Government of Pakistan implemented additional health spending. The government of Sindh's measures included a cash grant and ration distribution program of PKR 1.5 billion for low-income households.

    The report stated that a relief package worth PKR 1.2 trillion was announced by the federal government on March 24, which has been almost fully implemented. The economic package earmarked resources for accelerated procurement of wheat (PKR 280 billion), financial support to utility stores (PKR 50 billion), a reduction in regulated fuel prices (with a benefit for end-consumers estimated at PKR 70 billion), support for health and food supplies (PKR 15 billion), electricity bill payments relief (PKR 110 billion.

    The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in April last year approved the deferment of monthly and quarterly fuel adjustments in the electricity bills for power consumers for the next three months (till June 2020) under the government relief package. 06 April 2020 Power Division has reportedly prepared power tariff freezing for three months aimed at minimizing the financial burden on the Coronavirus-hit consumers, estimated financial impact of which will be Rs 381 billion, stated the report.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Riaz HaqMay 17, 2021 at 8:29 AM

    Is Covid-19 a turning point in social protection?

    https://nation.com.pk/17-May-2021/is-covid-19-a-turning-point-in-social-protection


    A number of social protection interventions, monetary interventions such as a cut in policy rate by the central bank, and flexible credit facilities were introduced by the government. Most notably, it introduced the Ehsaas Emergency Cash (EEC) programme, covering 5 million existing Ehsaas Kafaalat beneficiaries and new temporary beneficiaries who were either uncovered or ineligible before the pandemic. Identified through an SMS campaign, many of the new beneficiaries are daily labourers and informal workers whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by the corona-induced economic downturn. An immediate cash relief of Rs.12,000 was extended by the government to these families. Moreover, the Prime Minister launched a web-portal soliciting applications from those who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic and committed the Prime Minister’s Covid Pandemic Relief Fund to those qualifying for aid. These funds are being disbursed through the EEC programme.

    When analysing the shock responsive social protection pathways, the following points are important to consider. Pakistan already has a social safety net in place which targets the poorest quintile of the population. Therefore, it might have been ideal to expand on the already existing cash transfer programmes. In that instance, a lot of people, including daily wage labourers, who have been adversely impacted by this pandemic crisis but weren’t part of any existing social safety net might have missed out. Hence, it was imperative to reach out to people who were not part of such safety nets, but desperately needed support.

    In such a scenario, one option was to give out a one-time universal payment, such as in developed countries, but that means some of the money would have gone out to the undeserving people as well. Keeping in view the limited resources, this wasn’t a viable option and the approach of targeted support was better suited. Hence, the EEC programme that leveraged on the existing Ehsaas infrastructure was launched and it has effectively targeted the vulnerable segment of the society.


    Fortunately, over the past decade, Pakistan has developed asocial safety net structure which provided a foundation to expand upon and deliver shock responsive aid efficiently in form of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme. However, this piggyback model through which the existing systems of Ehsaas are being utilised is a short-term intervention. Though helpful, it doesn’t cover broader aspects of social protection such as enabling the poor to graduate out of poverty. This will be a critical factor in offsetting the adverse impact of the pandemic in the long run.

    A strong sustainable social protection system guides the beneficiaries towards self-sufficiency and enables them to earn their own livelihoods, addressing inequality as a result, ensuring social inclusion and empowering the vulnerable. During the pandemic cinduced joblessness, it is essential that the social protection framework sprioritise the vulnerable, provide access to health services, support people in adopting necessary prevention measures, ensure income security, protect human capabilities and livelihoods, scale up and strengthen already existing social protection programmes and its delivery capacities and design crisis response measures with a view to strengthen social protection systems in the long term.

    Pakistan highly values its relations with EU: COAS Bajwa
    The Ehsaas programme has done well but the harsh reality is that there is a need to improve the existing social protection mechanism, build state capabilities, make shock responsive social protection a permanent feature and transition to a broader comprehensive scale of welfare for a better, inclusive and sustainable future. Hopefully, the Covid-19 pandemic would turn out to be a turning point in the social protection domain in Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Riaz HaqJune 12, 2021 at 11:41 AM

    In Pakistan we are developing a Covid-19 legacy to end poverty and drive health for all

    The pandemic shines a bright light on inequity and we now have a window of opportunity to help people bounce back along with the economy

    BY SANIA NISHTAR

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/pakistan-developing-covid-19-legacy-end-poverty-drive-health/


    While our immediate focus is to bring down the current number of cases, we are also preparing for future shocks and are further investing in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of a welfare state that works for everyone in Pakistan and tackles the foundational inequities that the virus exploited.

    Many lessons have been learned from this pandemic, both in terms of what works and where we need to improve – lessons that are relevant for both social protection and health systems. The first lesson is the importance of “building systems”.

    We were able to deliver the emergency cash program because of preexisting digital capabilities that Ehsaas, Pakistan’s groundbreaking poverty alleviation initiative, had already created. These digital capabilities, which included a biometric cash distribution system, were quickly adapted alongside an SMS based request platform and data analytics.

    A recent report by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth found that the Ehsaas emergency cash transfer program, which distributed US$1.2 billion to 15 million families, was pivotal in preventing a catastrophic explosion in poverty during the pandemic.

    Similarly, systems established by the Covid-19 National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) delivered results due to data driven decision making and coordination. Pakistan’s polio infrastructure was heavily utilised during the Covid-19 pandemic to track the virus, break chains of transmission and ultimately save lives.

    For the vaccine rollout, existing systems of immunisation and its cold chain were augmented. The second lesson is the importance of reaching the most breaking the chains of poverty to achieve sustainable prosperity.

    Since Ehsaas was established in 2019, the Prime Minister has maintained its focus on reaching the most marginalised communities, with the understanding that as well as being the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do.

    We have seen from other health and development programs that this is not always an easy task. Yet while noting the success and critical role of the polio programme in the current pandemic, Pakistan is yet to eliminate polio.

    This is primarily due to inability to reach some children and this is especially true of the Pashtun community, in certain parts of the country. We can’t accept this for polio, health services or social protection.

    The philosophy behind Ehsaas’ efforts is to ensure that everyone can access quality health and nutrition services, that our children get a good education which opens their horizons for the future and a strong social safety net so that when needed the most disadvantaged groups have something to fall back on it.

    Third, innovations are only as good as the capacity to scale. In the wake of the pandemic, we have fast-tracked our work on building the social protection registry; we are expanding our social protections operations and are opening ‘one-window centres’ for Ehsaas so that those accessing the benefits can do it all in one go.

    Hiring and training people to deliver Ehsaas services was key to being able to scale up quickly and effectively and responding to the acute economic challenges that ordinary people faced. And the same goes for strengthening our own health systems to end this pandemic and prepare for future ones.

    The Government of Pakistan is working to strengthen our own domestic vaccine manufacturing. Nationally and internationally, we’re working with public and private stakeholders to encourage the sharing of licensing, technology and know how and waiving intellectual property through the duration of the pandemic.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Riaz HaqJune 30, 2021 at 11:54 AM

    #WorldBank grants #Pakistan $442.4m for uplift of #social #infrastructure in #Punjab. Project aims to provide equitable and sustainable access to clean drinking #water; improve #sanitation; reduce child stunting in Punjab to cover 2,000 poorest villages https://www.geo.tv/latest/357246-world-bank-grants-4424m-for-uplift-of-social-infrastructure-in-punjab

    The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Government of Pakistan and the World Bank signed the financing agreement of “Punjab Rural Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project” on Sunday, said a press release issued by Ministry of Economic Affairs (EAD).

    Secretary Economic Affairs Noor Ahmed signed the financing agreement on behalf of the Government of Pakistan while Country Director, World Bank Najy Benhassine, signed the agreement on behalf of the World Bank.

    The project aims to provide equitable and sustainable access to clean drinking water; improve sanitation; and reduce child stunting in Punjab.

    The project interventions will cover 2,000 villages including 2,000 main settlements and 8,000 small settlements in 16 districts of Punjab that are the poorest and have the worst social infrastructure, besides stunting issues.

    In line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to ensure equitable and inclusive socioeconomic opportunities, eight districts from South Punjab; Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, DG Khan, Lodhran, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpur have been included in the project.

    Furthermore, eight other districts from Central and North Punjab i.e. Bhakkar, Chakwal, Chiniot, Jhang, Khushab, Mianwali, Pakpattan and Sarghodha were included after due diligence.

    The project will have a direct impact on the life of citizens and create employment opportunities in the rural areas.

    The government will invest in social infrastructure and improve service delivery to provide potable water through cost-effective and sustainable investments; offer safely managed sanitation facilities to reduce the total fecal burden in the village environment; and raise awareness and promote behaviour change for better hygiene practices at the household and community levels to promote health and ensure the sustainability and quality of the water source.

    The project interventions will directly benefit six million rural people of Punjab and will support in reducing the incidence of stunting among children aged 0-3 years (40%) in Punjab.

    Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan appreciated the World Bank’s efforts by highlighting that this was a signature project which reflects the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to invest in human capital and to improve the standard of living of the people.

    The minister further stated that today’s event was a reflection of the continued confidence by the IFIs on the government’s policies, economic reforms and people-centered programmes.

    He reiterated the commitment of the federal government to extend all possible support to the provincial governments in their efforts to invest in human capital by addressing challenges to health and education; building resilience, improving service delivery and promoting economic opportunities to ensure inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country.

    The Secretary EAD thanked the World Bank's country team for extending their continuous support to the government of Pakistan to help achieving sustainable economic development in Pakistan.

    Country Director World Bank, Najy Benhassine ensured the World Bank’s continued financial and technical support to Pakistan in achieving the priority development objectives and to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Riaz HaqJuly 3, 2021 at 12:10 PM

    In Pakistan we are developing a Covid-19 legacy to end poverty and drive health for all
    The pandemic shines a bright light on inequity and we now have a window of opportunity to help people bounce back along with the economy

    by Sania Nishtar

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/pakistan-developing-covid-19-legacy-end-poverty-drive-health/


    Developing a Covid-19 Legacy to End Poverty and Drive Health for All As Prime Minister Imran Khan and I travelled to Larkana, a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan to meet with the people effected by the pandemic, we met with a street vendor called Arshaq who broke down as he received the Rs.12,000 Ehsaas emergency cash – Pakistan’s flagship welfare state system.

    He told us that he intended to invest about a fifth of the money to rent a pushcart and buy bananas to sell. He was confident that he’d make enough money for his family to live off. With tears in his eyes he went on to say he would buy food rations with the rest of the money as his daughters had not eaten properly for weeks.

    It was deeply humbling and reflects the hardship millions of people have gone through over the last 18 months of the pandemic. The latest increase in cases of Covid-19 appear to be dropping and vaccines, which are key to us and the world getting through the acute stage of this pandemic, continue to be rolled out across Pakistan, the country is finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

    ---------

    For the vaccine rollout, existing systems of immunisation and its cold chain were augmented. The second lesson is the importance of reaching the most breaking the chains of poverty to achieve sustainable prosperity.

    Since Ehsaas was established in 2019, the Prime Minister has maintained its focus on reaching the most marginalised communities, with the understanding that as well as being the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do.

    We have seen from other health and development programs that this is not always an easy task. Yet while noting the success and critical role of the polio programme in the current pandemic, Pakistan is yet to eliminate polio.

    This is primarily due to inability to reach some children and this is especially true of the Pashtun community, in certain parts of the country. We can’t accept this for polio, health services or social protection.

    The philosophy behind Ehsaas’ efforts is to ensure that everyone can access quality health and nutrition services, that our children get a good education which opens their horizons for the future and a strong social safety net so that when needed the most disadvantaged groups have something to fall back on it.

    Third, innovations are only as good as the capacity to scale. In the wake of the pandemic, we have fast-tracked our work on building the social protection registry; we are expanding our social protections operations and are opening ‘one-window centres’ for Ehsaas so that those accessing the benefits can do it all in one go.

    Hiring and training people to deliver Ehsaas services was key to being able to scale up quickly and effectively and responding to the acute economic challenges that ordinary people faced. And the same goes for strengthening our own health systems to end this pandemic and prepare for future ones.


    The Government of Pakistan is working to strengthen our own domestic vaccine manufacturing. Nationally and internationally, we’re working with public and private stakeholders to encourage the sharing of licensing, technology and know how and waiving intellectual property through the duration of the pandemic.

    Pandemic proofing our systems is smart economics when you consider the trillions lost over the last 18 months. None of this would have happened without the steadfast leadership of the Prime Minister, Imran Khan.

    Embarking on the most ambitious anti-poverty drive in Pakistan prior to the pandemic was challenging but it was also critical to leverage key resources to help us tackle the acute need while laying the groundwork for a long-term recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Riaz HaqJuly 21, 2021 at 2:58 PM

    Sehat Sahulat Programme: SLIC Pakistan’s role


    https://www.brecorder.com/news/40108406


    Sehat Sahulat Programme is one of the key milestones of the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa towards social welfare reforms with an objective to improve access to quality medical services in a swift and dignified manner without any financial obligations. It is the first-ever initiative aimed at providing free of cost indoor healthcare services to the entire population of the province in private and public sector hospitals.

    The federal government, in collaboration with the Punjab government, is also implementing the Sehat Sahulat Programme covering the entire population of AJK, FATA, Tharparkar, Sahiwal and D G Khan Division. At the same time, the below poverty population of Islamabad, GB and the rest of Punjab is covered under the Federal Scheme.

    At present, the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan manages both programmes making it the largest micro-health insurance provider in the country, covering more than 100 million members in the designated areas. State Life offers healthcare services in more than 90 districts of Pakistan, with its extensive network of more than 500 hospitals across Pakistan.

    The organisation is responsible for enrolment of families, empanelment of hospitals, treatment rate negotiations, in-patient care provision, complaint redressal, hospital claims processing, fraud control, risk and financial management of the programmes.

    As part of the implementation process, SLIC has stationed its own staff Health Facilitators at each panel hospital while District Medical Officers conduct regular rounds to observe the quality medical practices. Different IT enhancements, including real-time information and mobile application, were introduced to improve customer experience, cost efficiency and ease of delivery of services. State Life has, therefore, a significant role in the successful implementation of health insurance programmes.

    Over the course of five years, State Life has developed strong technical capacity, ground network, IT and human resource development to ensure effective implementation of programmes. More than 1.1 million patients are treated under the health programmes with more than 97% satisfaction rate as per 3rd party, i.e., NADRA’s assessment. The maximum amount of ground-work completed by State Life makes those programmes successful.

    It is pertinent to mention that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa carried out an open tendering process in 2020 among leading private and public sector insurance companies to implement the Sehat Sahulat Programme. The shortlisted organisations include i) State Life Insurance Corporation; ii) A joint consortium of Askari Insurance, Jubilee Life, Jubilee General, AXA, Takaful Pakistan and System International; and iii) A joint consortium of United Insurance, SPI Insurance & Association of Development of Public Health.

    State Life was awarded the contract for the implementation of SSP as a result of its highest technical score depicting the solid technical knowledge, historical experience, strong liquidity and financial strength of the corporation. Besides technical weightage, State Life has also quoted the lowest premium in comparison with other insurance companies. All the other insurance programmes procured by State Life have resulted from a similar open bidding process. As such, the perception of direct awarding of the Sehat Sahulat Programme to State Life is incorrect.

