Shazia Marri For Sustained Efforts To Provide Social Protection To All Segments Of Population

Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Shazia Marri Wednesday emphasized on sustaining the efforts to provide social protection to all segments of population, especially the vulnerable groups

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jun, 2022 ) :Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Shazia Marri Wednesday emphasized on sustaining the efforts to provide social protection to all segments of population, especially the vulnerable groups.

She was addressing at the concluding session of a national dialogue on "UNICEF's Putting Children First: Identifying Issues and Defining Solutions to Address Children's, Especially Girls' Deprivation in Pakistan" arranged by UNICEF and the Ministry of Planning.

On the occasion, the federal minister said that the social safety initiatives of her ministry aimed at creating a welfare state by countering elite capture and leveraging 21st century tools and approaches.

"Such approaches include using of data and technology to create precision safety nets; promoting financial inclusion and access to digital services; supporting the economic empowerment of women; focusing on human capital formation; overcoming financial barriers to accessing health and education; tackling malnutrition in all its forms, and employing multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approaches to develop solutions at scale", Shazia Marri said.

She said that her ministry spearheads one of the largest social safety initiatives in the world which is lauded across the world by well-known institutions and agencies such as the United Nations.

She stated that the Constitution of Pakistan under Article-38 ensures the promotion of the social and economic well-being of all the citizens of Pakistan.

The Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, particularly BISP, has a vital role in improving the socio-economic welfare of the poorest and the most vulnerable.

She mentioned that BISP is initially started in 2008 as an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) programme and later was enacted through an Act of Parliament, i.e. BISP Act 2010.

BISP has remained above any political or ideological differences from the very beginning and had transformed into a premier social protection institution in Pakistan with continuous improvement in its design and programme implementation and was regularly providing support to over eight million poorest of the poor families through its Unconditional Cash Transfer and multi-sectoral focused Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes.

The minister highlighted that BISP makes payments to its beneficiaries through technology-based payment mechanisms like the Biometric verification system.

The evaluations of BISP's Unconditional Cash Transfer (Benazir Kafalat) show that there has been a positive impact on women's empowerment including; increasing the mobility of women who can travel freely to locations in their community; and increasing the involvement of women in household decision making process.

The analysis of beneficiaries being targeted by BISP show high rates of poverty as 91 percent of BISP beneficiaries are either ultra-poor, poor or vulnerable to poverty due to various shocks. Our beneficiaries are facing multiple deprivations such as access to education and health, etc.

These families have insecure livelihood opportunities, which means that they are dependent on casual labor, informal work and daily wages. Also, there is quite low level of literacy prevalent in the BISP beneficiary families, as only 19% of adult women in beneficiary households are literate.

This is also true for the children of our beneficiary families and we are making sure to provide them with opportunities to address their issues.

The federal minister said that a child born in Pakistan today will be 39 percent as productive when he or she grows up, because of lack of opportunities while 40 out of 100 children are stunted, and so at risk of cognitive and physical limitations that can last a lifetime.

Shazia Marri said that extreme poverty can be ended through creating more inclusive societies by developing human capital which requires investing in people through nutrition, health care, quality education, jobs and skills.

Mentioning the BISP CCT program for education, Shazia Marri said that the educational stipends are being provided to children of Kafalat beneficiaries from Primary to Grade 12 to increase the enrolment and reduce the dropout rate through cash incentive, throughout the country.

This initiative was launched in 2012 and approximately 8.5 million children have been enrolled since its inception while our target is to enroll 9 million additional children by 2025.

She said that this program design focuses on better incentivization for sending girls to schools.

In comparison to a boy student, an extra amount of Rs. 500 is disbursed to the families for sending a girl to school, while a graduation bonus is also paid only to girls on completion of primary education.

So far, more than 4 million girls have enrolled in the program, as compared to 4.5 million boys, she said.

She mentioned that the impact of the CCT for Education has been considerable. The program increased the proportion of children currently enrolled in primary school by 13% points for boys and 15% points for girls.

The overall school enrolment rates of primary aged children in BISP households are significantly higher for those supported by the CCT (81% as compared to 60%).

In addition, the average attendance rate for both boys and girls is significantly above the minimum required (70%). On average boys have an attendance rate of 83% and girls have an 81% rate. The results of our evaluations compare well to the impact on primary enrolment observed in other CCTs globally.

To address stunting prevention and promote dietary diversity during first 1000 days window of opportunity,Shazia Marri told that BISP launched Nashonuma to increase the uptake of Health and Nutrition services of its beneficiaries through provision of Specialized Nutrition food for Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLWs) and Children (6-23 months), Immunization to PLWs and Children (0-23 months) and awareness Session on Breast-feeding practices, Hygiene, Sanitation and Dietary diversity etc.

Benazir Nashonuma also provides additional Rs. 500 for girls upon fulfilment of conditions by the beneficiary families, she added.

UNICEF is one of the partners with WFP working on the Nashonuma program and I congratulate them for achieving considerable success in the implementation. In the next year, we are poised to launch Benazir Nashonuma in all districts across Pakistan, while the pilot of the project is limited to 15 districts only, she saidShe hoped that UNICEF will continue its collaboration and support especially in the cash transfer programme and in developing new and innovative techniques for reaching out to marginalized adolescent girls.