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April 17, 2020 – Islamabad: The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program payments are underway since April 9, 2020 providing Rs. 12,000 financial assistance to 12 million deserving families. So far, Rs. 49.685 billion have been paid out under the initiative to over 4.14 million families. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar said, “ Applying for the Ehsaas Emergency Cash is simple and people in need can check their eligibility by sending CNIC number to 8171. The registration for the emergency cash initiative would be closed on April 19 midnight.” To-date, more than 103 million applicants have already registered for the program on the Ehsaas’ designated number 8171 by text messaging their CNICs. For questions regarding registration and payments, people can call on Ehsaas helpline 0800-26477 from 9 am to 5 pm.

April 16, 2020 -Islamabad: Under the umbrella of Ehsaas, Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal organized a ration distribution ceremony for the coolies (loaders) of Pakistan Railways. Addressing the ceremony at Rawalpindi Railway Station, President Dr. Arif Alvi  expressed hope that the Pakistani nation would successfully sail through the COVID-19 crisis as multiple challenges in the past had transformed it into a brave and steadfast nation. With the cooperation of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, the bulky ration packs containing all basic food items, were provided by the donors. Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Managing Director Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, Aun Abbas Buppi and Country Director Islamic Relief, Umair Hassan also attended the ceremony besides the railway loaders. Speaking at the event, Dr. Nishtar said, “Under Ehsaas, an Emergency Cash Program had been launched to support 12 million needy families and the ration distribution scheme would also be launched by next week”.

Ehsaas has released an informative video for the deaf about 8171 SMS service for Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme. “This is aimed to communicate details of the SMS campaign through sign language to the people with hearing impairment so that they can equally benefit from the Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme”, said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation. Footage can be accessed here. In 7 days, Ehsaas has disbursed Rs. 44.194 billion to 3.682 million deserving families and has commenced payments to male beneficiaries in Category 2 of Ehsaas Emergency Cash. Most of them are daily wagers without day jobs for the last one month. These beneficiaries have been enrolled in the programme through 8171 Ehsaas SMS service. During biometrically enabled payments, social distancing is strictly being implemented. As many as 93.2 million SMS have been received. The analy­sis is underway and the deadline for registration in the programme is April 19, 2020 midnight.

April 15, 2020- Islamabad: Dr. Sania Nishtar, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation visited the cash distribution campsite at IMCG Girls College located at G-10/4, Islamabad and interacted with beneficiaries who had come to collect their payments. Each one of them had a customized message on their phone addressed to them with their names to visit the nearest payment centre on April 15, 2020 and collect emergency cash handout of Rs. 12,000. Briefing media about these Ehsaas category-2 beneficiaries in need, Dr. Nishtar stated, “Each one of these beneficiaries was either the wife of a labourer whose livelihood has been badly affected by the coronavirus crisis or is a domestic worker herself who has been laid off by the employers. Without any food, they are at the brink of running out food rations. So, this Rs. 12,000 assistance comes to them at a very critical time.” Footage here.

April 15, 2020 -Islamabad: The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program has commenced disbursements to the second category of beneficiaries today. All of them have been enrolled through 8171 SMS service. They were declared eligible based on their profiling checks in the national socio-economic database as well as the wealth profiling checks. The Ehsaas Emergency Cash payment notifications will go to new Ehsaas Emergency Cash recipients registered through 8171 in a staggered manner over the next seven days. In the initial batch, women will get payments and in next batches, men will start getting payments. SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar said, “To-date, 83.61 million SMS have been received. The analysis is underway and the deadline for registration is April 19, 2020 midnight”. By 5:30 pm today, Ehsaas has disbursed Rs. 37.608 billion emergency cash to 3.134 million deserving families.

April 14, 2020: The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program has been ongoing for the last 6 days. More than 2.739 million people have received cash assistance of Rs. 12,000 each that sums up roughly to Rs. 32.87 billion until now. The registration process to receive the emergency cash of Rs. 12,000 per family distributed under this scheme is SMS driven, and this has been ongoing for the last two weeks. To-date, 78.44 million SMS requests have been received. “It is possible that several people from one family apply, hence the number of families applying may be less than this number”, said Dr. Sania. hsaas has announced that the SMS campaign will be opened till 19^th of this month. Dr. Sania also explained that, “In order to incentivize branchless banking operations from operating in the current difficult environment, the Cabinet has approved waiver of advance withholding tax on commission collected under section 233 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 from branchless banking agents”. “We are striving to do all we can to make sure that bonafide branchless banking operators keep their operations open so that maximum number of people are facilitated” she said.

April 13, 2020 – Islamabad: As the Ehsaas Emergency Cash distribution scales up countrywide, so does the resolve to fight embezzlement and fraudsters on the ground. On several complaints by the people, 36 looters have been arrested in Punjab, while 26 of them were arrested in Sindh and 10 in KP for illegally deducting money from the cash they paid to deserving people under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme. Overall 64 FIRs have been registered countrywide against these 72 fraudsters. They would be dealt according to the law. Caveating fraudsters, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation said, “No one would be allowed to illegally deduct any money from Ehsaas Emergency Cash payment to low-income families. Ehsaas is being supported by all state agencies on the ground to fight corruption. We are tracking FIRs in police stations and I want strict action against all fraudsters.” Vowing to fight corruption till her last breath, she stated, “I have also written a stern letter directing officials in Ehsaas regional offices to ensure transparency and full payments to beneficiaries.”

April 13, 2020 – Islamabad: Ehsaas continues disbursing Emergency Cash on the fifth day of its operations to benefit the deserving people from all the four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, through allocating quota as per census. Since April 9, Ehsaas has distributed Rs. 25.68 billion to 2.095 million families all over Pakistan and the programme will reach out to a total of 12 million people in next two weeks. In emergency cash distribution, social distancing is a priority & Ehsaas is striving to safeguard COVID-19 precautionary measures. Out of the planned 17,000 biometrically enabled Ehsaas cash distribution points, 9,419 have been currently been deployed countrywide. To prevent overcrowding of cash receivers, the number of cash distribution centres and counters is being increased. SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar said, “In first phase of the programme, 4.5 million Kafaalat beneficiaries would be paid emergency cash this week while cash transfer to 7.5 million Category -2 beneficiaries being identified through 8171 SMS service will commence by the end of this week.”

April 12, 2020- Islamabad: Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation briefed the media about on-the ground progress of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash payments. “It has been 4 days, since Ehsaas started one-off cash distribution of Rs. 12,000 each to the low-income households in all provinces of Pakistan including GB and AJK. As of April 12, 2020, Rs. 21.28 billion has been disbursed to 1.77 million individuals. Currently, as many as 8,995 cash payment points have been deployed out of 17,000 cash payment points to be opened countrywide to reach out to 12 million needy households”, she said. Ehsaas Emergency Cash program is the largest ever social protection and relief operation in the history of Pakistan aimed to help alleviate sufferings of low-income households, who have been distressed by the coronavirus shut down across the country. The government has deployed biometric technology along with other COVID-19 precautionary measures, to ensure the safe and transparent delivery of emergency cash to poverty-stricken families.

April 12, 2020: The Ehsaas Emergency Cash advertisements appeared in newspapers today and there was a sudden surge in the number of incoming calls in the Ehsaas call centre. To get better sense of what callers were asking about Ehsaas Emergency Cash, Dr. Sania Nishtar, who leads the Ehsaas program sat with call centre operators today and interacted with callers on the phone.  “I wanted to hear first-hand about people’s complaints pertaining to Ehsaas Emergency Cash distribution, so that we can make improvements in the program in real time”. On average 1,500 calls are being received on daily basis in the call centre and this number has increased since the advertisement appeared. Staff in the Ehsaas Call Centre is regularly briefed about the program so that they can answer questions with clarity. Dr. Sania thanked Call Centre staff for their dedication and hard work and spent a lot of time with the staff to get insights and boost their morale. For queries, the Ehsaas Call Centre can be reached out at 0800-26477.

April 11, 2020- Islamabad: With special instructions of the Prime Minister, the Ehsaas Emergency Cash payments have been started countrywide on Apr 9, 2020 to financially aid more than 12 million deserving families whose incomes are adversely affected by the Coronavirus lockdowns. Since the Ehsaas cash distribution began two days ago, as many as 1.382 million families all over the country have withdrawn Rs.12,000 each that cumulatively sums up to Rs. 16.588 billion.  Out of the planned 17,000 biometrically enabled Ehsaas cash distribution points, 7,317 have been opened countrywide with special protective measures for COVID-19 to facilitate speedy cash payments to those in need. According to details, overall cash distributions are running smooth across the country except few cases. 40 Ehsaas Emergency Cash retailers have been arrested over swindling beneficiaries in different ways in some parts of the country particularly Sindh, South Punjab and KP. Talking about few cases reported on mismanagement and corruption, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation stated, “I have written a stern letter to Ehsaas regional officials countrywide to stringently ensure transparent operations in emergency cash disbursements. I shall not tolerate any mismanagement or embezzlement and will continue fighting corruption till my last breath.”

April 10, 2020 – Peshawar: Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the Ehsaas Emergency Cash payment point in Peshawar and reviewed arrangements. He was briefed by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation about the measures being taken by the government for provision of financial assistance to poor in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PM also oversaw Emergency Cash handout of Rs. 12, 000 each to families of daily wagers. He appreciated the provincial government of KP’s steps against Coronavirus saying in the present situation, the focus of government must also be on provision of relief to the weak and poor segments of the society. The distribution of Rs 12,000 each to the deserving families under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme had started across the country, including the KP on April 9, under a transparent digital payment mechanism. Under the programme, the government would disburse some Rs. 144 billion among the poor and deserving families across the country. Some 2.2 million poor families have been identified in the KP, who would be facilitated directly from the programme. Around 3,500 Ehsaas cash payment points have been set up across KP.

April 9, 2020 – Islamabad: Safeguarding all precautionary measures, the payment process under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program has begun to support the deserving families affected by the lockdown. The safety and security of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash beneficiaries arriving to collect cash assistance is the top priority of the government. With opening of as many as 17,000 digital payment points, the biometrically enabled payment operation has commenced countrywide across all provinces including GB, AJK and Islamabad Capital Territory. All these cash transfers are being made after biometric verification of each beneficiary through NADRA. Under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash framework, an immediate cash relief of Rs. 12,000 will be extended each to families of daily wage earners, whose livelihood has been badly affected by the corona-induced economic downturn. Overall, Rs. 144 billion will be disbursed to more than 12 million families during the next two and a half weeks. For now, as many as 46.38 million people have sent SMS requesting to become beneficiaries of Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program. To monitor the payment operations, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation visited HBL Konnect outlets in Bari Imam area of Islamabad and met with spouses of piece rate workers who had gathered to collect cash handouts under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program. Footage here.