    The organisation is in competition with other private sector insurers for UHI in Punjab, GB and ICT. The programme is expected to implement in phases, whereas State Life has already covered the entire DG Khan and Sahiwal divisions.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Riaz HaqJuly 21, 2021 at 3:05 PM

    Exploring willingness to pay for health insurance and preferences for a benefits package from the perspective of women from low-income households of Karachi, Pakistan

    https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-021-06403-6

    Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and reduction in out of pocket (OOP) expenditures on health, is a critical target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In low-middle income countries, micro-health insurance (MHI) schemes have emerged as a useful financing tool for laying grounds for Universal Health Coverage. The aim of this study was to provide evidence for designing a feasible health insurance scheme targeted at urban poor, by exploring preferences for an insurance benefits package and co-payments among women from low-income households in Karachi, Pakistan.

    Respondents reporting expenditure on OPD and hospitalization in the last 2 weeks were 93.4 and 11.9% respectively. The highest median expenditure was incurred on medicines. Out of the proposed benefits package, a majority (53%) of the study participants opted for the comprehensive benefits package that provided coverage for emergency care, hospitalization, OPD consultation, diagnostic tests and transportation. For the co-payment plan, 38.9% participants preferred no co-payments that is 100% insurance coverage of medicines followed by hospitalization (25.9%). Nearly half of the respondents (49.4%) chose outpatient consultation for 50% co-payment. A majority of the participants (65.3%) agreed to 100% co-payment for the transportation cost.

    Health insurance schemes can be introduced in urban areas, against collection of micro-payments, to prevent low-income households from facing financial catastrophe. A comprehensive benefits package covering emergency care, hospitalization, OPD consultation, diagnostic tests and transportation, is the most preferred among low-income beneficiaries.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Riaz HaqAugust 15, 2021 at 10:27 AM

    #Pakistan #infant mortality rate (#IMR) has declined from 278 deaths per 1000 live births in 1950 to 58 deaths per 1000 live births in 2020. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/PAK/pakistan/infant-mortality-rate

    https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1426956456843038720?s=20

    Chart and table of the Pakistan infant mortality rate from 1950 to 2021. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.
    The current infant mortality rate for Pakistan in 2021 is 57.998 deaths per 1000 live births, a 1.88% decline from 2020.
    The infant mortality rate for Pakistan in 2020 was 59.109 deaths per 1000 live births, a 1.84% decline from 2019.
    The infant mortality rate for Pakistan in 2019 was 60.219 deaths per 1000 live births, a 1.81% decline from 2018.
    The infant mortality rate for Pakistan in 2018 was 61.330 deaths per 1000 live births, a 2.16% decline from 2017.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Riaz HaqAugust 15, 2021 at 10:28 AM

    At the time of the first census in 1950, the overall literacy rate was 20% in India and 14% in Pakistan, according to UNESCO. As of 2012, India has achieved 75% literacy rate while Pakistan is at 58%. Pakistan Youth (15-24 years) literacy rate is 79.1% for males and 61.5% for females. Each new generation of Pakistanis is more literate than its predecessors:

    Over 55 years 30% literate

    45-55 years 40%

    35-45 years 50%

    25-35 years 60%

    15-25 years 70%

    http://www.riazhaq.com/2014/03/history-of-literacy-in-pakistan-1947.html

    ReplyDelete
  52. Riaz HaqAugust 18, 2021 at 3:55 PM

    Muzammil Aslam on Ehsaas, Sehat, Kisan cards in Pakistan


    PTI
    @PTIofficial
    ·
    1h
    وزیر اعظم نے احساس پروگرام شروع کیا ، مفت ہیلتھ انشورنس دی اور کاشتکار کو کسان کارڈ دیا جس سے عام آدمی کی زندگی بہتر ہوگی : مزمل اسلم
    @MuzzammilAslam3

    https://twitter.com/PTIofficial/status/1428105923629752322?s=20

    ReplyDelete
  53. Riaz HaqOctober 3, 2021 at 5:57 PM

    3 Ways Hunar Ghar Helps Women in Pakistan


    https://www.borgenmagazine.com/hunar-ghar-helps-women-in-pakistan/

    Hunar Ghar helps women in Pakistan find confidence in themselves. Professional instructors teach skills such as embroidery, sewing, hairdressing, block printing and bag-making. Women enrolled in Hunar Ghar’s courses receive high-quality training allowing them to master their chosen skills. Learning improves by providing materials such as sewing machines, needles and cloth. All are entirely free for students. After completing their course, the women get an official certification to honor their hard work and achievements. Armed with the certificate, students can feel more confident in themselves and their abilities.

    Hunar Ghar guides Pakistani women through the path of starting a business. After students complete their course, Hunar Ghar offers them the chance to sell their handmade products at the organization’s fundraisers and other events. Enrolled women get the opportunity to show their intricate kurtas, block print bags, hand-painted kitchenware and more to a large audience. As a result of more Pakistani consumers viewing their work, the women may begin to make a profit for themselves. Every year, nearly 250 Hunar Ghar course graduates can become entrepreneurs and establish their businesses.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Riaz HaqOctober 4, 2021 at 7:40 AM

    PM Imran Khan launches Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP).
    Under the programme, the government will provide Rs1.4 trillion micro loans to 3.7 million households across the country.
    Kamyab Pakistan Programme has been designed to transform the lives of the marginalised segments of the society.

    https://www.geo.tv/latest/373832-pm-imran-to-inaugurate-kamyab-pakistan-programme-today


    Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday launched ambitious Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP) worth Rs1400 billion in Islamabad to facilitate the vulnerable segments of the society.

    Addressing the inaugural ceremony of Kamyab Pakistan Programme in the federal capital, PM Imran Khan said that the project should have been launched 74 years ago.

    The prime minister termed the KPP a landmark initiative and said that it will bring improvement in the living standards of the common man.

    “Our system is made to facilitate the elite class,” the prime minister said, adding that the state of Madina was a role model for him.

    Terming the Madina state the world’s most successful model, PM Imran said that people become prosperous after a welfare state was established in Madina.

    Lashing out at the previous governments, the prime minister said the flawed policies of the past left far behind our marginalized segments of the society.

    “Inequality is the basis of the downfall of any society,” PM Imran added. He maintained that no government worked on the uniform syllabus in the country.

    Referring to China’s progress, the prime minister said that Beijing took measures to facilitate the vulnerable segments of the society and became a developed country within 35 years.

    PM Imran, while talking about petrol prices, said, “In Pakistan, prices of petroleum products are less as compared to other countries of the region.”

    “We have also tried to absorb the maximum pressure of international increase in the prices of commodities. There has been 100% increase in the prices of petroleum products over the last few months but we only increased their prices by 22%,” said the prime minister.

    He maintained that his government reduced sales tax and levy on petrol to facilitate the masses.

    It is pertinent to mention here that under the flagship programme, the government will provide Rs1.4 trillion micro-loans to 3.7 million households across the country.

    The KPP will be rolled out in phases. During the first phase, the loans will be provided to the deserving families in Gilgit-Baltistan, AJK, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the underprivileged areas of Punjab and Sindh.

    In line with the vision of the prime minister to empower the masses, the government has taken multiple initiatives, which are targeted towards poverty alleviation, employment generation and provision of affordable housing for the people.

    The KPP initiative has been designed to transform the lives of the marginalised segments of society. The programme shall disburse microcredit amounting to Rs1,400 billion for the poorest of the poor, providing them with much needed financial support to improve their livelihood. Financing under the KPP shall only be extended to families with a cumulative average monthly income of up to Rs50,000 per month.

    This is the first programme of its kind in Pakistan’s history wherein the banks are being connected to the lowest income segment through micro-finance institutions. KPP, a brainchild of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, is based on the concept of financial empowerment i.e. creating opportunities to improve the financial health of people with limited access to resources.

    The finance minister stated that the government is firmly committed not to provide fish to the poor people but teach them how to catch one for a sustainable living arrangement under the umbrella of KPP. The whole paradigm of KPP will change the lives of the underprivileged people in Pakistan over the years. The programme is based on the most innovative financing structure in recent times.


    ReplyDelete
  55. Riaz HaqOctober 4, 2021 at 7:41 AM

    PM Imran Khan launches Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP).
    Under the programme, the government will provide Rs1.4 trillion micro loans to 3.7 million households across the country.
    Kamyab Pakistan Programme has been designed to transform the lives of the marginalised segments of the society.

    https://www.geo.tv/latest/373832-pm-imran-to-inaugurate-kamyab-pakistan-programme-today

    What is Kamyab Pakistan Programme?
    KPP has five components namely (i) Kamyab Kissan (ii) Kamyab Karobar (iii) Naya Pakistan low-cost housing (iv) Kamyab Hunarmand and (v) Sehatmand Pakistan.

    Under the first 3 components, micro-loans shall be disbursed amongst eligible persons registered with Ehsaas Data, scientifically collected through National Socio-economic Registry (NSER).

    The last two components of KPP will be integrated with the government’s existing initiatives. Kamyab Hunarmand is designed to integrate with the government’s ongoing skill development programme for imparting educational and vocational training to our talented youth.

    The KPP also includes a user-friendly portal called Kamyab Pakistan Information System (KPIS). The portal will be integrated with Ehsaas and Nadra databases for verification of beneficiaries’ eligibility to facilitate the executing agencies (i.e. MfP’s) for finalising the financing modalities in a most efficient and seamless manner.

    KPP will complement the efforts of the government to counter inflation by enabling the masses to improve their livelihood.

    KPP is a true dispensation of a responsible state to uplift its poor and vulnerable segments with a key focus on a “bottom-up approach” for achieving all-inclusive and sustainable economic growth as envisaged by the prime minister.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Riaz HaqFebruary 23, 2022 at 9:26 AM

    Javed Hassan
    @javedhassan
    Superb initiative of school meals program for 23000 students of 100 Public primary schools of Islamabad by Fed Min of Education under
    @Shafqat_Mahmood
    . The program will help in ensuring significant reduction in dropouts and improved learning .

    https://twitter.com/javedhassan/status/1496424187300356100?s=20&t=3N2ssuWpLAaZDN21hVPubg

    -------------------

    “The ‘School Meal Program’ improved the attendance, health, and retention of students in schools where the program has already been initiated,” the (Punjab) minister said.

    He said that the schools under this program have seen a 33 percent increase in attendance, and a 77 percent improvement in students’ health, and their BMI levels.


    https://propakistani.pk/2022/02/04/punjab-govt-launches-free-lunch-program-for-school-students/

    ReplyDelete
  57. Riaz HaqApril 26, 2022 at 6:49 PM

    Modest progress on SDGs
    Khaleeq Kiani

    https://www.dawn.com/news/1686708


    Pakistan’s first Sustainable Develop­ment Goals (SDGs) Status Report (2021) is out and the country’s overall progress on SDGs is modest.

    “Overall, Pakistan’s SDGs (composite) index score has increased from 53.11 in 2015 to 63.49 in 2020 i.e. 19.5 per cent up from the baseline of 2015,” according to Dr Shabnam Sarfraz, member of Social Sector and Devolution of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives.

    In summary, the status report finds a considerable decline in extreme poverty, improvement in access to energy, increased industrial activities, reduction in maternal mortality, improvement in undernourishment, food insecurity, wash and housing, and climate action.

    There are many areas identified by the report that need urgent collective attention such as education, children out of school, the proportion of youth not in education, employment and training, provision of decent work environment, implementation of climatic adaptation etc.

    Since 2015, the Government of Pakistan has not published a consolidated report that presents the country’s progress on SDGs indicators viz-a-viz their baseline values. The report captures the existing data availability gap and compares the baseline 2014-2015 with values of the most recent available data on 133 SDG indicators.

    The report says that Pakistan’s progress on SDG-1 — poverty reduction has been steady. Poverty has been on the decline between the period 2014-15 and 2018-19 with 9.3 million people lifted out of poverty away from the national poverty line. Similarly, Pakistan witnessed a significant decline in the proportion of the population affected by disasters.

    In a drive towards zero hunger as espoused by SDG-2, undernourishment declined by 4.2pc from 20.2pc to 16pc from 2015 to 2019. Also, a moderate achievement was made through the reduction of stunting by 7pc and wasting by 4pc during 2013-18 among children under five years of age.

    Improvements are seen in health outcomes for mothers by reducing anaemia among pregnant women by 16.5pc in seven years during 2011-18. There was a one per cent decrease in the agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture, from 39pc to 38pc, over four years during 2015-2019.

    On good health and well-being under SDG-3, Pakistan has shown reasonable progress by improving most of the basic health indicators. The number of mothers dying during pregnancy and live births reduced by 32.6pc during 2007-2019. Births attended by skilled health personnel increased by 10pc in five years during 2013-18. National vaccination coverage improved by 11.5pc in five years between 2013 and 2018.

    Concerning education achievements (SDG-4), the country’s progress has been dismal. The primary completion rate has stagnated at 67pc in five years during 2015-20. Similarly, the gender gap (SDG-5) of 9pc between the primary completion rate of males and females has also persisted in this period. The lower secondary completion rate has marginally increased from 50pc to 59pc during 2015-20. The national literacy rate stagnated at 60pc in five years during 2015-20, which is alarming and worrying.

    More girls were enrolled in schools improving the gender parity in net enrolment at primary, middle and Matric levels during 2015-19. Large deficiencies and disparities persist in the provision of basic services to schools across the country.

    Access to clean water and sanitation has also shown improvements at the national and provincial levels over time under SDG-6. Improved source of drinking water is available to 94pc of the country’s population. Access to drinking water in Balochistan has increased by 17pc in 5 years during 2015-20. The population having access to unshared toilets and handwashing facilities is 68pc and 54pc respectively, as per Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2019-20.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Riaz HaqApril 26, 2022 at 6:50 PM

    Modest progress on SDGs
    Khaleeq Kiani

    https://www.dawn.com/news/1686708


    Pakistan’s first Sustainable Develop­ment Goals (SDGs) Status Report (2021) is out and the country’s overall progress on SDGs is modest.


    On SDG-7, Pakistan’s commitment to the environment is shown by an increase in the share of renewable energy by more than four times between 2015 to 2019. The reliance on clean fuel (cooking) increased to 47pc in the period during 2018-19, from 41.3pc in 2014-15 at the national level. An increase of 3pc was recorded in 2019- 20 with 96pc of the population having access to electricity as compared to 93pc in 2014-15.

    On SDG-8 ensuring decent work and economic growth, the economy experienced a slowdown with an annual growth rate of real GDP per capita declining to -3.36pc in the fiscal year 2019-20 from 2.04pc in 2014-15. Similarly, almost one-third of the total youth (30pc) in the age group (15-24 years) was not obtaining education, employment or training at the national level over the four year period of 2015-19 (SDGs indicator 8.6.1). Within the country, the highest instance of this category of youth was in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 38pc. The children aged 10-14 years engaged in work slightly reduced by over 2pc to 6.47pc from 8.64pc during 2015-19, at the national level.

    Some progress was made on the SDG-9: industry, innovation and infrastructure targets. With the availability of new data from PSLM the baseline value is established with 88pc of the rural population living within two kilometres of an all-season road. The proportion of small-scale industries in total industry value added increased to 10.50pc in 2019-20 from 8.40pc in 2014-15, despite the overall negative effects of Covid-19 in 2019-20. The proportion of the mobile phone-owning population increased by 1pc in two years, from 45pc to 46pc between 2018-20.

    A slight dent was made by the reduction of income inequality by 2pc in 2016-2019 for SDG-10. A small decline of 7pc in the proportion of the urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing also occurred during 2014-2018 from 45pc to 38pc for SDG-11. Pakistan remains committed to addressing the problem of hazardous waste and to compliance with the Basel Convention as required under SDG-12 concerning sustainable consumption and production. Regarding SDG-13 on climate action, greenhouse gas emissions were 375.03 million tonnes in 2016, a 2.5pc increase from 2015.

