Pakistan

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Situation and Priorities

Social protection situation

The first quarter of 2021 saw a political change in Pakistan. This change also resulted into change in priorities. However, with respect to social protection, the budget allocation increased by 45 % in 2022 (from $1,120 mn in 2021 to $ 1,625 mn in 2022).

After the launch of Ehsaas (Compassion), national poverty alleviation programme, in 2019 several provinces carried forward the work on social protection focusing on the policy direction provided by Ehsaas. In the spirit of universalising social protection and reaching out to the excluded, 2021 marked the roll out of several initiatives to extend social protection to workers in the informal economy, domestic workers, agriculture workers, home based workers, sanitation workers and street vendors. The range of measures taken include policy initiatives, establishment of endowments funds to create fiscal space, awareness raising, registration, financial inclusion, and training in e-commerce.

The establishment of Social Security Coordination Forum by the Government of Pakistan with the intention to pursue USP 2030 has advanced the deliberation on reviewing existing social security prorgrammes for expansion, improved governance, creating fiscal space and borrowing of best practices across the provinces. The SSCF is positioned to pursue the vision of the Global Accelerator.

COVID-19 and other crises

Pakistan has faced the challenges of cascading crises, Covid followed by economic instability and the more recent floods of June 2022. The climate induced calamity hit around 84 districts in Pakistan were inundated by the monsoon floods that resulted into an unprecedented loss to human lives, livestock, infrastructure, assets, and livelihoods pushing additional 9 million people into poverty. Around 4.3 million people were affected by loss or disruption of employment and jobs, with significant of them in agriculture sector. The social protection response to the floods as part of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment includes a comprehensive set of initiatives to address the vulnerabilities of those left furthest behind but also calls for shock responsive Social Protection policies and programmes. The Government quickly responded through cash assistance of Rs25,000 provided to over a million beneficiaries disbursing around Rs24 billion from Benazir Income Support Programme. The Recovery Framework developed by the Government highlights the needs to be around $1.6 bn for social protection initiatives.

Government and social partner priorities

In the wake of recurrent crises, the government prioritises:

  1. Increase in social protection spending by the government;
  2. Enhanced scope and coverage of safety nets;
  3. Strong focus on governance of institutions implementing social protection programmes;
  4. Development of a Universal national registry for workers and employers for coordinated coverage and implementation of social protection programmes;
  5. System building for efficiency and integrity; and
  6. Service delivery through One-Window Operations specially integrating crisis response
     

ILO Projects and Programmes

Results

In 2019, the ILO and UN agencies provided technical inputs for the National Poverty Alleviation policy. The ILO advocated for an integrated social protection framework and facilitated the inclusion of the private sector within the policy through its tripartite links and coordinating role in the national business network on social protection. The policy was launched by the Government in March 2019, and resulted in the creation of the Ehsaas umbrella programme.

The ILO has also been active in pushing for the extension of social protection to the informal economy through labour legislation. Agriculture workers, fishermen, and domestic workers now have partial legal coverage, be it at national or province level.

Funding gaps / Support the ILO

US$ 17,000,000

Active labour market response to floods through design of unemployment benefit scheme (Employment Services)

Impact: 4.3 million workers - N° of persons potentially covered by a strategy

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ILO Experts

IMG
Bilal Ahmad
Project Officer
Syed Saghir Bukhari
Senior Programme Officer
IMG
Mariko Ouchi
Senior Specialist, Social Protection