April 6, 2020 – Islamabad: To ascertain how labourers and daily wagers are making use of Ehsaas Emergency Cash service 8171, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar went to F-7 Markaz in the federal capital and interacted with labourers’ congregation in the market. She talked to labourers and informed them about various aspects of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash program from generating the SMS message to comprehending the subsequent communication and then to navigate the payment system. Speaking to laborers, Dr. Nishtar assured, “We will mobilize volunteers who can go to these places of laborer’s congregations so that they can message on their behalf.” Footage here.

April 6, 2020 – Islamabad: In the Radio Pakistan’s COVID-19 special program ‘Raabta’ that is a daily national broadcast, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania stated that transfer of cash assistance of Rs.12,000 to deserving families under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program would begin this week. She said deserving people should send an SMS to 8171 and so far over 34 million messages have been received through this service. Under this programme, a deserving family will get a one-time assistance of Rs.12,000 to cater daily needs for four months. Elaborating the eligibility criteria to listeners, she said there will three types of messages in response of people’s SMS like eligible, ineligible, or contact to the concerned district administration. She said those, who will get a message asking to contact the district administration, can also register themselves online at the web-portal: Listen here: 

April 5, 2020 -Islamabad: Addressing a press conference with Press Information Department, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation explained beneficiary identification process, SMS campaign & its process flow, district level verification procedure, wealth profiling criteria, & payment mechanism designed for Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program. She briefed the media that the payment process under the program would start this week to support the vulnerable segments of society, affected due to lockdown amid Coronavirus threat. This program will benefit the deserving people from all the four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan. “Existing 4.5 million Kafaalat beneficiaries, who were getting regular cash transfer of 2000 rupees per month, would be given additional one thousand rupees; hence, they too would get a tranche of Rs. 12,000 covering four months. Further, higher eligibility or poverty threshold would be considered to identify 4 million beneficiaries through the national socioeconomic databases, while another 3.5 million people would come from districts”, she added. Footage here

April 2, 2020 -Islamabad: Participating in Radio Programme Raabta, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar provided details about the SMS service 8171 launched to facilitate the deserving families to benefit from Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program who are facing financial problems due to Corona Virus. She added that a cash grant of  Rs.12,000 will be given to the deserving families through a transparent mechanism. Special Assistant to the PM said that the deserving families desiring to benefit from the program have to send their national identity card numbers on the SMS code 8171. She also said that Ehsaas Ration Platform will be formally launched soon to connect people wanting to donate food ration to people in need. At least, thirty five thousand deserving families and over six hundred donors have so far got themselves registered on the online platform. Dr. Sania Nishtar clarified that the deserving families can simultaneously benefit from both these programs. Listen here: 

April 1, 2020 – Islamabad: Prime Minister has launched Ehsaas Emergency Cash program in the context of the economic hardship being experienced by the vulnerable due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The program covers 12 million families; 12,000 per family and the total budget for this initiative is Rs. 144 billion. Speaking at the occasion, PM Imran Khan said, “The financial assistance under this program is meant to help people in need particularly labourers and daily wagers to buy rations so that their families don’t go hungry”. An SMS campaign will be the entry point to identify these beneficiaries. Through an aggressive communication campaign, citizens will be informed that they can send an SMS on 8171 to check their eligibility status. PM inaugurated the initiative by texting his CNIC number to 8171. “To address inclusion errors, special data analytics on defined parameters (Government officials, those owning cars, and those with history of multiple foreign travel) will be applied by NADRA on all categories of potential beneficiaries”, said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation.

 April 1, 2020 – Islamabad: Through Radio Pakistan’s program, ‘Raabta’, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation apprised listeners that Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has launched the Rs.144 billion Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program for poor families and daily wagers who need financial aid due to coronavirus lockdown, as many people are out of work. The Special Assistant to the PM said that those in need can send send their national identity card numbers on the SMS code 8171, which will be activated today in the evening. She guided listeners step by step on the application process for the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program to make it easier for everyone. Under this program, people will be eligible for a Rs. 12,000 cash grant to help them cope with the current financial constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown being observed. Raabta is a national hook up program aired via Radio Pakistan. Listen here:

March 31, 2020 – Islamabad: Interacting with listeners in Radio Pakistan’s special program, Raabta, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar elaborated the Government’s road map for people to win the war against Corona. She referred to the Prime Minister’s speech in which he had announced the emergency relief package and establishment of Corona relief tiger force, terming them the strengths that can help secure the future of the nation. Answering questions of audience, she said that this force will work in collaboration with civil administration and army to contain the spread of corona virus. Dr. Nishtar highlighted that Prime Minister Imran Khan has a firm resolve to provide possible relief to people and economy in need during this economic turndown due to Corona emergency. Listen here:

March 26, 2020, Raising awareness to drive social change, Dr. Sania Nishtar, PM’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation advised masses in rural areas to avoid social gatherings/baithaks and sharing of hookah as these cultural practices may spread Corona. She was answering live questions of audience in today’s national hook up program, ‘Raabta’ on Corona virus. Further, Dr. Nishtar urged the public to strictly follow preventive measures and avoid misinformation from unofficial sources. This will help us break the chain and protect ourselves from the pandemic. Listen here

March 25, 2020, In today’s episode of Radio Pakistan’s national hook up program, ‘Raabta’ that aims to create awareness on Corona outbreak, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation discussed the Prime Minister’s multi-billion rupees economic relief package. She informed listeners that the government has announced this massive package to offset the adverse economic impacts of COVID-19 emergency across the country particularly laborers and daily wagers. Listen here.

March 24, 2020, Talking about the importance of social distancing and self-isolation to combat the spread of Corona Virus in Pakistan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar encouraged listeners to stay at homes and follow the precautionary measures. She reiterated that there is a public health reason for social distancing. Staying at least three feet away from other people, lessens your chances of catching COVID-19. Dr. Maj. Gen(R) Dr. Azhar Mehmood Kayani also participated in the program and created awareness about Corona Virus and heart patients. ‘Raabta’ is Radio Pakistan’s national hook up program that is broadcast live every morning to create awareness among masses on Corona virus outbreak. Listen here.

March 21, 2020 – Islamabad: Ehsaas and Saylani Welfare International Trust (SWIT) have decided to run “Ehsaas-Saylani Langar on Wheels” to deliver cooked food aid to needy people particularly labourers and daily wagers. This commenced at a busy bus station at Faizabad, the junction of twin cities Islamabad-Rawalpindi. To inaugurate the first Ehsaas mobile food unit that will distribute food two times daily, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was joined by Yousuf Lakhani, President, SWIT. Mobile vans aimed to combat hunger will discourage people from congregating at one spot for free food collection and will serve at various points in cities including public places, slums and hospitals while explicitly ensuring dignity and social distance for the safety of people. As people are at the risk of small income generating opportunities due to the pandemic emergency in the country, this food aid concept will be stretched out soon to a bigger, better and faster scale across all major cities of Pakistan as part of the Ehsaas framework. Footage can be accessed here.

March 20, 2020-Islamabad: As the coronavirus spreads out and the government takes rigorous measures to slow down the spread of the pandemic, Ehsaas continues educating citizens with health protection guidelines alongside measures to ensure that their services are ongoing. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation visited an Ehsaas partner loans office in outskirts of the federal capital. She was accompanied by Qazi Azmat Isa, who is the CEO of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), the implementing agency of the Ehsaas initiative which provides loans through partners- Akhuwat being the largest of the 24 partners. While monitoring the Ehsaas interest free loan operations, Dr. Nishtar, advised the public not to panic but follow the precautionary measures being communicated by the government. Talking to the media, she stated, “As a social protection ministry, we are conscious that we need to continue assisting those who need our services, the most in these difficult times. Day before yesterday we decided to continue running our cash transfer operations for the Ehsaas Kafaalat beneficiaries, as these families need financial assistance. However, on the other hand we closed our registration centres, where large number of women congregate for registration.” She said, further adding, “We have to strike a balance between safety and assistance, as the latter is the need of the hour; also we are conscious that we must continue to provide credit in these difficult times, which is the lifeline of the small entrepreneurs and therefore, we decided not to shut our loan offices”.

March 20, 2020, To create awareness about Corona virus emergency, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation reaches out to wider national audience through ‘Raabta’, a national hook up radio program broadcast every day at 10 am. Participating in today’s live program,  Dr. Sania Nishtar talked about the several initiatives being taken by the government of Pakistan to combat the spread of Corona Virus in the country. She gave detailed statistics about facilities set up by the government for the general public particularly authorized health centers, quarantines and Corona test facilities. Communicating directly with listeners, she said, “War against Corona is new type of war and collective efforts by the government and citizens are the need of hour to win it. Dr. Rana Jawad Asghar, a renowned epidemiologist from Islamabad also joined the program. Listen here

March 19, 2020, Connecting with general public through Radio Pakistan’s live national hook up program, ‘Raabta’, Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation gave valuable advice to listeners for prevention against Corona Virus. Guiding listeners, she said that the government is taking all measures to cope with the situation. Currently, 35 fully equipped isolation wards have been set up in all provinces including Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Islamabad based epidemiologist, Dr. Rana Jawad Asghar also participated in the program. Listen here

March 18, 2020, To respond to Corono virus crisis, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, participated as a special guest in Radio Pakistan’s special nationally electrified programme ‘Raabta’ and reflected on measures taken by the Government to prevent the spread of Corona virus. She guided listeners about how to protect from COVID-19 by avoiding touching hands with eyes, mouth and nose, shaking hands and hugging. Further, giving Corona prevention advice to listeners, she recommended that one should keep distance of about three feet while interacting with each other and use hand sanitizers. People who are suffering from Corona Virus and those who are looking after them are required to wear mask. There is currently no vaccine to prevent Corona Virus disease 2019 (COVID-19).The best way to prevent illness is to stay at home and avoid being exposed to this virus. Listen here.