    Relating to the SDG-14: Life below Water, Pakistan has maintained the proportion of fish stocks at 30pc within biologically sustainable levels for the five years between 2015-20. Despite the growing population and rapid urbanisation pressures, Pakistan’s forest area as a proportion of total land remained unchanged at around 5pc in five years between 2015-2020 which is one of the targets of SDG-15: Life on Land.

    On SDG-16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; in terms of counting the uncounted, birth registration of children under 5 years showed an improvement by 8.2pc in five years between 2013-18. Under SDG-17 developing partnerships for achieving SDGs showed significant improvement in its journey towards digital transformation as the fixed internet broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants increased by 20pc in three years during 2017-20.


    ReplyDelete
  59. Riaz HaqApril 28, 2022 at 4:26 PM

    SDG Rankings Report 2021:


    https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/rankings

    Central African Republic 38.27 165

    Nigeria 48.93 160

    Haiti 51.35 150

    Uganda 53.15 140

    Rwanda 57.58 130

    Pakistan score 57.72 rank 129

    India 60.07 120

    Bangladesh 63.45 109

    Nepal 66.52 96

    Sri Lanka 68.10 87

    Bhutan 69.98 75

    China 62.07 57

    Russia 73.75 46

    US 76.01 32

    UK 79.97 17

    Finland 85.90 1

    ReplyDelete
  60. Riaz HaqMay 12, 2022 at 12:52 PM

    Sindh to Finally Get #Rescue 1122 After Almost Two Decades. #PPP gov't in #Sindh has procured 288 new #ambulances and a loan of $70 million from the #WorldBank to launch the service. #Punjab launched it in 2004 in #Musharraf era. #Pakistan #emergency https://propakistani.pk/2022/05/10/sindh-to-finally-get-rescue-1122-after-almost-two-decades/

    After noticing its effectiveness in Punjab, the Sindh government has decided to launch the Rescue 1122 emergency response service. The Punjab government launched this service in 2004, giving it an 18-year-headstart over Sindh.

    According to a media report, the government has procured 288 new ambulances and a loan of $70 million from the World Bank to launch the service.

    Sources say that authorities will deliver new ambulances to the health department soon. They added that Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) will begin work on the mobilization of Rescue 1122 next week.

    Sources further stated that the ambulance service will work under Aman Foundation, while the fire brigade will operate under the Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) department of Sindh.

    The government will set up Rescue 1122’s regional offices in all divisional headquarters and will continue to use PDMA’s machinery and staff to diffuse emergency situations.


    Rescue 1122 will have five offices in Karachi. Also, the Sindh government will likely integrate the service with 10,000 cameras at 2,000 locations across the mega-city as a part of its latest Safe City project.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Riaz HaqMay 19, 2022 at 6:58 AM

    ‘Pakistan SDGs Status Report 2021’ presents Pakistan’s progress on the SDGs using national and provincial data. The first of its kind, the status report, published by the Federal SDGs Support Unit at the Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives, Pakistan, highlights the country’s progress on SDG indicators vis-à-vis their 2014-2015 baseline values. The report presents data on 133 SDG indicators with their corresponding latest values. Overall, the report assesses Pakistan’s progress on the SDGs as “modest.”


    http://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/guest-articles/measuring-progress-through-numbers-pakistans-first-sdg-status-report/

    https://www.sdgpakistan.pk/uploads/pub/Pak_SDGs_Status_Report_2021.pdf


    Pakistan remains committed to addressing the problem of hazardous waste and achieving compliance with the Basel Convention as required under SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). However, Pakistan’s contribution to SDG 13 (climate action) is minimal. The country has adopted and implemented national disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies in line with the Sendai Framework on DRR, with the 2020 index score of 0.8, an improvement on 2018 when it was 0.4. However, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions grew by 375.03 million tons in 2016, a 2.5% increase from 2015.

    With respect to SDG 14 (life below water), Pakistan maintained the proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels at 30% between 2015 and 2020. Despite the growing population and rapid urbanization, Pakistan’s forest area as a proportion of total land – one of the targets of SDG 15 (life on land) – remained unchanged, at around 5% from 2015-2020.

    Regarding SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), birth registration of children under five showed an improvement of 8.2% from 2013-2018. Pakistan is showing significant improvement on SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals) on its journey towards digital transformation. Fixed internet broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants increased by 20% in the three years from 2017-2020.

    Pakistan’s 2021 SDG status report visualizes the country’s progress through a nationally computed index by the SDGs Section and Federal SDGs Unit of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives. Pakistan’s SDG index was developed on the basis of national data sources collated from authentic and reliable sources.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Riaz HaqMay 22, 2022 at 5:04 PM

    Pakistan’s generational shift
    By Dr Ayesha RazzaqueMay 22, 2022

    https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/959718-pakistan-s-generational-shift

    In this generation only 18.7 per cent of rural women are without an education, down from 75.5 per cent from their mothers’ generation. Nearly 50 per cent have an education ranging from a primary to secondary education, up from just 20 per cent in the previous generation. A stunning 22.9 per cent have a higher secondary or above education, up from an almost nothing 0.3 per cent in their previous generation.


    ---------------

    Last year saw the publication of ‘Womansplaining – Navigating Activism, Politics and Modernity in Pakistan,’ a book edited by Federal Minister Sherry Rehman to which I was able to contribute a chapter. It connected education with women’s rights and argued that indigenous movements like the Aurat March should focus on education as a core part of their agenda.

    Detractors of Pakistan’s women’s rights movement have been taking potshots at it by claiming that the issues it raises are not the issues of ‘real’ (read: rural) women. Put aside for a minute the fact that Pakistan’s rural population now accounts for 62 per cent, down from 72 per cent in 1980, and is on a steady decline. While the numbers may differ, and women’s power to negotiate may differ, rural and urban women share basic challenges and better education can yield similar opportunities and improvements in life circumstances.

    Indigenous progressive and women’s rights movements have adopted the cause of education as an agenda item but should make it front and center, specifically K-12 education for girls in rural areas. New data further substantiates that connection with numbers. Education up to the higher secondary level, just the education that rural schools offer today, is the enabler that brings increased women’s labour force participation, delayed first marriage, lower rates of consanguinity, increased income, increased spousal income, and is a contributing factor to greater freedom of movement and communication – all positives.

    Studies exploring the relationships between levels of education and life circumstances around the world are plentiful and capture the situation at a point and place in time. The Learning and Educational Achievements in Pakistan Schools (LEAPS) programme is qualitatively different because it already spans a period of almost two decades. The LEAPS programme has been tracking lower- and middle-income households in 120 randomly selected villages across three districts in rural Punjab since 2003. It has been revisiting them since then, most recently for the sixth time in 2018, roughly once every three years. That makes it one of the largest and longest panels of households in lower- and middle-income countries. This study is also unique as it looks at return on investment in education beyond an individual’s income and looks into the possible spillover into life circumstances and quality-of-life which is especially interesting for those interested in women empowerment and feminist movements.

    In this latest round it surveyed 2006 women now aged 20-30. All these women were from the same 120 birth villages and have been tracked to their marital homes within or outside the village if they have married, migrated or moved for any other reason. Preliminary descriptive results of the long-running LEAPS study tell interesting stories. The headline finding of LEAPS investigators is that Pakistan is in the midst of a ‘generational shift’ where, for the first time in its education history, we have a ‘critical mass of moderately educated women’.



    -----------

    Existing plans, at least in the domain of education, remain unguided by some of the very excellent evidence that is available. Meanwhile, the Planning Commission is organizing a ‘Turnaround Pakistan’ conference perhaps as early as May 28 to conduct national consultations. Whether a hurriedly thrown together conference can change the way business is done remains to be seen.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Riaz HaqMay 30, 2022 at 1:53 PM

    Pakistan Labor Force Survey (LFS) 2020-21


    https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/labour_force/publications/lfs2020_21/LFS_2020-21_Report.pdf

    Literacy rate goes up (62.4%, 62.8%) more in case of males (73.0%, 73.4%) than females
    (51.5%, 51.9%). Area-wise rates suggest increase in rural (53.7%, 54.0%) and in urban
    (76.1%, 77.3%). Male-female disparity seems to be narrowing down with the time span.
    Literacy rate goes up in all provinces: KP (52.4%, 55.1%), Sindh (61.6%, 61.8%), Balochistan
    (53.9%, 54.5%) and in Punjab (66.1%, 66.3%) during the comparative periods

    -----------------

    an average monthly wages of overall paid employees is of Rs.24028
    per month while the median monthly wages is Rs. 18000 per month. . However, gender
    disparities were obvious in the mean monthly wages gap between males and females of Rs.
    4526 in favour of males. Based on median monthly wages, the gap, still in favour of males, is
    Rs. 6,900. The above table also shows that irrespective of occupation both mean and median
    monthly wages of males are higher than those of females

    ----------
    4.20 Major Industry Divisions: Occupational Safety and Health
    Mainly, the sufferers belong to agriculture (29.3%), construction (19.7%), manufacturing
    (19.1%), wholesale & retail trade (13.7%) and transport/storage & communication (10.2%).
    Female injuries in agriculture sectors are more than twice (61.7%) than that of male injuries
    (26.3%). In manufacturing, female injuries (24.7%) and Community, social and personal services
    (8.9%) are more than male injuries (18.6%) and (6.5%) respectively. Contrarily, males are
    more vulnerable in the remaining groups. Comparative risk profiles run down for major
    industries grouping while gain stream for manufacturing, transport, storage & communication
    and community, social & personnel services.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Riaz HaqJune 8, 2022 at 7:16 PM

    World Bank approves $258m to support healthcare in Pakistan

    https://www.dawn.com/news/1693770/world-bank-approves-258m-to-support-healthcare-in-pakistan

    The World Bank has approved $258 million to strengthen primary health care systems and accelerate national efforts towards universal health coverage in Pakistan, a press release issued by the international financial institution said on Wednesday.

    The National Health Support Programme "complements ongoing investments in human capital and builds on health reforms that aim to improve quality and equitable access to healthcare services, especially in communities lagging behind national and regional-level health outcomes".

    It identified three areas of focus for healthcare reforms under the initiative: healthcare coverage and quality of essential services, governance and accountability and healthcare financing.

    Elaborating on these areas, the statement said the programme focused on healthcare coverage and quality of essential services to ensure availability of adequate staffing, supplies and medicines and to enhance patient referral systems for expediting emergency and higher-level care.


    Similarly, the focus on governance and accountability was intended to strengthen oversight and management of primary healthcare services through real-time monitoring of available supplies and essential medicines.

    The statement further explained that initiatives in this area included setting up a central information platform for provincial authorities to assess gaps in service delivery across public and private healthcare facilities.

    Moreover, the focus on healthcare financing was to improve the financial management of primary healthcare centres for better expenditure tracking and budget forecasting to sustain quality healthcare services and delivery.

    "The programme will benefit all communities through improvements to provincial primary healthcare systems, particularly [those] in approximately 20 districts that suffer from having the least access to health and nutrition services," the press release read.

    According to the press release, the NHSP is co-financed by the International Development Association ($258 million) and two grants ($82 million) from the Global Financing Facility (GEF) for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF), including a $40 million grant for protecting essential health services amid multiple global crises.

    “The partnership between the GFF and the government of Pakistan focuses on building sustainable health systems while ensuring that all women, children and adolescents, especially in the most vulnerable communities can access the services they need amid multiple crises,” the statement quoted Monique Vledder, head of secretariat at GFF as saying.

    "By investing in primary health care, strengthening the health workforce and equipping community health centres to both respond to emergencies and deliver quality services, Pakistan can drive a more equitable and resilient recovery,” she added.

    World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, Najy Benhassine explained that “by strengthening provincial health systems, this programme is foundational to building the country’s human capital and improving health and nutrition outcomes for its citizens".

    “Pakistan continues to make strides in health reforms toward ensuring access to primary healthcare services, especially for children and women during pregnancy and childbirth,” he said.

    Hnin Hnin Pyne, task team leader for the programme, said: “NHSP creates a national forum for the federal and provincial governments to exchange lessons and collaborate on achieving sustainable health financing and high quality and coverage of essential services. It also helps strengthen engagement between public and private facilities and better coordination among development partners on future investments in health.”

    ReplyDelete
  65. Riaz HaqJune 9, 2022 at 4:58 PM

    Pakistan Economic Survey: Health & Nutrition 2021-22

    https://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_22/PES11-HEALTH.pdf

    Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in Pakistan has declined to 54.2 deaths per 1,000 live births
    in 2020 from 55.7 in 2019, while Neonatal Mortality Rate declined to 40.4 deaths per
    1,000 live births in 2020 from 41.2 in 2019. Percentage of birth attended by skilled
    health personnel increased to 69.3 percent in 2020 from 68 percent in 2019 (DHS & UNICEF). Maternal Mortality Ratio fell to 186 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in
    2020, from 189 in 2019 (Table 11.1).
    With a population growing at 2 percent per annum, Pakistan’s contraceptive prevalence
    rate in 2020 decreased to 33 percent from 34 percent in 2019 (Trading Economics).
    Pakistan’s tuberculosis incidence is 259 per 100,000 population and HIV prevalence rate
    is 0.12 per 1,000 population in 2020.


    Table 11.1: Health Indicators of Pakistan
    2019 2020
    Maternal Mortality Ratio (Per 100,000 Births)* 189 186
    Neonatal Mortality Rate (Per 1,000 Live Births) 41.2 40.4
    Mortality Rate, Infant (Per 1,000 Live Births) 55.7 54.2
    Under-5 Mortality Rate (Per 1,000) 67.3 65.2
    Incidence of Tuberculosis (Per 100,000 People) 263 259
    Incidence of HIV (Per 1,000 Uninfected Population) 0.12 0.12
    Life Expectancy at Birth, (Years) 67.3 67.4
    Births Attended By Skilled Health Staff (% of Total)** 68.0 (2015) 69.3 (2018)
    Contraceptive Prevalence, Any Methods (% of Women Ages 15-49) 34.0 33
    Source: WDI, UNICEF, Trading Economics & Our World in data
    -----------

    Food and nutrition

    Calories/day 2019-20 2457 2020-21 2786 2021-22 2735

    -------

    Table 11.9: Availability of Major Food Items per annum (Kg per capita)
    Food Items 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 (P)**
    Cereals 139.9 170.8 164.7
    Pulses 7.8 7.6 7.3
    Sugar 23.3 28.5 28.3
    Milk (Liter) 168.7 171.8 168.8
    Meat (Beef, Mutton, Chicken) 22.0 22.9 22.5
    Fish 2.9 2.9 2.9
    Eggs (Dozen) 7.9 8.2 8.1
    Edible Oil/ Ghee 14.8 15.1 14.5
    Fruits & Vegetables 53.6 52.4 68.3
    Calories/day 2457 2786 2735
    Source: M/o PD&SI (Nutrition Section)

    ReplyDelete
  66. Riaz HaqJune 10, 2022 at 12:10 PM

    Bill Clinton: "The trend lines are better than the headlines." —President
    @BillClinton
    http://live.clintonglobalinitiative.org #CGI2016

    “Follow the trend lines, not the headlines," said President Clinton.

