MEXICO: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) being the flagship national social safety net of Pakistan not only lends a hand in poverty management through unconditional cash transfer but believes in graduating its beneficiaries out of poverty by investing in human capital development through education.
This was stated by State Minister and BISP Chairperson MNA Marvi Memon, while speaking at “International Symposium: the contribution of conditional cash transfer programmes to the creation of social protection system with rights-based approach” arranged by Ministry of Social Development and National Coordination of PROSPERA ‘Programa de Inclusion Social’ with the support of World Bank in Mexico.
The conference has representations from Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Uruguay, Egypt and Tanzania. Pakistan is the only South Asian country to be invited in recognition for its success in conditional cash transfer (CCT). Having learnt the CCT process from Latin American countries, Pakistan is now a CCT role model after massive school enrollment.
Whilst in discussion with the World Bank Vice President (VP) Keith Hansen, Memon reiterated the need for a league of social safety nets and discussed that World Bank should be a coordinating agency for the league especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Hansen appreciated BISP for its CCT, National Socio Economic Registry (NSER) and its role in reducing malnutrition rates through its stipend. The World Bank VP apprised Memon of a special event of finance ministers at the World Bank’s annual meeting in Washington next week on reduction of malnutrition to be attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
In the conference, the BISP chairperson highlighted that through Waseela-e-Taleem (WeT), the CCT programme of BISP, children from the age of 5 to 12 years receive Rs 750 per quarter per child for primary education with the condition of 70 percent attendance compliance. The WeT is a major initiative towards attainment of sustainable development goals of universal primary education, as it is mandated to ensure school enrollment of two million underprivileged children by December 2017. Under WeT, 1.3 million children have already been enrolled till June this year.
At least 50,000 BISP beneficiary committees (BBCs) have been established under WeT initiative that engage beneficiaries in interactive sessions resulting in social mobilization, she said.
The BISP chairperson apprised the participants that WeT has been initially launched in 32 districts and would be further extended to other districts through strengthening of federal-provincial partnerships.
Memon reiterated that Waseela-e-Taleem initiative registered a positive impact on human development. As per impact evaluation reports, the school enrollment rates of primary-aged children in BISP households supported by WeT programme was 81 percent as compared to 60 percent in households not supported by WeT, she said. The WeT-supported districts have shown gender balance and better school attendance rates, she added.
The WeT-supported children have shown 87 percent attendance with only 10 percent children showing less than 70 percent attendance, while enrollment rate was recorded as 76 percent for girls and 86 percent for boys in WeT-supported households, Memon informed.
These figures clearly supplement the fact that Waseela-e-Taleem initiative of BISP was contributing a lot towards human capital development and bringing a positive social change, the BISP chairperson said.