March 17, 2020 – Islamabad: Given the Corona Virus pandemic across Pakistan, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation will be reaching out the wider national audience every morning through Radio Pakistan’s live program, “Raabta” relating to Corona outbreak. Aiming to address the need of the hour, Dr. Nishtar together with Dr. Rana Jawad Asghar who is an expert in epidemiology, will hold new program on daily basis to educate the masses about Corona virus, its transmission, symptoms and precautionary measures. They will reply to questions of listeners who can connect with them on telephone by calling directly at 051-9206995 and 051-9215206. Talking to the people in today’s program, Dr. Nishtar highlighted the measures being taken by the Government of Pakistan to fight this epidemic and urged them to fully cooperate with government by following all required precautionary measures to defeat coronavirus. This program would also be translated and broadcast in Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi, Pushto, Balochi and Barahvi languages and can be listened everyday at 10 am through this link.

March 17, 2020- Islamabad: Since Covid-19 outbreak has now been classified as a pandemic, Ehsaas has come up with preventive measures for Kafaalat beneficiaries to ensure their safety while trying to continue biometrically enabled Kafaalat payments in the field. Taking into consideration, the current situation wherein Corona epidemic has potentially affected several areas of Pakistan, Kafaalat registration centres mobilized by NADRA across 15 districts of Pakistan have been advised to suspend self-registration drive from March 16, 2020 till April 5, 2020. Alongside that, Ehsaas has issued precautionary protocols to stringently comply with sanitization, hygiene and social distance while making biometrically enabled payments to Ehsaas Kafaalat beneficiaries. To ascertain the compliance of the above beneficiary safety system aimed to combat the corona outbreak, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation visited an HBL Konnect outlet in Islamabad and demonstrated the precautionary procedure to the women who had gathered at the point of sales to get newly released tranche of Rs. 9,000 that includes previous arrears.

March 13, 2020 – Islamabad: The British High Commission and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in partnership with civil society organisation Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) hosted a discussion and marketplace event titled, ‘Leave No Girl Behind: Scaling up What Works for Adolescent Girls in Pakistan’ in Islamabad. In her keynote address, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar lauded the civil society initiative which has a long-standing history of work to promote a second-chance-for-girls in education. Reiterating further, she stated, ‘Government is conscious of glaring gender disparities in many sectors across Pakistan. Attention to women issues particularly social protection, education, livelihoods and economic empowerment is central to Prime Minister’s multisectoral Ehsaas program. We stringently follow 50 percent plus benefits policy for women under Ehsaas to create equal opportunities for them across the board ensuring that no girl is left behind. Ehsaas Kafaalat, undergraduate scholarships, interest free loans and Amdan are specifically aimed to bring women on the pathways to socioeconomic prosperity.’

March 10, 2020-Islamabad: Prime Minister launched the Ehsaas District Development Portal titled, “Data4Pakistan” that provides open and public access to a spatial interactive portal with poverty estimates, interactive maps, indices and reports for every district in Pakistan, along with over 120 development and policy indicators. The portal currently has six rounds of district poverty and development data, covering the period 2004-18.  Addressing the ceremony, the PM said, “A civilized society is known by the standard of living of its poor. This is the first step in finding the necessary ways and means to fight poverty and will help identify areas which are in most need of funds, besides finding other vital statistics about issues being faced by local people.” The portal has been developed in collaboration with the World Bank. This portal will be a very valuable resource for federal, provincial and district level policymakers, for decision making. Earlier, demonstrating the features of this ground-breaking Ehsaas initiative, Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation stated, “Data4Pakistan is one of the 134 programs and policies under Ehsaas that is aimed to leverage data and technology to create solutions for welfare.” The portal can be accessed here.

March 9, 2020 – Peshawar: The Prime Minister Imran Khan formally launched Ehsaas Kafaalat programme in KP at a ceremony in Mohmand Tribal district to financially and digitally empower the disadvantaged women across KP. During the ceremony, the PM distributed Ehsaas Kafaalat cards among deserving women and appreciated the Kafaalat registration and payment system that has recently been put in place under Ehsaas framework to ensure financial and digital inclusion of the marginalized women. Under the umbrella of Ehsaas, the Kafaalat programme has currently begun by enrolling deserving families in 4 districts of KP- Lakki Marwat, Mohmand Agency, Haripur and Charsadda districts and it will be expanded to all other districts by the end of year. Following on the federal launch of Ehsaas Kafaalat programme by the Prime Minister on Jan 31, 2020 in Islamabad, this was the first provincial launch of Ehsaas Kafaalat in any province. While addressing the event, the PM said, “The government is working to provide relief to the downtrodden segments of the society on the pattern of Riyasat-e-Madina.” Chief Minister, KP Mahmood Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar also spoke at the occasion. Footage can be accessed here.

March 8, 2020- Islamabad: To celebrate International Women’s Day 2020 and to discuss issue of women’s harassment in Pakistan, President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi hosted an event at Aiwan-e-Sadar in Islamabad. While discussing the issue of women’s harassment at the event, the president also referred to the government’s flagship social welfare programme Ehsaas and said that the government was committed to ensure social and economic betterment of womenfolk. The ceremony was attended by PM’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar, PM’s Special Assistant on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza, Federal Ombudsman, Kashmala Tariq, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui, prominent women personalities and representatives of different organizations.

March 6, 2020 – Islamabad: In a quest to draw on lessons from the field, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar paid an impromptu visit to Ehsaas Kafaalat registration desks set up by NADRA in Haripur. The visit aimed to overlook the self-registration process for deserving women in Kafaalat through on spot checking and feedback from people and officials. Despite heavy rains, the visit saw long queues of women who had gathered to get themselves registered under the Prime Minister’s Kafaalat program under Ehsaas framework. Dr. Nishtar stood with the applicant women in the queue who had arrived for Kafaalat self-registration, took round of the facility and interacted with women and officials to enquire about the current applicant care process and arrangements. Footage can be accessed here. Later, she visited Alfalah Bank’s alfa pay outlets in Haripur to check the results of newly introduced payment digital payment system for Kafaalat beneficiaries. Footage can be accessed here.

March 2, 2020, Prime Minster Imran Khan granted Ehsaas undergraduate scholarships for academic year 2019-20 to the first batch of deserving students in Islamabad.Addressing the leaders of tomorrow, the Prime Minister reiterated that Pakistan’s biggest asset is the country’s youth and Ehsaas scholarships for deserving undergraduate students is another step towards the realization of the goal of a welfare state based on the pattern of state of Madina. Aiming to provide higher education opportunities for 200,000 students coming from underprivileged backgrounds, the 4-year Ehsaas undergraduate scholarship program is the largest ever need based scholarship program in the history of our country.  The scholarship offers full-tuition fee and a living stipend (Rs.4,000 per month) for bright yet disadvantaged students to earn an undergraduate degree at any of the 119 public sector universities across Pakistan (including GB and AJK) recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). As part of the policy, the scholarship support will be continued to awardees throughout the course of their undergraduate degree program based on their academic performance. Earlier, speaking at the award ceremony, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar said, “ The scholarships will be awarded on transparency and merit to help the deserving students get education.”

Feb 28, 2020, Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar while addressing a press conference at PID said that it is for the first time in the history that such a big undergraduate scholarship programme has been initiated purely on government expenses under ‘Ehsaas’ to ensure that 50,000 deserving students access the higher education annually. She addressed a press conference along with a senior leader of PTI, Dr. Shahbaz Gill and Advisor Human Resource Development, HEC, Noor Amna Malik. Dr. Sania Nishtar briefed media that this scholarship will accommodate 200,000 students including 50 per cent girls from the low backgrounds in the four years through providing them full tuition fee as well as living stipends.

Feb 28, 2020, The Ehsaas Value Chain Building Committee met today for third time at the Prime Minister’s office to deliberate on strengthening rural value chains agenda, which comes under the umbrella of the pioneering Ehsaas social protection and poverty alleviation programme. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, chaired the meeting. The meeting brought experts’ perspective to the table around building value chains for rural transformation, catalyzing increased productivity, increased incomes for subsistence farmers and job creation. The meeting was an opportunity for the leadership from across eight federal government ministries and Provincial Departments of Agriculture and Livestock – to join representatives of key national and international finance, food and agriculture bodies – including the key persons from State Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, FBR, Government research entities, and representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID and Japan International Cooperation Agency, TELCOS including Telenor and Jazz. In attendance were also representatives from IFAD, which is an international financial institution and specialized United Nations Agency and collaborator on this initiative.

February 27, 2020, The Steering Committee of Ehsaas undergraduate scholarships met for the fourth time to give final touches to the scholarship program for the academic year 2019-2020. The steering committee is co-chaired by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Nishtar and Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr. Tariq Banuri. The steering committee discussed and finalized the schedule for scholarship distribution to 50,000 deserving students for the year 2019-2020. For the current academic year, applications were solicited from students online via HEC’s portal-HEC being the implementing agency for this Ehsaas program. The scholarships award will soon commence and dates for this will be shortly announced. “The steering committee will ensure that scholarship program benefits maximum number of students who are in actual need”, reiterated Dr. Nishtar.

February 26, 2020, Ehsaas undergraduate scholarships is one of the eight priority programs of Ehsaas. For the current academic year (2019/20), the scholarships award will begin soon and dates for this will be shortly announced. In this regard, the Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation made a surprise visit to the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. She held a dialogue with students in the grounds of QAU. “This was a critical policy consultation, which enabled me to appreciate fully how important financial access to education is for students at an undergraduate level” she said. VC QAU, Muhammad Ali was also present at the occasion. The consultation with students wasn’t held in a fancy hotel or auditorium; there were no microphones or fancy backdrops. She sat on the floor on the grounds of QAU and interacted with students to get insights on their academic aspirations and key challenges being faced by them. She listened to students and empathized with them to understand their concerns and constraints. “I strongly believe that we cannot frame policies sitting back in offices; unless we engage with the beneficiaries of programs we run, we cannot ensure that programs are responsive” she said. The students were delighted to interact with her. Footage can be accessed here.