    Good news about what is going right in the world is hard sell today.
    But look at the trend lines; more than a billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since 1990. We have dramatically reduced people dying of tuberculosis and malaria on all continents. Infant mortality is going down.

    https://youtu.be/SQZ6JmpFrfs

    https://twitter.com/ClintonGlobal/status/778718461539196932?s=20&t=6EdtIchA6cJ6hrX6O2Kr5w


    Media headlines

    The media once deemed flight, both in air and space, impossible or an act of egotism. Perhaps most infamously, the New York Times predicted that airplanes would take one to ten million years to develop. Merely nine weeks later, the Wright Brothers achieved manned flight. The pathologically cynical always will find a reason to complain.
    https://www.nytimes.com/1903/10/09/archives/flying-machines-which-do-not-fly.html

    ReplyDelete
  67. Riaz HaqJuly 2, 2022 at 10:48 AM

    Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR)


    Country Name Per 100K Live Births
    India 145.00
    Timor-Leste 142.00
    Pakistan 140.00

    -------------------

    Pakistan Maternal Mortality Rate 2000-2022


    https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/PAK/pakistan/maternal-mortality-rate

    Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15-49, fertility, birth attendants, and GDP.
    Pakistan maternal mortality rate for 2017 was 140.00, a 2.1% decline from 2016.
    Pakistan maternal mortality rate for 2016 was 143.00, a 7.14% decline from 2015.
    Pakistan maternal mortality rate for 2015 was 154.00, a 4.35% decline from 2014.
    Pakistan maternal mortality rate for 2014 was 161.00, a 3.01% decline from 2013.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Riaz HaqJuly 28, 2022 at 10:29 AM

    India, Pakistan tackle backslide in child immunizations

    https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220727/India-Pakistan-tackle-backslide-in-child-immunizations.aspx

    While India and Pakistan topped the list of countries that saw the greatest increase in children not receiving a first dose of DTP between 2019 and 2020, they were also quick to bounce back.

    Pakistan now figures among countries that successfully fought back declines to return to pre-pandemic levels of coverage "thanks to high-level government commitment and significant catch-up immunization efforts", UNICEF/WHO said.

    In India, progress towards reducing the number of zero-dose children was impacted by the pandemic and the number of children who did not receive the first dose of the DTP vaccine was estimated to have increased to three million in 2020, up from 1.4 million in 2019, according to Mainak Chatterjee, health specialist at UNICEF India.

    "Despite having the largest birth cohort in the world, India was able to prevent a further backslide through special drives such as the Intensified Mission Indradhanush, which enabled the country to bring down zero-dose to 2.7 million in 2021," Chatterjee told SciDev.Net.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Riaz HaqAugust 12, 2022 at 6:38 PM

    #Pakistan managed to bounce back to its overall #child #vaccination rates in spite of disruptions due to the #COVID #pandemic. #health #immunization https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/pakistan-can-how-one-country-repaired-its-routine-immunisation-safety-net

    https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1558266057206288384?s=20&t=RiyNJv3kbB9rkOLQ70ZzgQ


    “Pakistan can”: How one country repaired its routine immunisation safety net
    As the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, Pakistan’s routine immunisation programme took a heavy hit. But while many countries continued to struggle to make up lost ground in 2021, Pakistan bounced back to pre-pandemic levels of protection. VaccinesWork spoke to country health leaders to find out what went right.

    https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/pakistan-can-how-one-country-repaired-its-routine-immunisation-safety-net


    New data confirms what public health officials hoped was true: in 2021, Pakistan’s children were very nearly as well-protected against preventable diseases as they had been in 2019. That may not sound like a landmark triumph, but it is – and here’s why.

    Like in most countries, routine immunisation in Pakistan suffered a gut-punch – if not quite a knockout blow – when the pandemic landed in early 2020. Mario Jimenez, who has worked on Gavi’s Pakistan programme since 2019, says, “The lockdowns started, and that led to the immediate stop of outreach activities, and a subsequent accumulation of children that were not being reached with routine immunisation.”

    Even once the lockdowns lifted, recalls Dr Faisal Sultan, former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, fear of infection continued to inhibit contact between people and the health system. And even making it to the clinic didn’t always mean a child would get their jab: Pakistan struggled with periodic vaccine stock-outs as shipping and air travel stumbled to a halt globally.

    “It really pushed the country and ourselves to reflect about how we can adapt to the situation, and what can be done to recover some of the losses that were taking place,” says Jimenez. These were urgent conversations: the real-world danger signalled by those losses was plain to everyone involved.

    Pakistan has a massive birth cohort – more than 16,000 children are born each day. “In a matter of days,” Jimenez says, “we could have a very large number of unprotected unvaccinated children.” With the vaccine levee crumbling, every small disease outbreak risked becoming an epidemic flash-flood.

    From July 2020, the health system kicked into high gear, beefing up outreach, and finding novel means to trace unvaccinated “zero-dose” children. Life-saving gains were made.


    ReplyDelete
  70. Riaz HaqOctober 17, 2022 at 10:56 AM

    The headline multidimensional poverty (MPI) figures for Pakistan (0.198) are worse than for Bangladesh (0.104) and India (0.069). This is primarily due to the education deficit in Pakistan. UNDP's report titled "Unpacking Deprivation Bundle" shows that an average Pakistani still enjoys a better "standard of living" than his/her counterparts in Bangladesh and India. Below is an excerpt from it:

    "The analysis first looks at the most common deprivation profiles across 111 developing countries (figure 1). The most common profile, affecting 3.9 percent of poor people, includes deprivations in exactly four indicators: nutrition, cooking fuel, sanitation and housing.7 More than 45.5 million poor people are deprived in only these four indicators.8 Of those people, 34.4 million live in India, 2.1 million in Bangladesh and 1.9 million in Pakistan—making this a predominantly South Asian profile "

    https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/hdp-document/2022mpireportenpdf.pdf


    Also note in this UNDP report that the income poverty (people living on $1.90 or less per day) in Pakistan is 3.6% while it is 22.5% in India and 14.3% in Bangladesh.

    Living standards (Cooking fuel Sanitation Drinking water Electricity Housing Assets) of the poor in Pakistan (31.1%) are better than in Bangladesh (45.1%) and India (38.5%).

    Pakistan fares worse in terms of education (41.3%) indicators relative to Bangladesh (37.6%) and India (28.2%).

    In terms of health, Pakistan ( 27.6%) fares better than India (32.2%) but worse than Bangladesh (17.3%).

    In terms of population vulnerable to poverty, Pakistan (12.9%) does better than Bangladesh (18.2%) and India (18.7%)

    ReplyDelete
  71. Riaz HaqOctober 20, 2022 at 6:25 PM

    Ahmed Jamal Pirzada
    @ajpirzada
    Doesn't look good for Pak: the human capital index has stayed flat since 2005. While "avg years of schooling" has increased from 4 years in 2000 to 6 years in 2015 (Barro-Lee dataset), the quality has not improved. Worse, the gap with regional countries has increased since 80s.

    https://twitter.com/ajpirzada/status/1583239244168200193?s=20&t=vJZdCxMsdx3c4vDdPyGlHw

    ReplyDelete
  72. Riaz HaqOctober 22, 2022 at 11:14 AM

    The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. Pakistan's HDI value for 2021 is 0.544— which put the country in the Low human development category—positioning it at 161 out of 191 countries and territories.

    Between 1990 and 2021, Pakistan's HDI value changed from 0.400 to 0.544, an change of 36.0 percent.

    Between 1990 and 2021, Pakistan's life expectancy at birth changed by 6.0 years, mean years of schooling changed by 2.2 years and expected years of schooling changed by 4.0 years. Pakistan's GNI per capita changed by about 62.7 percent between 1990 and 2021.

    https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/PAK

    -------



    Pakistan has dropped seven places in the Human Development Index, ranking 161 out of 192 countries in the 2021-2022 HDI, according to the UNDP report released on Thursday.

    https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/989724-pakistan-down-on-human-development-index-by-7-slots

    In the previous year, Pakistan had stood at 154 out of 189 countries.

    As per the report, Pakistan’s life expectancy at birth is 66.1 years and expected years of schooling are 8. The country’s gross per capita national income is $4,624. The report has identified that different climate shocks are affecting world order, pushing back the growth that was achieved in the past few years. While doing so, it has categorised the floods in Pakistan as “an example of the climate shocks seen around the world.”

    Switzerland leads the way on the latest HDI while Norway and Iceland enjoy second and third positions. Among the nine South Asian countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka -- only Pakistan and Afghanistan (180th position) are in the low human development category.

    Bhutan (127), Bangladesh (129), India (132) and Nepal (143) are in the medium human development category. And crisis-riddled Sri Lanka has managed to improve its position by 9 points, reaching the 73rd position on the index, finding itself in the high human development category. Iran is three positions behind at 76; the next is Maldives at the 90th position.

    The report, titled ‘Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World’ has found out that around 90 per cent of countries have seen “reversals in human development” in the year of the survey, pointing to a world stuck in a never-ending cycle of crisis after crisis, causing global disruptions. Per the report, the two major factors responsible for these disruptions were the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

    The Human Development Index is a measure of countries’ standard of living, health and education. This is the first time in the last 30 years that human development in a majority of countries has gone in reverse for two consecutive years.

    This has pushed human development to its 2016 levels, a huge blow to the progress made on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were meant to be completed by 2030. For the year 2021, the UN had projected an HDI value of 0.75 -- the actual value has come out to be 0.732.

    The report adds that the world is in a “new uncertainty complex”. Such uncertainty is created by the two years of Covid-19 which saw a series of the lethal waves of the virus.

    Even though the world took quick steps to defeat the virus, the report notes, and developed vaccines to counter the threats, unequal distribution of the vaccines has created more problems in a number of low-income countries.

    The pandemic-induced lockdowns and school closures also took a toll on people’s mental wellbeing across the world. The report has found out that mental distress among male minority groups in the UK saw the largest increase, and men from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan were the most affected by the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Riaz HaqNovember 13, 2022 at 4:42 PM

    INTERGENERATIONAL ECONOMIC MOBILITY: THE CASE OF NORTH-
    WESTERN PAKISTAN
    Ansa Javed Khan1, Sajjad Ahmad Jan2, Jawad Rahim Afridi3*, Arshia Hashmi4, Muhammad Azeem Ahmed5 1Assistant Director, P&D, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Pakistan; 2Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan; 3*Lecturer, Department of Economics, Sarhad University of Science & IT, Peshawar, Pakistan; 4Assistant Professor, The University of Faisalabad, Department of Management Studies, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 5Associate Professor, Barani Institute of Sciences, Pakistan.
    Email: 1*director_pnd@bkuc.edu.pk, 2sajjadahmadjan@uop.edu.pk, 3*jrafridi67@gmail.com, 4arshia.hashim@tuf.edu.pk, 5azeem@baraniinstitute.edu.pk
    Article History: Received on 19th June 2021, Revised on 26th June 2021, Published on 29th June 2021


    https://www.sciencegate.app/document/10.18510/hssr.2021.93141


    Access to Education and Intergenerational Economic Mobility
    The following table 1 shows the change in educational status which has taken place between the parents and children’s generations for the overall sample as well as for the sub-groups (Majority and Minority Tribes). The absolute numbers (outside parentheses) and the percentage (within parentheses) in different cells of the table show the people who are illiterate or at different levels of education. The table on one hand shows the intergenerational mobility of people up and down the education ladder and on the other hand reveals the wide and persistent educational gap between the majority and minority tribes. The table shows that 26 % of the respondents in the kids’ generation do not have any education versus 46 % in the parents’ generation. The results affirm the government’s claims and the common perception that, on average, more people have become literate through time and therefore the people in the children’s generation are more likely to be educated than their parent's generation. Further, the college and university graduates in the children’s generation outnumber the school graduates while school graduates outnumber the higher two educational categories in the parents’ generation as most of the students in past used to drop out at both primary or high school levels and couldn’t manage to get into a college or university for higher studies.

    The aggregate results for the whole sample are actually driven by the majority tribes as it shows identical trends from the parents’ generation to the children’s generation in all educational. The majority tribe has succeeded in decreasing the number of illiterates from 33% in the parents’ generation to 11% in the children’s generation. College and university graduates (total of 60%) outnumber the school graduates and the illiterate (total of 40%) in the children’s generation as compared to the parents’ generation in the majority tribe where the former is 26% and the latter is 73%. This indicates a visible upward movement of the educational ladder by the members of the majority tribe. The situation of education and literacy in the minority tribe is deplorable if the comparison is either made on basis of children’s and parents’ generations or if the educational attainment levels of the minority and majority tribes are compared. The illiterates outnumber all the other educational categories as in sharp contrast to the educational attainment levels of the majority tribe. The data further reveals that no or only a negligible improvement in the educational status of the people belonging to the minority tribe has taken place between the children’s and parents’ generations. This affirms our presumption that in the North-Western parts of Pakistan, the tribal affiliation of a person determines his or her access to education. The ease of access to education then further transforms into economic mobility or immobility of the people.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Riaz HaqNovember 16, 2022 at 7:45 AM

    Pakistan Demographic Survey 2020


    https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8278279504304651957&postID=1030738160434485904

    The latest figures showed that although the overall life expectancy has dropped, it rose among men from 64.3 to 64.5. For women, it fell from 66.5 to 65.5 but was still higher than for men.

    Life expectancy also increased for the 1-4 age group to 71.3, including 70.6 for males and 72 for females.

    The infant mortality rate has fallen to 56 deaths per 1,000 live births. It was 60 in PSLM 2018-19, and 62 in PDHS 2017-18.

    While the general fertility rate was 124, the age-specific data shows the rate was highest in the 25-29 age group at 215, followed by 176 in the 20-24 age group, 164 in the 30-34 age group, and 94 in the 35-39 age group.

    This last age group (35-39) also saw the most significant jump when compared with the PDHS figure of 79.

    The general fertility rate was also quite higher in rural areas (138) compared to urban areas (102).

    The PDS shows that the country’s population has reached from 207.6m in 2017 to 220.42m now, including 111.69m men and 108.73m women. Most people continue to live in rural areas (139.41m) compared to urban areas (81m).

    https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/publications/pds2020/pakistan_demographic_survey_2020.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  75. Riaz HaqNovember 16, 2022 at 7:46 AM

    Pakistan Demographic Survey 2020


    https://www.dawn.com/news/1721179


    The latest figures showed that although the overall life expectancy has dropped, it rose among men from 64.3 to 64.5. For women, it fell from 66.5 to 65.5 but was still higher than for men.

    Life expectancy also increased for the 1-4 age group to 71.3, including 70.6 for males and 72 for females.

    The infant mortality rate has fallen to 56 deaths per 1,000 live births. It was 60 in PSLM 2018-19, and 62 in PDHS 2017-18.

    While the general fertility rate was 124, the age-specific data shows the rate was highest in the 25-29 age group at 215, followed by 176 in the 20-24 age group, 164 in the 30-34 age group, and 94 in the 35-39 age group.

    This last age group (35-39) also saw the most significant jump when compared with the PDHS figure of 79.

    The general fertility rate was also quite higher in rural areas (138) compared to urban areas (102).

    The PDS shows that the country’s population has reached from 207.6m in 2017 to 220.42m now, including 111.69m men and 108.73m women. Most people continue to live in rural areas (139.41m) compared to urban areas (81m).

    https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/publications/pds2020/pakistan_demographic_survey_2020.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  76. Riaz HaqJanuary 4, 2023 at 10:02 PM

    TFR Fertility Trend in Pakistan:


    Past
    Forecasted
    1990 2017 2100
    Pakistan
    6.1 3.4 1.3
    South Asia
    6.1 3.4 1.3
    Global
    3.1 2.4 1.7


    https://www.healthdata.org/pakistan

    ReplyDelete
  77. Riaz HaqJanuary 4, 2023 at 10:06 PM

    Bilal I Gilani
    @bilalgilani
    Continuing with looking at the brighter side of our development

    Burden of disease has declined from 70,086 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)32 lost per 100,000
    people in 1990 to 42,059 in 2019 due to decreases in CDs and improvements in maternal and
    child health;

    https://twitter.com/bilalgilani/status/1610718511369797655?s=20&t=LH4BNq-e8179qBwYpsVIHA

    ReplyDelete
  78. Riaz HaqJanuary 21, 2023 at 7:39 AM

    Library thrives in Pakistan’s ‘wild west’ gun market town
    ‘Men look beautiful with jewel of knowledge, beauty lies not in arms but in education’

    https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/library-thrives-in-pakistans-wild-west-gun-market-town-1.93291085

    DARRA ADAMKHEL, Pakistan: When the din of Pakistan’s most notorious weapons market becomes overwhelming, arms dealer Mohammad Jahanzeb slinks away from his stall, past colleagues test-firing machine guns, to read in the hush of the local library.

