Islamabad, India (CU)_ According to Shazia Marri, the Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, the ultimate objective of the current government is to protect the poor and the vulnerable particularly in the present economic situation. She had a meeting with Mr. Amjad Zafar Khan, Senior Social Protection Specialist/Task Team Leader for the World Bank’s Implementation Support Mission for Crisis-Resilient Social Protection Program (CRISP) and National Social Protection Program (NSPP).
Shazia Marri described BISP (Benazir Income Support Programme) as a role model for other nations. The federal minister has also stated her willingness to share this information with nations who wish to launch similar Social Protection schemes. She stated that Pakistan is also eager to learn from foreign best practices in order to give social protection to vulnerable people and assist them in escaping poverty. She thanked the World Bank for being a significant development partner in providing BISP with consistent and essential support. She noted that the World Bank’s assistance for human capital development through its health and education-related cash transfer programs has been truly helpful.
During the first session, the mission head Mr. Amjad Zafar Khan briefed the Federal Minister on the mission’s primary goals. He stated that the primary reason of their visit was to evaluate the status of progress made during the previous joint implementation support mission for CRISP and NSPP, discover new challenges, review implementation plans for the next six months, and begin the process of organizing preliminary discussions regarding the preparation of the report for NSPP.
Mr. Amjad Zafar Khan attended the meeting representing the World Bank, together with Melis U. Guven, Senior Social Protection Economist, Randa G. El-Rashidi, Social Protection Specialist, and Gul Najam Jamy. Additionally, Dr. Ismat Tahira, Secretary of the BISP, and other BISP officials were also present.