February 24, 2020, Ehsaas convened a consultative meeting on ‘Big Data Analytics’ with the key stakeholders at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in Islamabad.  The meeting provided an opportunity to develop a better understanding of the existing capacity within the country regarding data analytics and how it can be leveraged to design and implement, accelerated and lasting social protection and poverty alleviation initiatives under the overarching Ehsaas framework. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty and  Chairperson BISP chaired the meeting. Big Data Analytics are key to Ehsaas framework as their use enables important insights from programmatic data, enhancing the accuracy of decision-making processes for various Ehsaas programs, initiatives and policy actions.

February 14, 2020, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, welcomed the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Mr. Qu Dongyu, and his delegation to Ehsaas offices in Islamabad to explore collaborations for Ehsaas, the Prime Minister’s flagship poverty alleviation programme. This was Mr. Dongyu’s first official visit to any country in Asia. The meeting discussed avenues of cooperation to drive forward the progressive agriculture and nutrition agenda and working closely to deliver to the small farmers and disadvantaged people in rural areas of Pakistan. The FAO is part of Ehsaas Value Chain Building Committee, which comprises of diverse stakeholders exploring how to most effectively shape a value chain building policy to address challenges faced by farmers in rural areas of Pakistan. The FAO is also a member of Ehsaas Development Partnership Group, which provides integrated, coherent and aligned technical support to the Government of Pakistan for the implementation of Ehsaas strategy.

February 14, 2020, Turkish first lady, Emine Erdogan together with the first lady of Pakistan, Samina Alvi was the chief guest at the Ehsaas sewing machines donation ceremony organized jointly by Pakistan Bait ul Mal and TIKA – Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency. Addressing the deserving women who were gifted sewing machines, the Turkish first lady said that the friendly relationship between Pakistan and Turkey would further strengthen for the benefit of their people. She assured that Turkey would provide assistance to Pakistan in domain of social welfare. First Lady of Pakistan Samina Arif Alvi said that the government was determined to make women the useful segment of society as without their participation, the concept of national development was irrelevant. PM’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar and Managing Director – Pakistan Bait ul, Mal Aun Abbas Bappi and senior officials were also present. Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Nishtar shared that Pakistan Bait ul Mal under the umbrella of Ehsaas was taking steps for empowerment of women in line with the vision of President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. She expressed gratitude to Turkish first lady for giving away sewing machines to the women suffering from Thalassemia.

Feb 7, 2020, In continuation of efforts for women empowerment, inclusion and participation in the country’s socioeconomic uplift, The World Bank organized a roundtable at Telenor Pakistan headquarters under its Girls Learn, Women Earn (GLWE) initiative. The roundtable discussed the significance of female participation in the country’s labour force was discussed. The session was attended by representatives from key telecom players, microfinance banks, and policy makers. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was a keynote speaker at the event. In her keynote statement Dr. Nishtar stated, “Women empowerment is at the heart of Ehsaas framework. The programme is highly skewed towards uplifting of disadvantaged women through a mutisectoral approach, enabling them to become contributing members of the economy. With Ehsaas Development Partners’ Forum in place and public private partnership in the pipeline, the multistakeholder construct of Ehsaas solutions offers wide-ranging opportunities to exploit synergies. Adding further, she elaborated, “To bring about more sustainable change, Ehsaas constantly follows the fifty percent rule for women inclusion in all Ehsaas initiatives including interest free loans, scholarships and asset transfers. Kafaalat that has recently been launched by the PM will ensure financial and digital inclusion of 7 million disadvantaged women across Pakistan.”

Feb 5, 2020,  As health leaders gathered in Geneva for the World Health Organization’s Executive Board; Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation delivered the final report of the WHO Independent Commission on High-Level Commission on Noncommunicable Diseases  (NCDs) to WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Noncommunicable diseases kill still account for more than 70% of deaths. “We need to stop talking and accelerate action to beat the biggest killers,” said Dr. Nishtar. “The new recommendations provide governments with concrete steps on how to take clear, which will dramatically decrease the mortality and morbidity of NCDs.” Dr. Nishtar outlined an eight-point recommendation plan to WHO’s Director-General, which could save millions of lives and promote mental health. The high-level commission was convened by Dr. Tedros in October 2017 and Dr. Sania was installed as a co-chair with several Heads of State from across the world. The aim was to identify innovative ways to curb the world’s leading causes of death: cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes, respiratory diseases and mental health conditions.

Feb 4, 2020, Governor Gilgit Baltistan, Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon called on Dr. Sania Nishtar, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation to discuss federal-provincial partnerships under the Ehsaas framework. Dr. Nishtar briefed the Governor on the running Ehsaas initiatives including Ehsaas Kafaalat, Ehsaas Interest Free Loans, Ehsaas Langars and Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships and apprised him on the ‘Ehsaas webpage for Parliamentarians” that has been optimized for mobile phones. Governor GB appreciated Ehsaas programme and assured full support of GB government to ensure that Ehsaas endeavours benefit the most deserving.

February 04, 2020, Entrepreneurial women leaders from Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) came to the table with Ehsaas at Pak China Friendship Centre in Islamabad to explore the collaborative opportunities aimed at supporting artisanal women. The meeting was convened jointly by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Amir Ali, Chairman, Capital Development Authority to support entrepreneurial women under the Ehsaas programme that is the multisectoral antipoverty programme of the present Government. The deliberations explored options for supporting the Women Chamber under the Ehsaas framework. Women Chamber brought light to the pressing need for the display centre in the capital to showcase and promote the work of artisanal women from far flung areas. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and Chairman CDA assured that they will explore the suitable sites in Islamabad for setting up display centre exclusively for artisanal women.

Jan 31, 2020, Putting the poorest women at the heart of poverty alleviation was the key message behind the Prime Minister’s launch of the Ehsaas Kafaalat programme in Islamabad. Coming under the Ehsaas poverty alleviation and social safety umbrella, Kafaalat is a new unconditional cash-transfer programme that will provide monthly payments of Rs. 2,000 to seven million disadvantaged women across the country. Addressing the participants at the event, the PM said that this programme is aimed to facilitate the poor segments of the society. The initiative is a realisation of the PM’s commitment to “One Woman, One Bank Account”policy with each beneficiary now having access to their own bank account. The programme will also improve access of the women to the smart phone. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, has led the design of this new programme, which is a successor to the outdated BISP system. Unlike previous systems, Kafaalat will deploy technology including biometrics and mobile banking to ensure accountability, transparency and protection are inbuilt, taking power away from corrupt officials and agents and giving it back to poor and deserving women.

Jan 30, 2020, The tenth ‘International Women Leaders’ Summit’ was held in Karachi, bringing together women leaders from across the globe, to reflect on their stories of success, and inspire others to take the lead. The Summit focused on bringing 250 women professionals and together by inspiring them through success stories of global women leaders. . The keynote speaker, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation highlighted the evolution of women’s empowerment in Pakistan and the importance of promoting inclusiveness of women in the workforce. She also spoke of the upcoming Ehsaas Kafaalat Programme being launched by the Prime Minister of Pakistan to benefit the disadvantaged women across the country. Adding further, she said,  “Tomorrow’s launch of Ehsaas Kafaalat will change the lives of millions of poor women who have been financially excluded”. The event was well attended by members of the diplomatic community, renowned women entrepreneurs, and heads of bilateral trade associations, teams from the World Bank Group, senior businessmen and members of the media.

Jan 30, 2020, Prime Minister Imran Khan will launch the innovative new Kafaalat program, on Jan 31 which will provide PKR 2,000 monthly cash payments to 7 million of the poorest women in the country. In a brave and unprecedented move, the new Ehsaas Kafaalat card unveiled a day prior to the launch has the Quaid’s picture. Previous safety net initiatives under BISP were mired in politicization because of the image of political figures. By putting the Quaid’s picture on the identification card, the Government has settled the matter once and for all and has depoliticized the matter of safety nets. “There are major differences between the earlier BISP program and Kafaalat”, said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation. “Major changes have been made after 10 years. The survey methodology has been revised to enable ongoing identification of beneficiaries through desk registration. The new biometrically enabled payment system has been introduced, cash transfer has been increased, inflation adjusted and the safety net Kafaalat now offers digital and financial inclusion opportunity since women will have bank accounts and better access to mobile phones”, added Dr. Nishtar.

Jan 27, 2020, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation visited a branch of Bank Alfalah located at Shuba Chowk in Peshawar to oversee final preparations for the launch of the new Kafalat cash-transfer program, which will enable cash disbursements of Ehsaas Kafalat Programme. Sitting under the umbrella of Ehsaas, the Kafalat programme will use a fully biometric payment system to provide safe, digital cash payments to millions of women across the country, giving them access to a bank account for the first time in their lives. “The Ehsaas Kafalat programme is a major component of the government’s plans to build a welfare state which supports the poorest in society”, said Dr. Sania Nishtar during the visit. During the visit, Dr. Nishtar observed how Bank Alfalah plans to provide a welcoming environment for those people who have not previously used a bank, including their methods for guiding beneficiaries through the new system of finger-print security. Footage can be accessed here.

Jan 27, 2020, Preparations for the new Kafalat cash-transfer programme are well underway at the Pakistan Post Foundation, with eligibility letters ready to be delivered to the first wave of beneficiaries across the country. The process of readying the official letters for distribution was inspected during a visit over the weekend by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar and Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services, Murad Saeed. They saw how the official envelopes were printed, stuffed with letters and sorted into geographical areas, and then handed to the Postmen for delivery to those families that need support the most. The Kifalat is a key policy of the Ehsaas poverty alleviation programme, which is working to lift people out of poverty and create a welfare state. Footage can be accessed here.

Jan 27, 2020, Following the inauguration ceremony of biometrically enabled ATM for the poorest women in Peshawar, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation called on CM KP and briefed him on the new digital payment system introduced under upcoming Kafalat programme. Kafalat is being launched by the Prime Minster Imran Khan on January 30, 2020.  Dr. Nishtar apprised the CM that it is the first time that biometrically enabled efficient digital system has been put in place to ensure transparency in cash transfer system for the poor. ATMs are being opened by the partner banks and Points of Sales (PoS) are being increased to benefit the disadvantaged women under the Kafalat.

Jan 27, 2020, Prime Minister Imran Khan will be launching the Ehsaas Kafalat programme on January 31, 2020. Preparations are underway to give final touches to the launch. The Ehsaas Communications Committee meeting was an important component of the preparations. The members of the Communications Committee met to deliberate on the comprehensive  communications plan for Ehsaas Kafalat Programme. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation chaired the meeting. The meeting discussed print, electronic and social media engagement plans for the forthcoming mega launch event. Kafalat is a key policy of the Ehsaas poverty alleviation programme, which is working to lift around 7 million women out of poverty and create a welfare state.