    “It’s my hobby, my favourite hobby, so sometimes I sneak off,” the 28-year-old told AFP after showing off his inventory of vintage rifles, forged assault weapons and a menacing array of burnished flick-knives.

    “I’ve always wished that we would have a library here, and my wish has come true.”

    The town of Darra Adamkhel is part of the deeply conservative tribal belt where decades of militancy and drug-running in the surrounding mountains earned it a reputation as a “wild west” waypoint between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    It has long been known for its black market bazaars stocked with forged American rifles, replica revolvers and rip-off AK-47s.


    But a short walk away a town library is thriving by offering titles including Virginia Woolf’s classic “Mrs Dalloway”, instalments in the teenage vampire romance series “Twilight”, and “Life, Speeches and Letters” by Abraham Lincoln.

    “Initially we were discouraged. People asked, ‘What is the use of books in a place like Darra Adamkhel? Who would ever read here?’” recalled 36-year-old founder Raj Mohammad.

    “We now have more than 500 members.”

    Tribal transformation
    Literacy rates in the tribal areas, which were semi-autonomous until 2018 when they merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are among the lowest in Pakistan as a result of poverty, patriarchal values, inter-clan conflicts and a lack of schools.


    But attitudes are slowing changing, believes soft-spoken 33-year-old volunteer librarian Shafiullah Afridi: “Especially among the younger generation who are now interested in education instead of weapons.”

    “When people see young people in their neighbourhood becoming doctors and engineers, others also start sending their children to school,” said Afridi, who has curated a ledger of 4,000 titles in three languages - English, Urdu and Pashto.

    Despite the background noise of gunsmiths testing weapons and hammering bullets into dusty patches of earth nearby, the atmosphere is genteel as readers sip endless rounds of green tea while they muse over texts.

    However, Afridi struggles to strictly enforce a “no weapons allowed” policy during his shift.

    One young arms dealer saunters up to the pristinely painted salmon-coloured library, leaving his AK-47 at the door but keeping his sidearm strapped on his waist, and joins a gaggle of bookworms browsing the shelves.

    Alongside tattered Tom Clancy, Stephen King and Michael Crichton paperbacks, there are more weighty tomes detailing the history of Pakistan and India and guides for civil service entrance exams, as well as a wide selection of Islamic teachings.

    ‘Education not arms’
    Libraries are rare in Pakistan’s rural areas, and the few that exist in urban centres are often poorly stocked and infrequently used.

    In Darra Adamkhel, it began as a solitary reading room in 2018 stocked with Mohammad’s personal collection, above one of the hundreds of gun shops in the central bazaar.

    “You could say we planted the library on a pile of weapons,” said Mohammad - a prominent local academic, poet and teacher hailing from a long line of gunsmiths.

    ReplyDelete
  79. Riaz HaqJanuary 21, 2023 at 7:39 AM

    Library thrives in Pakistan’s ‘wild west’ gun market town
    ‘Men look beautiful with jewel of knowledge, beauty lies not in arms but in education’

    https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/library-thrives-in-pakistans-wild-west-gun-market-town-1.93291085


    Mohammad paid 2,500 rupees ($11) for the monthly rent, but bibliophiles struggled to concentrate amidst the whirring of lathes and hammering of metal as bootleg armourers plied their trade downstairs.

    The project swiftly outgrew the confines of a single room and was shifted a year later to a purpose-built single-storey building funded by the local community on donated land.

    “There was once a time when our young men adorned themselves with weapons like a kind of jewellery,” said Irfanullah Khan, 65, patriarch of the family who gifted the plot.

    “But men look beautiful with the jewel of knowledge, beauty lies not in arms but in education,” said Khan, who also donates his time alongside his son Afridi.

    For the general public a library card costs Rs150 rupees ($0.66) a year, while students enjoy a discount rate of 100 rupees ($0.44), and youngsters flit in and out of the library even during school breaks.

    One in 10 members are female - a figure remarkably high for the tribal areas - though once they reach their teenage years and are sequestered in the home male family members collect books on their behalf.

    Nevertheless, on their mid-morning break schoolgirls Manahil Jahangir, nine, and Hareem Saeed, five, join the men towering over them as they pore over books.

    “My mother’s dream is for me to become a doctor,” Saeed says shyly. “If I study here I can make her dream come true.”

    ReplyDelete
  80. Riaz HaqJanuary 21, 2023 at 7:43 AM

    Bearing gifts: the camels bringing books to Pakistan’s poorest children
    The mobile library services are an education lifeline for students in Balochistan, where schools have closed during the pandemic

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/apr/26/bearing-gifts-the-camels-bringing-books-to-pakistans-poorest-children


    Sharatoon had wanted to continue her studies, but she had to leave school and her beloved books when she got married aged 15.

    Now 27, Sharatoon is happy reading again, as every Friday a camel visits her small town, his saddle panniers full of books.

    She has four children, the eldest is 11, the youngest 18 months, and she reads to them all, as well as to other children in the town.

    Every week, when Roshan the camel comes to her home in Mand, about 12 miles from the border with Iran, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, Sharatoon exchanges the books she borrowed for new ones.

    “When the camel came to our area for the first time, the kids were very happy and excited. Schools have long been closed in our area due to Covid and we do not have any libraries, so this was welcomed by all the kids,” says Sharatoon, who uses only one name.

    Balochistan is Pakistan’s most impoverished province, blighted by a separatist insurgency for the past two decades. With a 24% female literacy rate, one of the lowest in the world, compared with a male literacy rate of 56%, it also has the highest percentage of children out of school in the country.


    Roshan visits four villages, staying in each at the home of a “mobiliser” such as Sharatoon, where all the district children aged four to 16 can come to read, borrow and exchange books with one another.

    “Parents and kids are excited. It is giving hope to many that they can read, and the staff members also work on mobilisation so more outreach can be done,” says Fazul Bashir, a coordinator for the library.

    When Covid closed the schools across Balochistan, two women in Mand – Zubaida Jalal, a federal minister in the Pakistan government, and her sister Rahima Jalal, headteacher of a local high school – came up with the idea of a camel.

    “Actually, the idea of using camels comes from Mongolia and Ethiopia,” says Rahima. “It suits our desolate, distant and rough terrains. We have received an enormous response that we were not expecting.”

    The trial of the camel library has gone well and it is about to begin its next three months of rounds.

    Sharatoon says: “Kids are eagerly waiting; they want to read books and keep asking me [about it]. There should be more science-related books so our kids can learn by experimentation.”


    The Jalal sisters say there has been a lot of interest in the scheme from other areas, and they have just started a library in the city district of Gwadar, Balochistan, with a camel called Chirag.

    Anas Syed Mohammad is a 10-year-old 4th-grade student in the town of Abdul Rahim Bazar, about 30 miles from the city of Gwadar.

    Since the camel library started visiting three weeks ago, Mohammad has read a different book each time. “I loved reading Khazane Ki Talaash (In Search of Treasure). I discuss these books with my friends,” he says.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Riaz HaqJanuary 21, 2023 at 7:44 AM

    Bearing gifts: the camels bringing books to Pakistan’s poorest children
    The mobile library services are an education lifeline for students in Balochistan, where schools have closed during the pandemic

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/apr/26/bearing-gifts-the-camels-bringing-books-to-pakistans-poorest-children


    Chirag visits five towns each week accompanied by his handler and Ismail Yaqoob, a volunteer and teacher. One day, when Yaqoob went to work in his school instead of the village, he got a call on his mobile from one of the children.

    “He asked me why I had not come along with the camel. They were waiting for books,” says Yaqoob. “Children are so interested in reading and in their studies, but sadly the state does not invest in education.”

    Jawad Ali, 10, who has ambitions to be a teacher, has also started borrowing books from the camel library. He says: “I am learning new things from these books and reading stories, understanding photo stories. But I want to read more books. The books are written in my native language – Balochi – but in English and Urdu as well. We want more books – and libraries and schools, too.”

    ReplyDelete
  82. Riaz HaqJanuary 25, 2023 at 5:47 PM

    Monthly December 2022
    ECONOMIC UPDATE & OUTLOOK Pakistan

    https://www.finance.gov.pk/economic/economic_update_December_2022.pdf

    The government has decided to include
    transgenders in the Benazir Kafalat
    programme for the first time to mobilize
    this marginalized community, so that the
    maximum number of transgender
    persons could benefit from this policy.
    PPAF through its 24 Partner
    Organizations has disbursed 41,369
    interest free loans amounting to Rs 1.70
    billion during the month of November,
    2022. Since inception of interest free loan
    component, a total of 2,142,190 interest
    free loans amounting to Rs 78.54 billion
    have been disbursed to the borrowers.
    During January-November 2022 Bureau
    of Emigration and Overseas Employment
    has registered 762,767 emigrants and
    71055 emigrants during November, 2022
    for overseas employment in different
    countries.

    According to WHO, cases of malaria,
    cholera, acute watery diarrheal diseases,
    and dengue fever are declining in most of
    the flood-affected districts. Overall,
    malaria cases have reduced to around
    50,000 from over 100,000 confirmed
    cases in early October. Malaria cases
    have declined by 25% in Balochistan, 58%
    in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and 67% in
    Sindh provinces. However, high malaria
    and cholera cases are still being reported
    in some pocket districts in Sindh and
    Balochistan where standing water
    remains. In November 2022, around 70
    suspected cases of Diphtheria were
    reported from the flood-affected
    provinces of KP, Sindh, and Punjab.
    There are about 1.6 million children with
    Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) across
    all the flood-affected districts who need
    treatment with Ready to Use Therapeutic
    Food (RUTF). About 400,000 of these
    children are in the 34 Government High
    Priority Districts (GHPD). Bridging the
    nutrition budget gap for an aggressive
    sector-wide response is therefore very
    critical. (OCHA, Flood situation report on
    Pakistan, December, 06, 2022).

    ReplyDelete
  83. Riaz HaqJanuary 25, 2023 at 5:48 PM

    Monthly December 2022
    ECONOMIC UPDATE & OUTLOOK Pakistan

    https://www.finance.gov.pk/economic/economic_update_December_2022.pdf


    Real Sector:
    For Rabi season 2022-23, wheat crop
    has been sown on an area of 20.77
    million acres . The input situation is 1
    expected to remain favorable due to
    incentives announced in Kissan Package
    2022 that will boost agriculture
    productivity. The better input situation is
    expected to increase crops production in
    Rabi season. According to IRSA the
    irrigation water supply recorded at 6.32
    MAF for November 2022 against the last
    year's supply of 5.50 MAF, increased by
    0.82 MAF.
    The Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded
    at 23.8 percent on a YoY basis in
    November 2022 as compared to 26.6
    percent in the previous month

    ReplyDelete
  84. Riaz HaqJanuary 29, 2023 at 5:32 PM

    69% Pakistanis feel that their children will have a better life than them in a global Gallup International survey in 64 countries

    Figure in India is 43%

    https://twitter.com/bilalgilani/status/1619768586276569088?s=20&t=AfVrdN1yfTuVjhOxMf22eQ



    https://www.gallup-international.bg/en/46667/fsdfdsfs/


    The most positive country among those surveyed is Nigeria (90% minus 6%) and the most negative is Slovenia a (14% minus 53%). Among the prominent countries where GIA could poll, expectations for their children’s future are highest in Nigeria is followed by Russia (52% minus 10%), Mexico (48% minus 30%), the USA (43% minus 31%) and India (43% minus 33%).

    When combining the two questions, another perspective is added. For instance, Moldova shows a total of 86 (45% saying that their live is worse life than the one of their parents plus 41% expecting a worse life of today’s children), followed in this negative ranking by North Macedonia (82: 35% negative assessments plus 47% negative predictions), Afghanistan (81), Syria and Italy (78), etc.

    Most of the countries are still positive on both questions, but if one looks for instance for countries with both above 50% positive answers, Nigeria stands out with 171 (81% positive for today plus 90% positive for tomorrow), followed by Kosovo (162), the United Arab Emirates (150), Ghana (141), Pakistan (134), etc.

    Findings are proved, confirming that developing parts of the world share more hope. National and political peculiarities leave their footprint but in general is seems that the closer the war and troubles are, the worse are the answers on both issues – as expected.

    ---------

    Every second citizen (51%) of the world believes that their life is better than that of their parents. The other half of the people asked is equally divided between those who assess a worse life (23%) and those who find it the same (23%). 3% could not answer. Satisfaction with the living standard is a key factor for people to believe that they have a better life than their parents. But in some rich regions like Europe this is not so valid.

    Expectations for the life of today’s children are predominantly good as well but lower than the comparison of own life to the life of the previous generation – 44% are expecting a better life for today’s children in comparison to our lives, 28% expecting a worse life, 20% expecting about the same and 8% not responding. Aged people are less sure about the better future of the next generation. More money unsurprisingly seems to result in more confidence in the future on a personal level, but on a national level countries that experience or used to experience difficulties are the ones to believe stronger in better future for the next generation. Unsurprisingly again.

    ReplyDelete
  85. Riaz HaqFebruary 28, 2023 at 7:41 AM

    Pakistan launches ‘School on Wheels’ project to improve education in rural areas

    https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-launches-school-on-wheels-project-to-improve-education-in-rural-areas-1.94146439

    8 mobile classrooms will provide primary-level education and offer libraries and meals


    Islamabad: Pakistan government launched the ‘School on Wheels’ project to being education to the doorstep of children whose parents are unable to send them to school.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the initiative on Tuesday and expressed hopes that the initiative would increase the literacy rate in Pakistan, particularly in rural areas. During the inauguration of mobile schools, PM Sharif said that the project aims to offer equal educational opportunities to children in rural areas who lacked the availability of modern educational facilities.

    The prime minister also interacted with the schoolchildren at the launch ceremony. He urged the kids to utilise mobile libraries and hoped that it would promote a reading culture among the children. Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain briefed the prime minister on various features of the project. He said that in addition to mobile libraries, the project would also provide meals to the students enrolled in mobile classrooms, fostering a culture of reading and nourishment.

    Eight mobile school buses
    The bright-coloured buses were decorated with balloons and the windows were painted with alphabets and cartoons. The inside of the mobile classrooms is bright and clean, its interior filled with images of alphabets, numbers, days of the week, and pictures of fruit and animals. On the first day, children were seen sitting on colorful chairs inside the bus as a teacher used the interactive whiteboard for teaching.

    Initially, the mobile school project consists of eight buses that will provide primary-level education to the children of Islamabad and nearby areas. Each bus is equipped with computers, desks, whiteboards, and LCDs. The government plans to increase the number of buses and expand the project to the rest of the country.

    The ‘school on wheels’ project aims to bring education to the doorstep of disadvantaged children to give them a chance to learn. Several similar mobile school projects have been earlier introduced in Pakistan by public and private organisations.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Riaz HaqFebruary 28, 2023 at 7:49 AM

    The PIDE report further states that by breaking down the data further, it was discovered that approximately 1 in 4 (23.45 percent) children between the ages of 5–16 in Pakistan had never attended school whereas about 7 percent had enrolled and dropped out.

    https://www.nation.com.pk/07-Mar-2022/22-8m-children-between-5-16-years-of-age-not-attending-school-in-pakistan

    Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children where an estimated 22.8 million children between 5 to 16 years of age are not attending school representing 44pc of the total population in this age group.