Jan 23, 2020, Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (the Ehsaas Ministry) has released the first-ever “Ehsaas” Newsletter. Since Ehsaas’ inception last year as the country’s largest pro-poor program, it has seen incredible support from local, national and international stakeholders to deliver on the Prime Minister’s vision of creating a 21st century welfare state. The newsletter looks back at the Ehsaas program’s progress over 2019. The newsletter can be accessed here.

Jan 24, 2020, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation inaugurated the new biometric ATM at Habib Bank Limited branch (partner bank) in Melody Market Islamabad for the beneficiaries of Ehsaas Kifalat Programme. Prime Minister Imran Khan will be launching the Ehsaas Kifalat programme on January 31, 2020. Preparations are underway to give final touches to the launch. The Ehsaas digital payment system is an important competent of Kifalat and is a significant progress from the earlier BISP payment system in many respects. This is the first ever digital system that has been introduced to facilitate cash transfers to Kifalat women beneficiaries in a transparent manner.  Procurement of the system was completed in a transparent manner last year. Two banks Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Bank Alfalah (BA) were selected after a 10-month procurement process. The senior HBL officials were also present at the inauguration. Footage can be accessed here.

Jan 23, 2020, To improve digital access, Jazz, Pakistan’s leading digital company has launched Pakistan-ka-Smartphone, JazzDigit4G, which is an extremely affordable 4G handset which will be sold at a price of around PKR 1,800. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP was the chief guest at the launch event who lauded a private sector company for investing in improving the country’s digital and financial inclusion landscape. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Nishtar stated, “Ehsaas is the Government’s signature programme dedicated towards poverty alleviation in Pakistan through leveraging technology and promoting access of the vulnerable population to digital and financial inclusion.” She then continued, “Most of the digitally excluded segments are poor women, and initiatives like KaiOS which further digital inclusion can improve outcomes significantly. Ehsaas has multiple initiatives that can utilize digital technologies to target the neediest population effectively”.

January 23, 2020, A visiting Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Mission of 8 members from Tokyo led by Dr. Shigemochi Hirashima, Senior Advisor to JICA met with Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation in Islamabad. The mission aimed to explore the possibilities of collaboration between Ehsaas programme and JICA. During meeting, the deliberations focused on understanding the multisectoral Ehsaas policies, programmes and initiatives concerning poverty alleviation and rural development to explore areas of mutual cooperation and discuss JICA’s ongoing contributions in Pakistan. Secretary PASSD was also present in the meeting. The JICA mission highly commended Ehsaas that is largest ever poverty reduction programme of the Government of Pakistan. Dr. Nishtar appreciated the contributions of JICA in areas of education and health across Pakistan. She briefed the mission about Ehsaas that currently embodies 134 policies and programme areas.

Jan 23, 2020, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was called on by Japan Communications Inc. (JCI) delegation led by Fukuda Naohisa, Chairman, & Fukuda Shizue, Member Board of Directors to explore tech-based collaborative opportunities under the Ehsaas framework. The discussions revolved around promoting access of marginalized population of Pakistan to digitization & Fintech platforms.

Jan 22, 2020, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar said that the federal government is going to launch an institutional arrangement in next three months allowing the corporate and private sectors to connect with Ehsaas Programme being the government’s flagship welfare initiative with utmost transparency and efficiency. She stated this while addressing as the chief guest at the inauguration of 12^th  Annual CSR Summit-2020 organized by National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) in Islamabad. Dr. Nishtar said that she had been advising the philanthropists associated with the country’s corporate sector and willing to donate for the Ehsaas programme to wait for another three months to let this special purpose vehicle be launched allowing the government to receive these donations from the private sector and spend them with utmost integrity and honesty. Further, she added that a web portal would be launched under the proposed arrangement to let the private sector know well as in what manner each of the penny of the philanthropic donations would be spent for the welfare of the individuals and for the benefit of several initiatives of the Ehsaas programme.

Jan 22, 2020, President Dr. Arif Alvi during his visit to Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal’s (PBM) was briefed on programmess which are part of Ehsaas framework. The President appreciated the tremendous philanthropic work being done and emphasized that the efforts must be coordinated in the same direction by taking all non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the loop for uplifting the marginalized strata of the society to increase the philanthropic footprint across the country. Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Adviser on Establishment, Mohammad Shehzad Arbab, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan and Managing Director, Aun Abbas Bappi were also present at the occasion.

Jan 22, 2020, BISP inked an MoU with Health Department, Government of Gilgit-Baltistan for the launch of Ehsaas Health & Nutrition Conditional Cash Transfer Programme across Gilgit-Baltistan. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation witnessed the signing ceremony. The project is part of Ehsaas strategy which envisages launch of a new community and health and nutrition initiative to address stunting in children. Under the programme, BISP will provide conditional cash grant to pregnant and lactating BISP beneficiaries and their children under two years of age for consumption of Specialized Nutrition Food (SNF) in 3 districts of GB namely Ghizer, Hunza and Kharmang. In rest of the districts of GB, BISP beneficiaries will be provided with a conditional cash transfer on compliance of immunization against Vaccine Preventable Diseases.

Jan 18, 2020, The Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar has announced that under the Upcoming Kifalat Program, the quarterly stipend under the BISP is being increased from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000. She stated this while talking to a large number of women beneficiaries of BISP at a Khuli Kachehri (open court) in Malir, Karachi. Dr. Nishtar said that the stipend was being increased as per the vision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan that the government should benefit the deserving people in the country. Furthermore, she said under the upcoming Ehsaas Kifalat programme, the increased sum of stipend would be dispensed as monthly instalments and every beneficiary would get Rs 2,000 in the first week of each month. Dr. Nishtar elaborated that every woman beneficiary of the programme would have a bank account as special arrangements have been made for evolving this banking system. She continued that women beneficiaries would be able to draw the BISP stipend while using an ATM card. The project is an income support initiative of the federal government under the Ehsaas framework.

January 16, 2020, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar visited Choa Saiden Sahah and Kallar Kahar areas in Chakwal together with Secretary, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division and senior officials from NADRA to review the quality of services and facilities being established by NADRA at the special purpose counters for self-registration of Ehsaas beneficiaries so that no deserving person is left out from the Ehsaas programme. She took round of facilities provided at the two self-registration sites, met with the staff and people present there and enquired about the current arrangements.  The delegation led by SAPM also visited the BISP Tehsil offices in Choa Saiden Shah and Kallar Kahar and Basic Health Unit in Khairpur areas of Chakwal. During the visit, Dr. Nishtar also met with dwellers of slums residing in the impoverished suburbs of Chakwal. As conversations unfolded, she discussed about the status of registrations of dwelling families with NADRA database and their accessibility to channels and sources of information locally available to them so that Ehsaas could extend maximum benefits to the most deserving. 

January 16, 2020, Ehsaas has announced, Laila Khan from Shahpur Saddar, Sargodha as the Winner of the Kifalat Logo Contest! Laila’s design will be on all informative material relating to Ehsaas Kifalat program. Earlier this month, Ehsaas had launched an online Kifalat Logo Design Contest to pick bright young minds for creative ideas. By Jan 7, 2020 that was last date of submission, Ehsaas received as many as 42 entries from all across Pakistan. The winner has been selected by the jury of experts. Ehsaas is launching a new program Kifalat by the end of this month. Under Kifalat, deserving women will get stipends, saving bank accounts, and access to interest free loans and skills training opportunities besides other benefits. Details on twitter at @SaniaNishtar.

Jan 15, 2020, The Asian Development Bank Mission called on Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation to explore avenues of technical collaboration under Ehsaas framework. The Mission was led by Country Director, Xaiohong Yang. ADB Mission praised the social welfare and poverty alleviation initiatives rolled out under the multisectoral Ehsaas programme and assured full cooperation to continue its support to the deprived segments of the society in Pakistan, through the Ehsaas programme. Dr. Nishtar acknowledged the support extended by ADB to Pakistan and stated that ADB has a key role in supporting women empowerment and poverty alleviation across the country.

Jan 8, 2020: President Arif Alvi hosted a high-level consultation with leading civil society representatives from across Pakistan to discuss how the government is expanding access to services for people with disabilities through the Ehsaas program. Also, in attendance were the First Lady of Pakistan, Mrs. Samina Alvi, SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM on Health, Dr. Zafar Mirza, the wives of the Governors of Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, MD Pakistan Bait ul Mal, Aon Abbas Bappi, representative from WHO, civil society as well as other representatives from across the federal government. “Differently-abled people deserve our special attention as they face many hardships, not all of them as a result of their disability,” said President Arif Alvi. He emphasized that collective efforts from all segments of society in synergy with the Government are required to mainstream them in society as well as in social, economic and political decision making.” Held in the President’s House in Islamabad, the two-hour session included a presentation by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection, who explained how Ehsaas is targeting its policies to ensure that the differently abled can thrive in Pakistan.

Jan 8, 2020: Ehsaas and United Bank Limited (UBL) came to the table in Islamabad to explore collaborative options for improving financial access of the disadvantaged segments of population. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation (PASSD). Secretary PASSD was also present. UBL team was led by Sima Kamil, CEO and President, UBL.

The deliberations revolved around new Ehsaas initiatives to enhance financial accessibility of the vulnerable to enable them to escape poverty. The Ehsaas Financial Inclusion is a multi-component initiative. It includes the Prime Minister’s one woman one bank account policy; bank accounts for informal workers under Mazdoor ka Ehsaas and promotion of access to credit for the bottom of the pyramid.

Jan 8, 2020:  BISP has taken action against 2,543 government officers/their spouses of grade-17 and above who had got themselves registered among the beneficiaries from the social safety net and recei­ved the assistance meant for the poorest of the poor. They have been excluded from the programme. The BISP has also written to the provincial chief secretaries and federal ministries whose officers had illegally enrolled themselves as BISP beneficiaries. To avoid such irregularities in future, appropriate measures had been taken under the government’s Ehsaas programmer reforms, Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and BISP Chairperson said. According to official data, the highest number of government officials receiving the BISP assistance was from Sindh. As many as 1,122 officers of Grade-17 and above from the province had been BISP beneficiaries. The second highest number came from Balochistan where 741 government officials were signed up for the poverty alleviation scheme. From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 403 government officials availed the BISP funds, while 137 did so from Punjab. From the federal government, 62 officers received the programme funds. Additionally, one officer of the Pakistan Railways, 22 of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and 49 of Gilgit-Baltistan were also marked as undeserving recipients of the BISP.