    The proportion of children out-of-school between the ages 5-16 stood at a whopping 30pc nationwide in 2018-19, with Balochistan, the worst performing province, where 59pc approximately 2 out of 3 children are deprived of basic education, followed by Sindh with 42pc percent out of school Children, revealed in a recent research report of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) titled ‘Primary School Literacy: A Case Study Of The Educate A Child Initiative.’ In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the merged areas there are 31pc out of school children, the report added.

    Pakistan is facing a serious challenge to ensure all children, particularly the most disadvantaged, attend, stay and learn in school. While enrolment and retention rates are improving, progress has been slow on improving educational indicators in Pakistan. According the report nearly 10.7 million boys and 8.6 million girls are enrolled at the primary level which drops to 3.6 million boys and 2.8 million girls at the lower secondary level.

    The report states that according to the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM)’s survey conducted during 2018-19, approximately 51 percent of the population of Pakistan has successfully completed their primary level education which rose 2pc from 2013-14. Balochistan was the worst performing province in this regard, with figures actually declining from 33pc in 2013-14 to 31 percent in 2018-19–the COVID-19 pandemic has likely caused further damage.

    Punjab, on the other hand, was the best performing province with a completion rate of just 57pc, approximately 3 out of 5. Assuming that education and literacy are public goods, these statistics indicate a looming crisis for Pakistan which has not managed to formulate a comprehensive strategy or framework around which children may become literate and empower themselves economically.

    PIDE report says 59pc children in Balochistan deprived of basic education

    The PIDE report further states that by breaking down the data further, it was discovered that approximately 1 in 4 (23.45 percent) children between the ages of 5–16 in Pakistan had never attended school whereas about 7 percent had enrolled and dropped out.

    The situation in Balochistan and Sindh was the worst. In the former, about half of children in the same age bracket had never attended school (54.25pc) and in the latter, the figure stood at 35.44pc.

    The report mentioned that alongside enrolment, there was a grave need to address the shortcomings of the system in place responsible for supporting and overseeing public schools.

    These institutions have historically struggled to address problems such as teacher absenteeism, low enrolment, high dropout, and poor physical conditions. The reason for this is a lack of resources and underdeveloped monitoring/governance mechanisms—along with the absence of any substantial coordination mechanisms.

    According to the PIDE’s report there is a need for the establishment of local, grassroots level entities that could act as intermediaries between targeted populations and the governing agencies.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Riaz HaqFebruary 28, 2023 at 8:07 AM

    Primary School Literacy: A Case Study of the Educate a Child Initiative
    Abbas Moosvi, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad.

    https://pide.org.pk/research/primary-school-literacy-a-case-study-of-the-educate-a-child-initiative/

    INTRODUCTION
    According to the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement survey of 2018-19, approximately 51 percent of the population of Pakistan has successfully completed their primary level education – a figure that rose 2 percent from 2013-14. Balochistan was the worst performing province in this regard, with figures actually declining from 33 percent in 2013-14 to 31 percent in 2018-19—and the COVID-19 pandemic has likely caused further damage. Punjab, on the other hand, was the best performing, with a completion rate of just 57 percent—approximately 3 out of 5. Assuming that education and literacy are public goods, these statistics indicate a looming crisis for Pakistan: which has not managed to formulate a comprehensive strategy or framework around which children may become literate and empower themselves economically.

    OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN: A CRISIS OF POLICY
    The proportion of children out-of-school between the ages 5-16 stood at a whopping 30 percent nationwide in 2018-19. In Balochistan, the worst performing province, the figure stood at 59 percent during the same period: approximately 3 out of 2 children deprived of basic education. In Sindh, the rate was 42 percent—alarming for the province generating the highest tax revenues in the country, largely from the economic capital: Karachi.

    Breaking down the data further, it was discovered that approximately 1 in 4 (23.45 percent) children between the ages of 5–16 in Pakistan had never attended school—whereas about 7 percent had enrolled and dropped out. The situation in Balochistan and Sindh was the worst. In the former, about half of children in the same age bracket had never attended school (54.25 percent) and in the latter the figure stood at 35.44 percent.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Riaz HaqMarch 18, 2023 at 10:59 AM

    How Maqsad’s Mobile Education Can Help More Pakistani Students Learn

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2023/03/16/how-maqsads-mobile-education-can-help-more-pakistani-students-learn/?sh=ffc4bfb54126

    Maqsad aims to make education more accessible to 100 million Pakistani students through a learning platform delivered via a mobile app. The platform offers teaching and testing, and can respond to queries. It seeks to disrupt the country’s out-of-school education sector, which largely consists of expensive tuition services that most families can’t afford.

    ---------

    Growing up in Pakistan, high-school friends Rooshan Aziz and Taha Ahmed, the founders of edtech start-up Maqsad, were very conscious of their good fortune. Aziz struggled with dyslexia but his parents were able to afford after-school academic support that enabled him to complete his education. Ahmed, meanwhile, benefited from a series of academic scholarships that gave him a headstart in life.

    Fast forward to the Covid-19 pandemic, Aziz and Ahmed were both working in London, and watched with horror as Pakistan tried to move to online learning, but found itself unable to scale up a technology platform capable of supporting large numbers of students. The crisis acted as an impetus to launch Maqsad, which is today announcing a $2.8 million funding round as it reaches 1 million users only six months after its launch.

    -------

    “Maqsad offers an exceptional after-school learning experience for students at a fraction of the cost of existing alternatives,” Ahmed explains. “Our focus on student problems is at the core of our mission, and we’ve collected feedback from over 20,000 students and teachers across Pakistan to ensure learning outcomes are being achieved.”

    Certainly, the company has grown remarkably quickly. Since its launch last year, the Maqsad app has been downloaded more than 1 million times and is consistently ranked as the number one education app in Pakistan on the Google Play Store. The app provides access to high-quality content developed by experienced teachers, but also uses artificial intelligence tools to offer personalised learning.

    Aimed initially at students aged 15 to 19 – often preparing for board or university entrance exams – the platform aims to have real impact in a market where student-teacher ratios, at 44:1, are among the highest in the world. Maqsad – the name is the Urdu word for “purpose” – offers a freemium model, enabling students to access a range of features and services at little or no cost. Over time, it plans to offer more content aimed at younger students.

    From an investment perspective, the business offers exposure to an education market that is worth $37 billion in Pakistan. While other technology-enabled providers are also targeting the market – including Abwaab and Nearpeer – Maqsad regards its primary competitors as the providers of physical tuition centres. These are unaffordable for many students, it points out, or simply inaccessible for those who do not live in urban locations where such centres are located.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Riaz HaqMarch 18, 2023 at 12:51 PM

    Healthcare Startups in Pakistan
    (Showing 1-5 of 47)
    With 31 funding rounds

    https://magnitt.com/en-pk/startups/healthcare


    Selected filters - headquartered: Pakistan, primary industry: Healthcare

    Name Description Primary Industry Startup HQ Date Founded Number of Rounds
    Dawaai
    See Funding
    Dawaai is Pakistan’s no.1 digital health platform. Starting as the only technology enabled digital pharmacy in the country, we are now on to disrupting healthcare in a big way and making it accessible to consumers
    Healthcare
    Pakistan
    Dec 2012
    6
    MEDZnMORE
    See Funding
    We're digital healthcare innovators, dedicated towards improving your access to healthcare by solving problems associated with modern day pharmacies.
    Healthcare
    Pakistan
    Sep 2020
    2
    medIQ Smart Healthcare
    See Funding
    medIQ Smart Healthcare is ‘Pakistan’s First Integrated Virtual Care Platform’ which provides on-demand healthcare services at the point of need. medIQ is connecting customers, health services providers and companies to put great care within everyone’s reach. medIQ through its holistic virtual care platform is making healthcare services ‘patient centred’ instead of hospital centred’. We are revolutionizing healthcare by moving away from brick and mortar health facilities and bringing healthcare to doorstep with convenience, customization and cost reduction.
    Healthcare
    Pakistan
    Jul 2020
    1
    F
    Find my Doctor
    See Funding
    -
    Healthcare
    Pakistan
    Dec 2015
    2
    Healthwire
    See Funding
    Healthwire is on a mission to use technology to empower patients and improve healthcare outcomes.
    Healthcare
    Pakistan
    Mar 2015
    2
    Want more data?

    ReplyDelete
  90. Riaz HaqMarch 25, 2023 at 8:01 AM

    PM launches ‘Teleschool Pakistan’ for free online education

    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2407321/pm-launches-teleschool-pakistan-for-free-online-education

    Teleschool Pakistan is a mobile application developed by the Ministry of Federal Education to provide free online education to students of all grades.

    Addressing the ceremony, the prime minister observed that teachers’ training in the country was not up to the mark which was unfortunate and cited his experience in Punjab province.

    He said that he had directed for steps to improve the quality of about 40 training centres in the province during his tenure as the chief minister.


    -------

    Secretary for Federal Education and Professional Training Waseem Ajmal presented an overview of the initiative.

    He said digital contents would be created and made available on different medium. A total of six digital channels were being launched for different ages.

    He said after the Covid pandemic, 6,000 quality videos were prepared.

    Teachers would also be properly trained under the professional development initiative, he added.

    Under the initiative, 150 chrome books were being distributed among the students while another 6,000 chrome books would be distributed soon, he added.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Riaz HaqMarch 25, 2023 at 10:51 AM

    Purpose driven life: How top London school graduates quit lucrative jobs to provide millions of Pakistani students a lifeline | Pakistan – Gulf News

    https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/purpose-driven-life-how-top-london-school-graduates-quit-lucrative-jobs-to-provide-millions-of-pakistani-students-a-lifeline-1.94712691

    Islamabad: As the once-in-a-century pandemic brought unprecedented changes to the world of education, two Pakistani entrepreneurs, Rooshan Aziz and Taha Ahmed, found their purpose and built an edtech (educational technology) platform called Maqsad, which is the Urdu word for “purpose”.

    Ahmed and Aziz, graduates of the London School of Economics, left their jobs in strategy consulting and investment banking in London and returned to Karachi to pursue their shared aspiration of making a meaningful impact back in Pakistan.

    Being aware of the challenges of the Pakistani education system, the two childhood friends seized the opportunity during the pandemic disruption and founded Maqsad in 2021 with a mission to provide a lifeline for millions of students and allow them to access educational resources from their homes.

    Within the last six months, the Maqsad app reached 1 million, has answered 4 million queries, and continues to be ranked as the top education app in Pakistan on the Google app store. But that is only the beginning. Maqsad aims to make education more accessible to 100 million Pakistani students through its mobile-only learning platform.

    Features of learning platform
    “Maqsad is a very comprehensive learning platform that does three things for students: Explain concepts, test knowledge and answer queries,” the co-founder Rooshan Aziz explained to Gulf News. The app provides comprehensive after-school academic content in both English and Urdu.

    It offers teaching, testing, and query resolution for grades 9-12 students, focusing on the content of local educational boards - Sindh, Punjab, and Federal boards currently but aims to expand its reach to more boards and grades in the future.

    The app’s query-solving technology and interactive testing provide a valuable solution for students who lack access to quality instructors. With the app’s enhanced assessment feature, students can confidently self-evaluate, resulting in a consistent month-on-month growth of 150 per cent in the number of questions attempted by students, Aziz shared.

    Personalised after-school academic support
    The mobile app is emerging as a potential solution to help reduce reliance on private tuition in Pakistan. Many students, including those studying in private schools, often turn to private tuition to provide individualised attention and support to help them keep up with the curriculum.

    The Maqsad co-founders understand these challenges very well. Aziz struggled with dyslexia (learning disability) and largely depended on after-school academic support to complete his education. When he grew up, Aziz realised that this support was largely out of reach for the majority of students in Pakistan. Ahmed, who comes from a middle-class background, recalled that his family dedicated over half of the family’s income towards education, and securing scholarships helped alter the course of his life.


    ReplyDelete
  92. Riaz HaqMarch 25, 2023 at 10:52 AM

    Purpose driven life: How top London school graduates quit lucrative jobs to provide millions of Pakistani students a lifeline | Pakistan – Gulf News

    https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/purpose-driven-life-how-top-london-school-graduates-quit-lucrative-jobs-to-provide-millions-of-pakistani-students-a-lifeline-1.94712691


    “Maqsad serves as a substitute for offline tuition, which may be inaccessible or unaffordable for many families. This is a major concern for girls who face accessibility issues due to limited public transport infrastructure and reliance on other family members,” said the Maqsad co-founder Ahmed. Another goal of the platform is to address Pakistan’s unequal education landscape, where poor education standards prevail for a large number of students, he says.

    ‘Game-changer’ for students
    Maqsad app has been hailed as a “game-changer” for students who struggle to receive personalised support due to the country’s highest student-teacher ratios in the world with only 1 teacher for every 44 students. Ahmed emphasises that “focus on student problems is at the core of our mission, and we have collected feedback from over 20,000 students and teachers across Pakistan to ensure learning outcomes are being achieved”.



    The app has been particularly beneficial for female students allowing them to receive the support they need to excel academically. A ninth-grade female student, who recently scored an impressive 73 out of 75 in Maths, attributed her success to the personalised support at Maqsad available free of cost.

    Medical student Nimra Khan (student’s name changed upon request) said she used the app to prepare for college admission test and was able to join her dream university “thanks to high-quality services by Maqsad, which were provided for free, unlike other learning applications that charged significant amounts of money.” The app provides free access to the majority of the lessons but there are also paid options for advanced content at a fraction of the price of comparable alternatives.



    Many teachers are also reportedly using the app as a source of knowledge and to offer after-school support who don’t have direct access to the app or Internet.

    Maqsad secures $2.8 million in seed funding
    The leading edtech, Maqsad, recently raised $2.8 million in a seed funding round led by Speedinvest, one of Europe’s largest seed investors, and returning investor Indus Valley Capital. Philip Specht, a partner at Speedinvest, said the firm invested because of Maqsad’s “potential to disrupt the education ecosystem and touch the lives of millions of students”. They believe that Maqsad is “on track to be one of the most successful businesses in Pakistan.



    Indus Valley Capital, a Pakistan-focused early-stage venture capital fund, has increased its investment in Maqsad due to its compelling vision for education in Pakistan. This investment has raised Maqsad’s total capital to $4.9 million, solidifying its position as the best-funded edtech platform in Pakistan.

    Future goals
    The Maqsad team will use funding “to invest in more content for younger classes and cutting-edge technologies to make learning more personalised” and introduce AI-based solutions to enhance the platform’s capabilities and expand the subject offerings. “We are laser-focused on delivering a personalised learning experience at scale and have a number of exciting AI-based initiatives in the pipeline,” he said.



    The edtech startup is also exploring potential partnerships with schools and is currently running a pilot with one of the largest school networks in the country. Sharing the long-term vision, Aziz said Maqsad aims to transform the country’s education ecosystem with content and technology solutions that are not limited by constraints such as financial issues or unavailability of teachers in rural regions.

    ReplyDelete
  93. Riaz HaqMarch 25, 2023 at 7:25 PM

    Education Technology in Pakistan | EdTech Hub

    https://edtechhub.org/where-we-work/pakistan/

    EdTech Hub develops and delivers evidence in EdTech. We work in partnership with researchers and stakeholders in-country to find specific, effective solutions to education challenges.

    Since 2020, EdTech Hub has been assisting many players in Pakistan’s education sector. Because the education sector in Pakistan is very decentralised, EdTech Hub’s work requires close collaboration with the Government at the federal and provincial levels, as well as local partners, EdTech entrepreneurs and policy think tanks.