Jan 3, 2019: Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation paid surprise visits to Islamabad based branchless banking retailer outlets of BISP’s partner commercial bank in Blue Area, F-8 and G-9 areas of Islamabad. The visit aimed to check the working of their officials while dealing with registered deserving women. Recently, BISP has introduced quarterly payments to women through biometric verification at branchless banking retailers. Dr. Nishtar sat with the women present at the outlets to collect cash grants and discussed with them the problems they were facing while receiving their compensations. This was part of her visits to enquire about the quality of Ehsaas programmes, witnessing and observing on-the-ground situation without prior intimation. The footage can be accessed here. Later, she visited Utility Store situated at G-9 in Islamabad together with Chairman and Managing Director, Utility Stores Corporation to see the quality of food and non-food items that are provided to the public and specially to the poor, at comparatively cheaper rates than the market. During her visit, she appreciated USC’s commitment in line with the Prime Minister’s directives to ensure the provision of basic commodities to the poverty-stricken families on subsidized and cheaper rates.The footage can be accessed here.

Jan 1, 2019: Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar who leads the Ehsaas programme paid a surprise visit to the Mandi More Panah Gah together with DC Islamabad and his team to review the facilities being provided by the government to people in need. Dr. Nishtar took round of the facility and interacted with the people staying there. She assured them that the Ehsaas would take similar steps to improve their economic conditions. The Special Assistant shared that Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed all the Cabinet Ministers to visit Panah Gahs and ensure that nobody stays shelterless and hungry in this extreme cold weather. Adding further, she said, “Ehsaas is committed to ensure that Panah Gahs serve the needy and poor across the country.” Free meal is served to 1,500 people at the Panah Gah everyday. The people, labourers and needy travelers living in the Panah Gah, were happy to find Dr. Nishtar among them. The footage can be accessed here.

Dec 17, 2019, A new study in Pakistan has revealed a 15 percent reduction in stunting and 33 percent reduction in wasting in children at 24 months as a result of specialized nutritious foods (SNF), cash-based transfers, and social and behavioral change communication (SBCC). The joint study by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), the Aga Khan University, and the Integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn, Child Health & Nutrition Program (IRMNCH&NP), focused on the impact of the in-kind provisions to prevent stunting among children aged between six and 23 months in Rahimyar Khan. In her remarks, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation stated, “Child stunting is a double-edged sword and remains a major barrier to the human capital development. It is linked to a number of factors including quality of water, sanitation and agricultural incontaminations etc. Within framework of Ehsaas, this new study will guide design and implementation of all nutrition specific policies and interventions on the basis of evidence.”

Dec 16, 2019, Dr. Sabina Alkire, Professor at the Oxford University visited Pakistan from December 12-15 on the special invitation of Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant of the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and UNDP. Dr. Alkire is the Director of Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford. Dr. Alkire is a global expert in poverty measurement and has developed the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). She was in Pakistan to assist with poverty estimations for Ehsaas. “This year, Dr. Sania Nishtar’s presentation of the innovative Ehsaas Strategy at the MPPN’s UN General Assembly event fomented keen interest. The reason? It had a coherent, high-profile problem-focused approach to poverty using many kinds of tools across different sectors and provinces: legal, financial, judicial, statistical, institutional. Coordination and management are the heart of the Ehsaas approach so diverse actors together could take out the thorns perpetuating poverty”, said Dr. Alkire.

Dec 15, 2019, Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) organized a two-day expo at Pak-China Friendship Centre on 14th and 15th December, 2019. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation inaugurated the event. The annual event was attended by the women entrepreneurs from all over Pakistan while different NGOs, banks, multinationals, mobile operators, diplomats, and government officials participated in the largest women’s exhibition in Pakistan. Dr. Nishtar met with women entrepreneurs, encouraged them and visited their stalls featuring inspirational work of women in textiles, embroidery, jewelry and pottery etc. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Nishtar said, “Ehsaas is keen to support women entrepreneurs. We will call the second meeting of IWCCI at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat soon to find solutions to problems of women entrepreneurs”.

December 14, 2019, In partnership with Facebook, the Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety Division launched the first-of-its-kind Design Hackathon on malnutrition at the National Incubation Centre in Islamabad. Over the course of two-days, the Design Hackathon will connect experts in malnutrition with digital marketers who, with additional support from Facebook, will help build innovative digital campaigns for social media around the challenges of malnutrition. This is the first in a series of Ehsaas – Facebook collaborative initiatives. “To fight malnutrition today, we need 21st century tools such as digital marketing techniques on social media that can reach wide audiences,” said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, speaking today at the launch event.

December 14, 2019, In partnership with Facebook, the Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety Division launched the first-of-its-kind Design Hackathon on malnutrition at the National Incubation Centre in Islamabad. Over the course of two-days, the Design Hackathon will connect experts in malnutrition with digital marketers who, with additional support from Facebook, will help build innovative digital campaigns for social media around the challenges of malnutrition. This is the first in a series of Ehsaas – Facebook collaborative initiatives. “To fight malnutrition today, we need 21^stcentury tools such as digital marketing techniques on social media that can reach wide audiences,” said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, speaking today at the launch event.

Dec 13, 2019, Professor Dr. Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative together with Dr. Sania Nishtar called on honorable President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi in Islamabad. They briefed the President about a potential multidimensional poverty plus metrics for Pakistan to gauge progress and impact of Ehsaas programme. The President lauded expert inputs of Dr. Alkire for developing new Ehsaas index to tackle poverty that is currently in the pipeline. Dr. Alkire is here in Pakistan to share international experiences about the use of MPI for poverty policy. She works on a new approach to measuring poverty and well-being that goes beyond the traditional focus on income and growth. This multidimensional approach to measurement includes social goals, such as health, education, nutrition, standard of living and other valuable aspects of life.

December 11, 2019,  A national 100-day action program to support girls’ education and women’s economic empowerment launched today at Quaid-e-Azam University, supported by the World Bank Group. The ‘Girls Learn, Women Earn’ launch concluded with a roundtable discussion on women’s participation in the labor force, led by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and Chairperson of the BISP. During her keynote address, Dr. Nishtar highlighted the multiple policies under the Ehsaas programme which are driving women’s fuller participation in both the economy and society. She highlighted, “Kifalat is the new digital and financial inclusion policy for poor women under the Ehsaas framework. In addition to stipends, eligible women will now get bank accounts and will have access to mobile phones.”

December 10, 2019, The Ehsaas Labour Expert Group (LEG) in its tenth meeting today afforded the opportunity for all stakeholders to sit together, around one table, and flesh out avenues for ensuring that every worker in Pakistan whether they work in the formal or informal economy is provided the protection and minimum standard of living, as pledged by the Constitution of Pakistan. The expert deliberations were held around the key findings of draft report furnished by the LEG for extension of social protection services to the informal labor sector in the first phase of its working. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson of the BISP.

Dec 8, 2019, The two-and-a-half-day SDG Hackathon 2019 event brought together over 150 participants; a mix of technologists, designers, urban planners, social scientists, NGOs and CSOs, and government representatives to develop innovative solutions aimed to address five particular UN Sustainable Development Goals using technology, data and digital tools. The Women SDG Challenge Cup 2019 was held alongside the hackathon, where women entrepreneurs pitched their startups with a mission to create civic and social impact. “It has been inspiring to hear from the SDG Hackathon participants who are leveraging technology, design thinking and open-source hacking to pave the way for achieving Sustainable Development Goals,” said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation in her closing remarks at the concluding Award Ceremony.

Dec 6, 2019, According to the study “Violence against Healthcare Workers: A Survey across 16 Cities of Pakistan” compiled by the International Committee of the Red Cross in collaboration with local research institutes and partners, more than one third of the health-care providers surveyed had experienced some form of violence in the last six months. Speaking at the launch ceremony of the study in Islamabad, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar underlined the grave consequences of violence in healthcare settings and its adverse effects on the delivery of health care. “It is important that we, as healthcare practitioners and as attendants work on changing behaviours towards violence against healthcare and adopt specific multi-disciplinary strategies to protect health care.”

Dec 3, 2019, Presidents of all Pakistan Women Chambers accompanied by leadership of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry called on Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. The meeting took stock of key challenges and opportunities for women entrepreneurs around economic activities in the country and explored options for supporting the Women Chambers under the Ehsaas that is the multisectoral antipoverty programme of the Government.

Dec 2, 2019, Honorable President Dr. Arif Alvi inaugurated the three-day conference on “Sustainable Development in a Digital Society”, organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was a keynote speaker at the inaugural session. Addressing the conference, Dr. Nishtar said that the Ehsaas is a multi-sector and multi-component programme encompassing 130 programmes and policy initiatives. She continued that on December 13, a hackathon would be held in collaboration with the Facebook to create mass awareness on the issue of malnutrition. Regarding the utilization of technology in its initiatives, she said a digital online education system through mobile phones would be introduced to facilitate the people in far flung areas, besides establishing agricultural value chains for the farmers. Moreover, she said, the prime minister had recently approved a policy under which 70 million women would be transferred cash assistance through their mobile wallet.

Dec 1, 2019,  Third All Pakistan Women Chambers Presidents’ Summit (APWCPS) organized by Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) began in Rawalpindi. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was a chief guest at the inauguration ceremony. Sayed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, Special Assistant to the PM for Overseas Pakistanis & HRD was also present at the occasion. The summit brought together presidents of women chambers and large number of women entrepreneurs from all across the country. Dr. Nishtar invited Presidents of all Women Chambers in town to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat for a consultation on exploring collaborations under Ehsaas for ensuring effective participation of women in our economy.

Nov 30, 2019,  Three hundred and fifty graduates celebrated the completion of their programmes at the Aga Khan University’s convocation ceremony where they were urged to remember the importance of courage, perseverance and agility in the years to come. The chief guest at the event, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Pakistan’s Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty alleviation, spoke to the graduating class about integrity, or staying true to one’s moral principles. “The crux of my experience leads me to believe that in order to make lasting and sustainable change you have to root your actions in integrity.”