    More specifically, EdTech Hub works with the Pakistani Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT), the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), the FCDO, World Bank, and UNICEF to achieve large-scale impact.

    ReplyDelete
  94. Riaz HaqMarch 28, 2023 at 7:16 AM

    A mobile library reaching children in remote villages of Pakistan
    The camel library is a unique project to improve access to literacy

    https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/pakistan-library-camels-children-reading-b2308378.html

    There is something special about the library in Tharparkar, one of the most deprived areas of the southeastern province of Sindh in Pakistan.

    This mobile library was started almost two years ago in the village of Dhano Dodandal in the district of Tharparkar. It involves loading books onto a camel, which is then taken from village to village. Recently, the project has expanded to the another village, Sokliyo.


    Mehdi Raza, who supervises this project in the area of Nagarparkar, says that Dr Asghar Naqvi of Karachi put him in touch with the educational NGO Alif Laila – who provided the team with books for children.

    The camel library facilitates learning for children from village to village, without the need for hefty investment. Children not only read the books themselves but also take them to the adults in their homes, which furthers spreads awareness.

    Children in the small village school look forward to the two days of the week when books are brought to them by the camel library.

    Teacher Badal tells Independent Urdu he is happy that his students can access books in this novel way – and that the library is a helpful resource in their learning.

    Pana Bhai, who is fond of reading, says she comes with the children of her village as soon as the camel library arrives.

    Mehdi Raza explains that this service was started with just a single camel, but in the future it is hoped the project will be able expand further using more camels.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Riaz HaqMarch 31, 2023 at 8:28 AM

    Camelback counters trek wilderness for Pakistan (first digital) census

    https://www.dawn.com/news/1745167

    “We even have to live for days out in the mountains among the people we're counting," says census supervisor.

    Plodding over the horizon of Balochistan, camel-riding officials spy on a far-flung cluster of rough wooden homes and start tallying its tribespeople as the national census gets underway.

    Beyond the reach of roads, power lines and TV signals in central Balochistan, this arid settlement of five reed huts has no name and hosts barely 15 nomads — three families herding goats and sheep.

    “We ride for hours,” said local census supervisor Faraz Ahmad. “We even have to live for days out in the mountains among the people we’re counting.”

    In cities and towns, teams wend their way from door to door on motorbikes. But in rural Balochistan, the tarmac gives way to craggy trails that then dissolve altogether in a wilderness of khaki rockland.

    A fleet of gurning camels is the only option to get the job done.

    “It takes a while to convince them to share their details,” census taker Mohammad Junaid Marri told AFP in Kohlu district, 210 kilometres east of Quetta and one hour by camel from the nearest discernible road.

    “In some cases, it’s kind of funny. Since every census team has a security escort, sometimes people run away,” the 30-year-old said after his garlanded camel Bhoora bowed to let him slide off its hump and start peppering families with questions.

    Between five and 10 per cent of Kohlu residents live in areas so inaccessible that camels are the only practical transport, estimates 34-year-old Ahmad.

    They are rented for 1,000 rupees a day and the price includes a cameleer — a man trudging ahead to lead the bristly beasts on a leash.

    In a nation divided along ethnic lines, enumerating citizens — 207 million at last count and an estimated 220m today — is a politically charged act that can alter claims to power and scant state resources.

    The data will also be used to outline constituencies in future elections. Balochistan — Pakistan’s largest and least populous province — is rich in natural resources but poor by all other measures.

    A separatist insurgency has long simmered in the region, fuelled by the grievance that Islamabad has failed to share the spoils of wealth extracted from Balochistan.

    As Marri and Ahmad approach the hamlet on one camel — trailed by another carrying a guard wielding a weathered machine gun — they are eyed by a teenager through a pair of binoculars as children in traditional red floral dresses gather around.

    “There’s a lack of awareness among people about the census — they don’t understand the benefits and downsides,” said Ahmad. “They don’t trust us and fear we may cheat them.”


    Elsewhere, police guarding census teams in the nation’s remote and restive northwest have been killed by the Taliban.

    Despite the decidedly low-tech mode of transport, this is the first time Pakistan’s census will be compiled digitally — on tablets rather than reams of paper. Nonetheless, the old grievances remain.

    “What benefits will we get from the census?” asked Mir Khan, 53, in another nearby speck of a settlement at the foot of mountains.

    “We will get nothing. The influential people snatch everything the government wants to distribute to the poor.”

    “We have never seen any support from the government,” grumbles his cousin Pando Khan, 58. “We see people when they’re campaigning for us to vote for them, and later they never return.”

    However, after swapping their personal details with families according to local tribal customs, Ahmad and Marri convince them to answer 25 questions to give them a clearer picture of present-day Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  96. Riaz HaqApril 2, 2023 at 12:40 PM

    Pakistan: Technology boosts education reform in remote areas

    https://www.globalpartnership.org/results/stories-of-change/pakistan-technology-boosts-education-reform-remote-areas

    STORY HIGHLIGHTS
    Education in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Sindh provinces has been hampered by natural disasters, poor infrastructure and remoteness, and further exacerbated by political, economic and security problems.
    From WhatsApp groups to biometric fingerprint systems, innovative technology has helped with building and restoring schools and improving teacher retention in these remote regions.
    Since 2014, GPE’s support has led to 53,000 previously out-of-school children enrolled in school in Balochistan, and the tracking of educational data in all 29 districts in Sindh.

    Supported by a US$34 million GPE grant, the government of Balochistan set up digital profiles to record land transfers and follow school construction, supporting the completion of schools and allowing education officials to track progress.

    Large-scale surveys gathered geospatial data, an innovative and cost-effective way to identify abandoned buildings that could be transformed into schools.

    Balochistan also established criteria for the selection of school sites, ensuring no other school existed within a 1.5 km radius and that locations enabled at least 20 out-of-school children to attend. This resulted in schools being built in remote areas with the most need.


    Since 2015, 700 schools with new or renovated buildings have been completed and more than 100 girls’ primary schools upgraded to secondary. With GPE support, education authorities began to track real-time data in 14,000 schools, including teacher attendance and enrollment.

    This has helped with the allocation of funding to locations with the greatest need. Android apps also record the physical infrastructure of schools, providing timely information on the functionality of toilets, drinking water and electricity.

    School monitoring using technology
    Both provinces use tech solutions to support management and ensure accountability in the education system. In Balochistan, apps keep track of teacher attendance, recording when teachers are within a certain geo-radius of the school; they work offline in more remote areas, uploading information when there is network access.

    Through a US$66 million GPE grant, the Sindh province used tech tools to ensure teachers were deployed to the areas where they were most needed. Fingerprint-based biometric and photograph systems supported by GPS coordinates are also able to track teaching hours.

    Greater incentive and validation for teachers
    In a significant boost to quality learning, GPE supported the recruitment and training of qualified teachers, with emphasis placed on hiring female teachers to increase girls’ enrollment. Since 2015, 1,200 teachers have been recruited in Balochistan after passing the national testing service exam.

    Better teaching and consistently open schools have helped increase student enrollment, with over 56,000 more girls enrolling in public elementary, primary and middle schools in Sindh.

    ReplyDelete
  97. Riaz HaqApril 23, 2023 at 6:43 PM

    In Pakistan, Quality Education Requires A Different Approach—and More Investment
    JUAN BARON MAY BEND

    https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/pakistan-quality-education-requires-different-approach-and-more-investment


    Our recent Human Capital Review highlights that quality education for all children in Pakistan will require a different approach and substantial financial efforts, estimated to be 5.4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    Low public spending on education, combined with limited effectiveness at producing positive student outcomes, such as universal school enrollments and effective learning, limits Pakistan’s citizens from more actively participating in economic and social activities and contributing to productivity and economic growth. The challenges –notably the large number of out-of-school children and high learning poverty–seem complex the costs of addressing them unsurmountable. Nevertheless, there are actions Pakistan can take to change this trajectory.

    Pakistan’s education sector faces critical challenges, which are believed to have been deepened by COVID-19 and the 2022 Floods. These catastrophes have only added to the world’s second-highest population of out-of-school children, which was at 20.3 million before them. Even before the pandemic, Pakistan had 75% Learning Poverty, which means that prior to the floods it started with already a very high percentage of 10-year-olds that cannot read and understand a simple age-appropriate text. The most vulnerable are disproportionately affected by the sector’s challenges. For example, learning poverty is highest for the poorest, and the most impoverished children – mainly in rural areas – are more likely to be out of school.

    A different approach would require using available information to better target education programs in order to maximize the impact of limited resources.

    For example, conversations and analyses tend to group all out-of-school children into a single category. This severely limits the effectiveness of policy actions to reduce out-of-school children. Understanding the different characteristics of out-of-school children will help, and here are some of them:

    The majority are girls. Before the pandemic, 37 percent of girls and 27 percent of boys aged 5–16 were not in school.
    They are more likely to live in rural areas. About 35 percent—or 15 million-- rural children aged 5 to 16 were out of school, compared with 20 percent –or 4.4 million--of urban children. This gap has remained constant over the past two decades.
    They tend to be older. More children are out after primary school. During the 2018/19 school year, 40 percent of secondary school-age children were out of school (40 compared to 25 percent of middle school-age children and 23 percent of primary school–age children.
    The number and share of out-of-school children drastically differs across provinces. About 53 percent of all out-of-school children live in Punjab and 23 percent in Sindh. That is almost 14 million. However, Balochistan and Sindh show the country's highest provincial rates of out-of-school children.

    ReplyDelete
  98. Riaz HaqApril 23, 2023 at 6:44 PM

    In Pakistan, Quality Education Requires A Different Approach—and More Investment
    JUAN BARON MAY BEND

    https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/pakistan-quality-education-requires-different-approach-and-more-investment


    A different approach not only targets out-of-school children more effectively, but also calls for a relentless focus on learning in everything the education sector does. The statistics in Pakistan are telling: 65 percent of students still need to achieve a minimum proficiency level in reading by the end of primary education (Learning Poverty Brief).

    There are several barriers to learning. Research points to outdated teaching practices, lack of quality and availability of pedagogical material, difficulty transitioning from languages spoken at home to the language used in schools, and teacher shortages. In addition, poverty, undernutrition, lack of school readiness, and distance to school make learning more challenging for students.

    A different approach and implementing programs for impact would require at least three elements. First, it requires policies and solutions tailored to the characteristics of distinct groups of out-of-school children to maximize impact. For example, bringing children who are in the 13-16 age range and who have never been in school to regular school does not answer their needs. Alternatively, providing these children with literacy, numeracy, and life skills would support their needs in life.

    Second, it requires focusing on what works. There is plenty of evidence from Pakistan and elsewhere that highlight the policy options and programs that are the most cost-effective to increase enrollment and learning, but prioritizing which ones to implement is critical. Third, it will require increasing the efficiency and level of public expenditure, this can be achieved by targeting funding every year to where education outcomes are the lowest.

    There are several tested and impactful approaches that Pakistan has used successfully and that can deliver results at a reasonable cost. These can be scaled to expand educational services for children in Pakistan.

    A few examples here can have a real impact. First, public-private partnerships have worked in Punjab. They can be expanded to cover more children in other levels of the system, particularly middle school, but be better regulated. Second, public and community schools can be revamped and improved, ensuring teachers are present – including consideration of double shifts when appropriate in the public sector. Third, multigrade classrooms should take true multigrade approaches in terms of funding, planning, and pedagogical execution. Making multigrade more effective is necessary to make rural education affordable and impactful. Several countries have done it successfully, including Pakistan, in the past.

    Finally, the Human Capital Review provides a back-of-the-envelope estimate of how much Pakistan would require to keep all children in school – with gains in quality: 5.4 percent of GDP. This is assuming increases in efficiency in the public sector of 20 percent, for example, by using more targeted programs, investing in cost-efficient programs, and minimizing the use of high-cost, low-impact programs such as laptop distribution with no underlying pedagogical strategy.

    An increase in expenditure is necessary from the low base of 2.5 percent of GDP Pakistan currently spends on education. Expanding levels of education should go in parallel with a serious effort to increase the efficiency of public expenditure in access, quality, and equity. Just bringing children to school is not enough. They must learn the skills to contribute to their own lives, families, communities, and country.

    ReplyDelete
  99. Riaz HaqApril 23, 2023 at 8:27 PM

    India expects all primary & lower-secondary school kids to be educated by 2030: UNESCO report

    https://theprint.in/india/india-expects-all-primary-lower-secondary-school-kids-to-be-educated-by-2030-unesco-report/811148/


    The report indicates that these numbers are significantly higher than 2015. That year, 36.5 per cent and 38.8 per cent of students achieved minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics at the end of primary education. However, this number is expected to grow to 90 per cent and 85 per cent in 2025.

    Lower secondary levels of mathematics proficiency, at 12.3 per cent in 2015, were lower than Bangladesh (31 per cent), Nepal (53.8 per cent), Pakistan (68 per cent) and Sri Lanka (50.6 per cent). But for India, the number is expected to grow over six times to 75 per cent by 2030.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Riaz HaqMay 29, 2023 at 7:15 PM

    Global Social Mobility Index 2020 | World Economic Forum

    The Global Social
    Mobility Report 2020
    Equality, Opportunity
    and a New Economic
    Imperative

    https://www3.weforum.org/docs/Global_Social_Mobility_Report.pdf

    The World Economic Forum’s Global Social Mobility Index provides a new, holistic assessment of 82 global economies according to their performance on five key dimensions of social mobility distributed over 10 pillars: 1. Health; 2. Education (access, quality and equity, lifelong learning); 3. Technology; 4. Work (opportunities, wages, conditions); 5. Protection and Institutions (social protection and inclusive institutions). Economies with greater social mobility provide more equally shared opportunities—namely, an equal and meritocratic footing irrespective of socio-economic background, geographic location, gender or origin. There is a direct and linear relationship between a country’s income inequality and its social mobility score on the index. Low social mobility entrenches historical inequalities and higher income inequalities fuel lower social mobility. Enhancing social mobility can convert this vicious cycle into a virtuous one and has positive benefits on broader economic growth. The Global Social Mobility Index equips policy-makers with a tool to identify areas for improving social mobility and promoting equally shared opportunities for the entirety of their citizens, regardless of their development stage. The index is supplemented by a deep dive into the situation in the United States, through innovative metrics developed in partnership between the World Economic Forum and three private sector companies which hold unique data sets and provide new insights into the distribution of advantages and disadvantages across the population.

    62 Tunisia 51.7
    63 Panama 51.4
    64 Turkey 51.3
    65 Colombia 50.3
    66 Peru 49.9
    67 Indonesia 49.3 68
    El Salvador 47.4
    69 Paraguay 46.8
    70 Ghana 45.5
    71 Egypt 44.8
    72 Lao PDR 43.8
    74 Morocco 43.7
    73 Honduras 43.5
    75 Guatemala 43.5
    76 India 42.7
    77 South Africa 41.4
    78 Bangladesh 40.2
    79 Pakistan 36.7
    81 Cameroon 36.0
    80 Senegal 36.0
    82 Côte d'Ivoire 34.5

    ReplyDelete
  101. Riaz HaqJune 6, 2023 at 5:11 PM

    No School Stands Alone
    How market dynamics affect the performance of public and private schools

    https://www.educationnext.org/no-school-stands-alone-how-market-dynamics-affect-performance-public-private-schools/

    Jishnu Das


    In the United States, 9 percent of K–12 students attend private schools, but in low- and middle-income countries, private schools account for 20 percent of all primary enrollment and are rapidly gaining ground. In Pakistan, the number of private schools rose to more than 70,000 by 2015, up from 3,000 in 1982; by 2015, these schools educated 34 percent of Pakistani children enrolled in primary schools. In contrast to private schools in the United States, Pakistan’s are highly affordable, and the majority are secular.


    This growth in private schooling comes at a unique moment in global education: low-income countries have managed to substantially increase enrollments at all levels of schooling, but they have yet to improve what children learn. For instance, the unprecedented speed at which primary (and now secondary and college) enrollment has risen in low-income countries dwarfs the historical experience of today’s rich countries. Yet, in countries such as India and Pakistan, when children are tested at the end of 3rd grade, one-third of them cannot subtract two-digit numbers, less than a sixth can read a simple sentence in English, and less than half can read a simple sentence in the vernacular language, Urdu. Across low-income countries, test scores are so low that the situation has been dubbed a global learning crisis by organizations such as the World Bank and UNESCO.

    The growth in private schools, coming at the same time as the shift in focus from enrollment to learning, has polarized the education community in low- and middle-income countries. Some people favor heavily regulating or even shutting down private schools, based on the belief that they provide substandard education to children of parents who are unable to assess the quality of schools; others believe that private schools should be encouraged and indeed subsidized through the public purse because they provide a valuable option in places with failing public schools. Missing from this debate is a detailed empirical picture of what the growth of private schools means for education markets more broadly. How does the rise in private schooling affect demand for schools in both the private and public sectors, and how do schools respond to any changing demand? Does more competition increase quality? Should governments maintain their focus on improving the quality of public schools, alleviate constraints on private alternatives—or perhaps do both?

    Learning from the LEAPS Project

    Research from the Learning and Education Achievement in Pakistan Schools project, or LEAPS, sheds light on these questions and holds implications for public policy in Pakistan and around the globe. To understand how the growth of private schools was transforming the education landscape in low-income countries, in 2003 I teamed up with Tahir Andrabi of Pomona College and Asim Ijaz Khwaja of Harvard University to launch the LEAPS project, a study of all the schools in 112 villages in the province of Punjab. The province has more than 100,000 schools, of which 60,000 were private in 2015. (By comparison, the state of California, with the largest public-education system in the United States, has about 10,000 public schools.) The villages in the LEAPS project were selected from those that had at least one private school in 2003; these villages are larger and somewhat wealthier than the average village in Punjab, which in turn has the lowest poverty rate of all Pakistani provinces. At the time the project began, about 60 percent to 70 percent of the province’s rural population lived in villages with at least one private school. Between 2003 and 2011, the LEAPS team tracked more than 800 schools in these villages, interviewed more than 1,000 principals and 2,000 teachers, and tested more than 70,000 children to gauge their foundational skills in literacy and numeracy.

    ReplyDelete
  102. Riaz HaqJune 6, 2023 at 5:12 PM

    https://www.educationnext.org/no-school-stands-alone-how-market-dynamics-affect-performance-public-private-schools/

    Jishnu Das


    The high concentration of private and public schools in Punjab Province has transformed education markets there. Figure 1 shows a village in the LEAPS sample. It took me (and two young children) 15 minutes to traverse the village, yet it has five private and two public schools. Data gathered by the LEAPS team show that in 2003, the average fee for private schools in rural Punjab was equivalent to about $1.50 a month, or less than the price of a cup of tea every day. The number of schools in the village portrayed here is typical of the sample—in fact, the average LEAPS village in 2003 had 678 households and 8.2 schools, of which 3 were private.

    The proliferation of private schools in Punjab has enabled such considerable school choice that, once we account for urban areas, some 90 percent of children in the province now live in neighborhoods and villages like the one illustrated in Figure 1. Such “schooling markets” are not just a Pakistani or South Asian phenomenon. Schooling environments in Latin America and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa also offer extensive variety for local families.

    One question widely examined by education researchers is whether children in private schools learn more than those in public schools. Is there a private-school “premium” that can be measured in terms of test results or other metrics? One impediment to answering that question is that children enrolled in private schools are not randomly drawn from the local population, and researchers often cannot convincingly correct for this selection problem. In my view, though, a larger obstacle is that the concept of an “average” private-school premium is elusive when families can choose from multiple public and private schools and the quality of schools differs vastly within both sectors. Comparing a high-performing public school to a low-performing private school will yield a very different result than comparing a high-performing private school to a low-performing public school.

    The LEAPS research team looked at this question in a study published in 2023. We defined school value-added as the gain in test scores in Urdu, math, and English that a randomly selected child would experience when enrolled in a specific school. The team found that the value-added variation among schools was so large that, compounded over the primary school years, the average difference between the best- and the worst-performing school in the same village was comparable to the difference in test scores between low- and high-income countries.

    Figure 2 shows what this variation implies for estimates of private-school effectiveness. Each vertical line in the figure represents one of the 112 LEAPS villages. Schools in each village are arranged on the line according to their school value-added, with public schools indicated by red triangles and private schools by black dots. The red band tracks the average quality of public schools in the villages, from weakest to strongest, and the gray band shows the average quality of private schools in the villages. The private schools are, on average, more successful in raising test scores than their public-sector counterparts. As is clear, however, every village has private and public schools of varying quality, and the measure of any “private-school premium” depends entirely on which specific schools are being compared. In fact, the study shows that the causal impact of private schooling on annual test scores can range from –0.08 to +0.39 standard deviations. The low end of this range represents the average loss across all villages when children move from the best-performing public school to the worst-performing private school in the same village. The upper end represents the average gain across all villages when children move from the worst-performing public school to the best-performing private school, again within the same village.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Riaz HaqJune 6, 2023 at 5:12 PM

    https://www.educationnext.org/no-school-stands-alone-how-market-dynamics-affect-performance-public-private-schools/

    Jishnu Das

    Parents’ Choices

    The relevant question, then, is not whether private schools are more effective. The questions are: How well are parents equipped to discern quality in a school—public or private—and choose the best one for their children? And can policy decisions affect these choices?

    As to the first question, the team found that parents choosing private schools appear to recognize and reward high quality. Consequently, in the LEAPS villages, private schools with higher value-added are able to charge higher fees and see their market share increase over time. In contrast, parents choosing public schools either have a harder time gauging the school’s value-added or are less quality-sensitive in their choices. This is particularly concerning in the case of students enrolled in very poorly performing public schools where after five years of schooling they may not be able to read simple words or add two single-digit numbers.

    Given that parents who opt for public schools appear to be less sensitive to quality, one reform instrument often supported by policymakers is the school voucher, whereby public money follows the child to the family’s school of choice. The idea is that making private schools “free” for families will allow children to leave poorly performing public schools in favor of higher-quality private schools. This strategy assumes that parents, when choosing among schools, place significant weight on the cost of the school, manifest in its fees. What’s more, one may reasonably expect that such “fee sensitivity” will be higher in low-income countries and among low-income families. Yet a 2022 analysis of the LEAPS villages showed that a 10 percent decline in private-school fees increased private-school enrollment by 2.7 percent for girls and 1 percent for boys. From these data we estimated that even a subsidy that made private schools totally free would decrease public-school enrollment by only 12.7 and 5.3 percentage points for girls and boys, respectively. This implies that most of the subsidy, rather than going to children who are leaving public schools, would be captured by children who would have enrolled in private schools even without the tuition aid. Further, most of the children induced to change schools under the policy may come from high- rather than low-performing public schools, limiting any test-score gains one might expect.

    One alternative to trying to move children out of poorly performing public schools is to focus on improving those schools. A LEAPS experiment that my co-authors and I published in 2023 evaluated a program that allocated grants to public schools in villages randomly chosen from the LEAPS sample. We found that, four years after the program started, test scores were 0.2 standard deviations higher in public schools in villages that received funds than in public schools in villages that did not. In addition, we observed an “education multiplier” effect: test scores were also 0.2 standard deviations higher in private schools located in grant-receiving villages. This effect echoes an economic phenomenon that often occurs in industry—that is, when low-quality firms improve, higher-quality firms tend to increase their quality even further to protect their market share. In the LEAPS villages, the private schools that improved were those that faced greater competition, either by being physically closer to a public school or by being located in a village where public schools were of relatively high quality at the start of the program. The same was true of private schools in villages where the grants to the public schools were larger.


    ReplyDelete
  104. Riaz HaqJune 6, 2023 at 5:13 PM

    https://www.educationnext.org/no-school-stands-alone-how-market-dynamics-affect-performance-public-private-schools/

    Jishnu Das


    The education multiplier effect increases the cost-effectiveness of the grant program by 85 percent, putting it among the top ranks of education interventions in low-income countries that have been subject to formal evaluation. But beyond that, accounting for private-school responses also changed the optimal targeting of the policy. For instance, our analysis shows that if policymakers consider test-score increases in public schools only, a policy that divides resources equally across villages also maximizes test-score gains; there is apparently no trade-off between equity and effectiveness. Once private-school responses are considered, however, equal division of resources exacerbates existing inequalities in learning among villages. This implies that a government that values equity should distribute more resources to villages with poorly performing public schools.

    Implications for Policymaking

    With 90 percent of Pakistani children living in neighborhoods with multiple public and private schools, the days when government could formulate policies that affected only public schools are long gone. The same is true of many other low-income countries where parents also have significant school choice, ranging from Chile to India. Every policy will have an impact on both public and private schools, even if a policy only targets public schools. Policymakers can choose to ignore these additional effects, but to do so is to miscalculate the policy’s full impact. Our studies are still too premature to help factor parental and private-school responses into the design of policy. A key insight from the LEAPS research is that there is significant variation among schools in terms of performance and among parents in terms of their preferences for quality. A policy to improve public schools can lead to an education multiplier effect in one context but cause private schools to exit in another. A broad understanding of the dynamics of education markets, such as parents placing a very heavy weight on physical distance to school in their choices, can shed some light on this variation. Yet the data requirements to make detailed predictions about how policies will play out in specific settings may be too onerous, at least for now.

    How then to proceed? Three broad principles are emerging from the LEAPS project.

    First, there is little evidence that parents choosing to send their children to private schools in low-income countries are being fooled or hoodwinked into receiving a substandard education. On the contrary, the parents choosing private schools seem to be more informed and better able to reward school quality. The bigger problem is the substantial population of children enrolled in very low-performing public schools, even when there are better public schools nearby. Unfortunately, policies that seek to move children from public to private schools by means of vouchers may end up spending a lot of money on children who were already going to private schools. What’s more, the test-score gains from such policies may be limited if most of the children who do switch from a public to a private school come from higher-performing public schools. Indeed, a 2022 study by Mauricio Romero and Abhijeet Singh showed that both of these dynamics play out in India’s Right to Education Act, which established one of the world’s largest voucher schemes. Subsidizing private schools in a way that consistently improves test scores by moving children out of low-performing public schools remains an elusive goal.

    ReplyDelete
  105. Riaz HaqJune 6, 2023 at 5:14 PM

    https://www.educationnext.org/no-school-stands-alone-how-market-dynamics-affect-performance-public-private-schools/

    Jishnu Das

    If we cannot move children out of low-performing public schools, the alternative is to improve those schools. The second principle, then, is that governments should maintain a focus on improving the quality of public schools. Results of the first generation of efforts to do so in low-income countries were mixed at best, but studies of newer reform efforts that emphasize improved pedagogy, incentives, teacher recruitment and training, and school grants are all showing positive results. A 2021 study by Alex Eble and colleagues, for instance, showed dramatic improvements in test scores in The Gambia with an intervention that used a variety of strategies: hiring teachers on temporary contracts, making changes in pedagogy, monitoring teachers, and giving them regular feedback. Again, the benefits of these policies may extend beyond the public schools they target. In schooling markets, the education multiplier effect will create positive knock-on effects for private schools.

    Third, leaders should consider an entirely different class of policies. These are policies that do not privilege either the public or private sector but acknowledge that both parents and schools face constraints and that alleviating these constraints can lead to significant improvements in both sectors, regardless of the preferences of parents or the cost structures of schools.

    Studies by the LEAPS team present two examples of such policies. In the first, the team provided parents and schools with information on the performance of all schools in a village—public and private—through school “report cards.” We found that this intervention improved test scores in both public and private schools and decreased private-school fees. The policy, in this case, pays for itself and has been recognized as a global “great buy” by a team of education experts.

    As a second example, in 2020 the LEAPS team provided grants to private schools, but in some villages, we gave the grant money to a single school and in others to all private schools in the village. We found that in the first scenario, the school used the money to upgrade infrastructure and expand enrollment but with no resulting improvement in test scores. However, when all the private schools in a village received a grant, schools expanded enrollment and increased student test scores. These schools anticipated that simultaneous capacity improvements by all the private schools would lead to a price war, driving profits to zero, so they focused largely on test-score improvements to maintain profit margins. In both scenarios, the combination of boosted enrollment and higher fees increased the schools’ profits. These increases were large enough that, had the schools taken the money in the form of loans, they would have been able to repay them at interest rates of 20 to 25 percent or more. Finally, the schools improved even though the grant terms did not explicitly require them to—showing that the market generated the incentives for improvement without additional monitoring and testing by external parties, which in Pakistan has proven to be both costly and difficult.

    These interventions leverage the fact that many children in Pakistan and around the globe now live in neighborhoods with multiple public and private schools. In these environments, progress relies on alleviating broader constraints in the education market rather than focusing on specific schools or school types. Moving beyond “public versus private,” we now need policies that support schooling markets, not schools—the entire ecosystem, not just one species.

    Jishnu Das is a distinguished professor of public policy at the McCourt School of Public Policy and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, India.

    ReplyDelete
  106. Riaz HaqJuly 7, 2023 at 7:00 PM

    Chinese companies help in improving social sector


    https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1086783-chinese-companies-help-in-improving-social-sector

    Islamabad: Chinese companies have enhanced their role in social development of Pakistan, while addressing the country’s economic and development issues. The companies are an integral part of CPEC. They are the torch bearer of this flagship project of BRI. They are not only helping Pakistan overcome its infrastructure problems but also investing in social development, skills, and environmental protection in Pakistan. All Chinese companies are investing in social development, but only a few have been selected for discussion, a report carried by Gwadar Pro. The Chinese companies not only helped to create thousands of jobs but also invested in building the capacity of hundreds of engineers and staff members.

    According to available data, Huaneng Shandong Rui Group, which built the Sahiwal coal power invested in 622 employees for building their capacity and sharpen their skills. Further segregation of data shows that 245 engineers were trained following the need for required skills at plants. Port Qasim also contributed to building the capacity of engineers and staff members. Data shows that 2,600 employees benefited from the capacity-building and skill development opportunities offered by the Port Qasim plant. It trained 600 engineers and 2,000 general staff members.

    It is a huge number, especially in the engineering category. It will help Pakistan; as Pakistan has a shortage of qualified and trained engineers. These companies also assisted Pakistan during floods and COVID-19. Second, the Chinese Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC) is another Chines company, which is investing in social development. The major contribution of COPHC is in the sectors of education, waste management, environmental protection, and the provision of food.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Riaz HaqJuly 13, 2023 at 7:09 PM

    Bilal I Gilani
    @bilalgilani
    Literacy rate by age

    Alhamdulilah the younger generation is significantly more literate than older generation

    Our literacy rate ( which is calculated on 15+ age group) is going to rise slowly as it has older cohorts in large numbers

    Literacy is not end all but it's a start

    https://twitter.com/bilalgilani/status/1679408985613676545?s=20

    (Bar graph shows literacy rate is 75% for 10-14 age group, 73% for 15-19 and 69% for 20-24....going down to 51% for 40-44 and 34% for 60-64 age group)

    ReplyDelete

Please use Name/URL profile (rather than anonymous option) if you do not have a Google account. It makes it easier to respond to comments.