Nov 30, 2019, Graduation ceremony of the 47th batch of PAF Finishing School was held at the Officers’ Mess, PAF Complex here on Friday. Dr. Sania Nishtar, special assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety was the chief guest at the occasion. The chief guest awarded certificates to the graduating students. Dr. Nishtar congratulated the students on successful completion of their personality development programme at this unique institution of the country. She also praised the standard of training at this premier institution and lauded the efforts of the faculty members in grooming the womenfolk of our society.

Nov 29, 2019,  HRH Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan met with Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation in Islamabad to discuss current projects aimed at fighting malnutrition in Pakistan. HRH Princess Sarah is a Special Advisor to the World Food Programme (WFP) on Mother and Child Nutrition, campaigns globally to bring attention to the criticality of good nutrition in the first 1,000 days from conception to a child’s second birthday. Tackling malnutrition is also a core focus of Ehsaas, the government’s pioneering poverty alleviation programme. The meeting was part of a high-level mission by Princess Sarah to Pakistan hosted by the World Food Programme. Addressing the meeting, HRH Princess Sarah lauded the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to address malnutrition across Pakistan. She reiterated that malnutrition has long lasting consequences for families and countries.

Nov 26, 2019, Millions of people in Pakistan will finally have access to financial services, thanks to the Ehsaas Financial Inclusion Initiatives launched today by the Prime Minister Imran Khan. Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands attended the launch in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). Her Majesty Queen Maxima spoke passionately about the need to promote financial inclusion as a tool to empower women and achieve social goals. At the launch, Prime Minister praised the new Ehsaas financial inclusion initiatives and noted the significant impact these will have on the ability of the poorest to escape poverty. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation presented an overview of Ehsaas Financial Inclusion Initiatives. The Ehsaas Financial Inclusion is a multi-component initiative. It includes the Prime Minister’s “one woman one bank account policy”; bank accounts for informal workers under Mazdoor ka Ehsaas; promotion of access to credit for the bottom of the pyramid. Details of Ehsaas Financial Inclusion Initiatives can be accessed here.

Nov 26, 2019,  Earlier today, Ehsaas held a bilateral meeting with a delegation led by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. The conversation aimed to reinforce collaboration on Financial inclusion in Pakistan under Ehsaas programme. The meeting was hosted by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation who leads Ehsaas programme. During the meeting Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division and Secretary BISP were also present. Queen Máxima is visiting Pakistan in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).

Nov 25, 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan will tomorrow launch the Ehsaas, ‘Financial Inclusion Initiatives’ in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. Queen Máxima is visiting Pakistan in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). “We look forward to welcoming Queen Maxima to Pakistan who has worked for ten years as the UNSGSA to give people safe and affordable access to the financial services they need to protect themselves against hardship and invest in their futures.  With access to a broad range of financial tools – savings, credit, insurance, payments and more, families can move out of poverty, small businesses can expand, farmers can thrive, and societies and economies can grow stronger and more inclusive. The Ehsaas’ financial inclusion initiatives drive access to financial services for the poorest and most marginalized,” said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation.

November 21, 2019,  KP Cabinet in its 25th meeting was briefed on the Ehsaas programme. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was in the provincial capital for the briefing. Chief Minister KP, Mahmood Khan chaired the meeting. The aim of the meeting was to inform the KP Cabinet about the Ehsaas framework and begin to identify areas for coordination and collaboration. Dr. Nishtar outlined details of Ehsaas programme and particularly stressed on areas which are relevant to federal – provincial partnerships. Members of the Cabinet took keen interest in the ‘Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy’. This was the fourth provincial briefing that Dr. Nishtar has led on Ehsaas, following briefings in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab.

November 20, 2019, The Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety Division (PASSD) has announced it will partner with Facebook and Invest2Innovate to host a first-of-its-kind ‘Design Hackathon’ on malnutrition at the National Incubation Centre, Islamabad on 14^th – 15^th December.  “Ehsaas is bringing together the brightest talent in digital marketing and technology to tackle malnutrition across the country and improve millions of lives”, said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation. “Social media is an important channel through which educate and inform the public, and we are excited to see the results of this pioneering Design Hackathon.” Interested digital agencies, health startups, NGOs and individuals with applicable skills who are committed to social justice and poverty alleviation in Pakistan are encouraged to apply. To apply, please click here.

Nov 18, 2019, The Board of Directors of Trust for Voluntary Organizations (TVO) has been constituted after six years and held its first meeting today. The TVO was created as an indigenous grantmaking organization in 1990 following an agreement between the Governments of Pakistan and the USA to establish a Special Development Fund, TVO was set up to tap the potential of NGOs. However, for the last six years, its Board had not been constituted, as a result of which, its operations were stalled. Earlier this year, the process of recruiting the Board was initialized in a transparent manner. TVO has been revitalized under Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division because it is envisaged to be one of the executing agencies which will execute the programmes under Ehsaas policy action number thirty-six that aims to serve the marginalized. Today, Dr. Sania Nishtar addressed the TVO Board to communicate to them, the Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy of the Government.

Nov 15, 2019, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) today began the implementation of the Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy, which was formally approved by the Cabinet and launched earlier this week. The purpose of the policy is to build systems that strongly discourage corruption, and to promote efficiency, transparency and accountability for results and compliance with the rules. Dr. Sania Nishtar convened a meeting attended by the Principal Accounting Officers and ancillary organizations of the PASSD namely BISP, Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, and Trust for Voluntary Organizations. The meeting discussed a roadmap for implementation of the new policy and addressed questions around making it as robust as possible.

Nov 15, 2019, Eminent intergovernmental agencies and international organizations have joined forces to support the roll-out of the Ehsaas poverty alleviation programme. The Ehsaas Development Partnership Group brought together 45 country heads and representatives from 25 development partners, UN agencies and international organizations working across Pakistan. Meeting today for the first time in Islamabad, the group discussed the terms of reference of their newly established group, the main objective of which is to provide integrated, coherent and aligned technical support and strategic advice to Government of Pakistan for the implementation of Ehsaas strategy. “Ehsaas aims to lift millions of people in Pakistan out of poverty, creating a welfare state in our country for the first time”, said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, who chaired the first meeting of the group.

Nov 14, 2019, Texas, USA – Pakistan will thrive as more women participate in the economy. That was the message behind a keynote speech delivered by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation at the U.S.-Pakistan Women in the Economy Symposium today. Hosted by the George H. W. Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University in coordination with the US-Pakistan Women’s Council, the roundtable was focused on ambitious ideas to propel women in the economy forward. Dr. Nishtar joined the meeting, which took place in College Station, Texas, via video-link. During her speech she highlighted the multiple policies under the Ehsaas programme which are driving women’s fuller participation in both the economy and society.

Nov 12, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP was the keynote speaker at the roundtable on innovative financing for social impact. The roundtable was jointly organized by Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit in Islamabad. The event was attended by members of the Ehsaas programme committee who are developing innovative financing mechanisms through bilateral and multilateral collaboration with the corporate sector, philanthropists, INGOs, and UN agencies. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Nishtar stated: “It is imperative that Pakistan begin to adopt innovative financing models for the Ehsaas programme, so that it can maximize social impact and fulfill its mission to lift millions of people out of poverty. With a more strategic, collaborative and outcome focused approach to philanthropy and social investing, we can ensure that resources are deployed as effectively as possible to address key social challenges.”

Nov 12, 2019, The Cabinet today approved the proposal of “Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Observatory” and “Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy”. Speaking to the press, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation said, “The policy is binding on the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) and its ancillary organizations, namely, the Benazir Income Support Programme, Bait-ul-Mal, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, and Trust for Voluntary Organizations and the observatory is meant to ensure tracking of compliance, and, since the key issue with policies is their implementation, that is why, the observatory and the policy have been launched together”. The purpose of the policy is to build systems that strongly discourage corruption, and to promote efficiency, transparency and accountability for results and compliance with rules. These measures are meant to make organizations involved in delivery of welfare, effective and responsive to the needs of those who they are meant to serve, and to ensure rule-based control on the use of public resources.

Nov 8, 2019, The Pakistan National Nutrition Coordination Council (PNNCC) held its maiden meeting in Islamabad today. The creation of the council has been hailed internationally, since the Prime Minister chairs the council with six ministers as its members reflecting both a multisectoral construct as well as high political commitment to address malnutrition. The first meeting was convened by the Vice Chair of the council, Dr. Sania Nishtar and was attended by Dr. Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Systems, Regulations and Coordination and other members of the council. The discussion during the first meeting brought the light to myriad nutrition stakeholders working in a fragmented manner with no coordination and significant overlap and duplication. The council has been created to overcome that in coherence. The members of the council decided that mapping of nutrition stakeholders in digital observatory style documentation should be developed as a starting point.

November 4, 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan has today launched the Ehsaas Scholarships Programme for undergraduate students from low-income backgrounds. Ehsaas has 134 policies, programmes and initiatives and this scheme, which is primarily aimed at enhancing access to higher education is key to building a new Pakistan that works for everyone. The Rs.20 billion need-based scheme is a key initiative of BISP and Higher Education Commission (HEC) under which 50,000 scholarships per year will be awarded to undergraduate students (50 percent girls) from underprivileged families and areas over the next four years. Past scholarship schemes focused on post-graduate degree programmes. However, the new Ehsaas initiative represents a major educational policy change with the focus on undergraduate degrees because they contribute the most to furthering income generation potential.  Speaking at the event, the Prime Minister said, “This initiative will drive the country’s talented youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve academic excellence. People have no idea what a big change this programme will bring. Due to unemployment, the talented and intelligent youth of the country were developing intolerance and a tendency towards negative practices; however, this scholarship programme will help deserving students divert their energies towards positivity”. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP also spoke at the event. “Undergraduate Scholarships Programme is one of the best opportunities for students who cannot bear their academic expenses. It is an important element of the Ehsaas framework that aims to foster human capital development and shared prosperity through investing in education of the most deserving and needy, particularly girls”.

Nov 1, 2019,  David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group during his visit to Pakistan visited headquarters of BISP. David Malpass was leading a delegation consisting of two regional vice presidents and other high-ranking officials from the Bank. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP Dr. Sania Nishtar together with Dr. Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination welcomed the World Bank’s President and his delegation and briefed them on the importance attached by the government to the uplift of the marginalized segments of the society and the positive contribution Ehsaas is making to address poverty and inequality in Pakistan. Dr. Nishtar informed the delegation on government’s multi-sectoral Ehsaas Program and stated that despite limited fiscal space, social protection has been placed high on the government’s agenda and significantly increased resources have been allocated for social protection. Dr. Nishtar also informed Malpass about on new payment model of Kifalat program, which will promote financial inclusion of women through one woman one bank account. During the briefing, Malpass was also apprised of the governance reforms undertaken at BISP to bring transparency and efficiency in operations. Dr. Nishtar also described the mother and child health and nutrition initiative of BISP, recently approved by the BISP Board. David Malpass also had an interactive session with the BISP beneficiaries who, as a part of BISP’s collaboration efforts with the private sector, had improved their livelihood potential and had started their small businesses. He heard the stories of the beneficiaries and asked them questions about the use they made of the cash transfers from the government and the ways in which they embarked on the journey of self-reliance.

October 30, 2019, Today the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) held its 3rd International Conference on Research and Learning, entitled ‘Beyond Action, Towards Transformation’. The conference focused on developing further dimensions in knowledge and assessed how PPAF’s interventions poor have transformed the lives and communities of the poor. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Dr. Sania Nishtar was a keynote speaker at the inaugural session of the conference. Addressing the audience on the occasion, she said, “I would like to congratulate PPAF on putting together the 3rd International Conference on Research and Learning which will help us navigate the impact of the Graduation Programme on a national scale. Through the Poverty Graduation Programme we aim to make the beneficiaries independent and self-reliant by providing the vulnerable segments of society with livelihoods and social protection. The government is committed to creating greater social and economic equality. Under the ambit of Ehsaas we envision to empower millions across Pakistan by laying greater emphasis on asset transfer.” Other notable speakers at the conference included Hubert Boirard, Country Programme Manager for Pakistan at the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Dr Imran Rasul, Professor of Economics at University College London, Mr. Ijaz Nabi, Mr. Rehan Rafay Jamil, Ms. Ruven Menikdiwela, Country Representative for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Pakistan and many others.

Oct 26, 2019,  Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation has termed the Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme as highly transformational, as it is the largest ever need-based scholarship programme to promote human capital investment. The formal launch of the Scheme by the Prime Minister is planned for next week. She was telephonically addressing the 26th Vice Chancellors Committee Meeting convened by Dr. Muhammad Ali, Chair of the VCs Committee to brief them about the Government’s upcoming Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme. The heads of public universities across the country attended the meeting, majority of them joined through video link from their campuses. She said that the Prime Minister Imran Khan is keen that this Scheme should benefit maximum number of students across the country, and that the Government will allocate more resources for it in the coming years.  Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) gave a detailed briefing to the Vice Chancellors on the newly conceptualized scholarship scheme, entitled Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme.

Oct 25, 2019, The project steering committee met today to finalize policy guidelines for the final launch of Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme planned for next week. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, HEC. Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, Additional Secretary Finance, Executive Director HEC, DG – HEC and Convener VCs Committee also came to the table. The Scheme will award Ehsaas scholarships to low-income students enrolled in four and five-year undergraduate programmes. All students from low-income families studying in undergraduate programs in public sector universities are eligible to apply. Selection will be based on need-cum-merit, i.e., on the basis of the student’s GPA and family income (below a maximum threshold). The scholarship covers tuition fee and a living stipend. Fifty per cent of the scholarships will be awarded to female students, while students with special needs as well as those from remote and disadvantaged areas will also be encouraged to apply.

Oct 24, 2019, Eight federal ministries and 4 provincial ministries were at the table when the multisectoral Ehsaas Value Chain Building Committee met for the first time at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. Poverty in rural areas is deeply linked to agriculture and Pakistan is being faced with unique agriculture challenges particularly small landholdings, subsistence farming, exploitation by extractive Aarhtis (middlemen) and stress selling. Unless private sector investment is made in building rural value chains, it will be difficult to break away from the rural poverty cycle. Ehsaas’ multisectoral Ehsaas Value Chain Building Committee’s diverse perspectives will help to shape a value chain building policy to address these challenges. The Ehsaas Value Chain Building Committee was convened by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation.

Oct 22, 2019, The Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development, invited Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation to join the Global Panel’s High Level Stakeholder Group (HLSG) meeting in Windsor, UK. Dr. Nishtar attended the meeting through video conferencing. The main objective of the meeting was to seek the critique of members on the Global Panel’s second foresight report on positioning food systems to deliver healthy and sustainable diets. Virtually addressing the meeting as a panel member, Dr. Nishtar elaborated the multisectoral approach of the government of Pakistan under the Ehsaas framework to address nutrition. “Tackling malnutrition is embedded in the strategy of Ehsaas,” she stated.

October 21, 2019,  Dr. Sania Nishtar was invited to the meeting of the standing committee on Industries and Production. The standing committee was discussing performance issues of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) along with ways of reforming this organization. Several options came into discussion including tax exemptions, subsidies and low mark up on bank loans. One of the options discussed was routing BISP cash stipends to women beneficiaries through Utility Stores Corporation. The members of the standing committee strongly emphasized on the latter. They said that if BISP routes its cash transfers to women through USC and give rations instead of cash, then USC will become viable. Chairperson BISP, Dr. Nishtar explained that the government had taken the decision to transform the existing cash out operations of BISP into the Ehsaas Kifalat programme through which women will have access to bank accounts and mobile phones under the ‘one woman one bank account initiative’. ‘It was not possible to change the policy course, and in any case, it does not make any logical sense to make change in policy course in order to salvage another organization which should focus on overcoming its performance constraints’, she elaborated.

Oct 18, 2019, Under overarching Ehsaas framework, two of the executing agencies of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD)- Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM) and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), signed an MoU in Islamabad to capitalize on impactful synergies. This partnership based on collaboration and leveraging is primarily aimed at women’s economic empowerment and their uplifting in society. As part of the MoU- 25,000 women trained by Women Empowerment Centres (WECs) of PBM will be provided with interest free loans by PPAF, enabling them to become economically sustainable.  Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Shaista Sohail, Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division witnessed the signing ceremony as Aon Abbas Bappi, Managing Director, PBM and Qazi Azmat Isa, CEO, PPAF inked the MoU. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Nishtar termed the new collaboration within Ehsaas, as a great initiative and hoped that it will benefit deserving women to graduate out of poverty.

Oct 16, 2019, Kings College, London has conferred the prestigious Doctorate of Science Honoris Causa on Dr. Sania Nishtar on October 16, in London. Dr. Sania Nishtar is a Kings alumna, and already has a Ph.D from Kings College.

This honour was conferred upon her for her work and contribution in global health and development.  She is the only Pakistani woman with both a Ph.D and a D.Sc.  According to the Rt. Hon the Lord Geidt, Chairman of Kings College, London “honorary degrees are conferred by Kings on persons of conspicuous merit and the highest distinction. Honorary Graduands have no formal duties as such, but may of course contribute to the life of the University by sharing experiences and expertise or engaging socially” Dr. Nishtar received her degree in person in London. Talking to the press she said “she is deeply humbled”.

Oct 12, 2019,  To acknowledge the contributions of women in various fields, Dawood Global Foundation held an award ceremony, 11th Annual Ladies Fund Women’s Awards for Pakistan 2019, at the Governor House in Karachi. Honorable Governor Sindh, Imran Ismail was the chief guest at the event. He presented lifetime achievement award to Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation. Dr. Nishtar also chairs the Benazir Income Support Program and the United Nations International Institute for Global Health’s Advisory Committee.  Hundreds of the inspiring women attended the ceremony where people had gathered to celebrate the strength and empowerment of women and acknowledge their achievements of various categories.

Oct 12, 2019,  Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation who was on a one -day visit to Karachi called on honourable Governor Sindh, Imran Ismail at Governor House in Karachi. Both agreed to explore collaboration around what Ehsaas can offer to Sindh and how can it partner with federal government and private sectors. The Governor termed Ehsaas as a key step of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to eliminate poverty.

Oct 10, 2019,  Under the framework of Ehsaas, the Board of BISP approved the increase in the stipend amount for girls from Rs. 750 to Rs. 1,000 and the provision of emergency relief to the residents of villages along the Line of Control. The Board also approved the plan to extend the Conditional Cash Transfer programme for education to another 50 districts around the country to bring out of school children within the education system. The Board meeting was held here which was attended by Secretary BISP, Zafar Khan, Atif Bajwa, Khawar Mumtaz, Ashfaq Hassan Khan, Qazi Azmat Isa and representatives of various government departments. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP Dr. Sania Nishtar briefed the Board on the governance and transparency improvement measures introduced in the Programme. She termed the signing of the banking contracts as a step towards transparent payment mechanism and evidence that the present government continues to bring about significant governance improvements for creating a welfare state modeled on Riasat-e-Madina. In order to address stunting and malnutrition, already emphasized in Ehsaas, a pilot project to provide specialized nutritious food packets to poor mothers and their children was also approved. The project will be launched in one district of each province along with GB, AJK and merged districts of KP.

Oct 10, 2019, BISP has signed a historic memorandum of understanding with Habib Bank Limited and Bank Alfalah Limited on a strategic partnership that will enable financial inclusion of millions of women as envisioned in Ehsaas programme under the one-woman-one-bank-account initiative. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection and Chairperson BISP, Dr. Sania Nishtar said that a series of policy initiatives and measures are being taken to turn BISP into a model of good governance. She said that the new biometric based payment solution developed by BISP through an open and consultative process was a great step to ensure good governance, transparency and efficiency in the payment mechanism for beneficiaries. Hiring of the new financial institutions through a transparent and open competitive bidding process was a significant development for improved service delivery and fraud prevention, she added. A competitive procurement process completed in eight months was carried out in most transparent manner with representation from all relevant ministries and organizations.

Oct 9, 2019,  Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation paid a surprise visit to Peshawar More, Islamabad to meet with daily wage labourers. She sat with the labourers and listened to their problems. Labourers informed Dr. Nishtar that those from low income backgrounds who apply for Government of Pakistan class-4 jobs over and over again have to pay PKR 500 with each application which is a massive cost for them. Speaking to the labourers, Dr. Nishtar said that most useful lessons for policy come through engagement on ground and she will relay their voice in the cabinet to address their concern.

Oct 9, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation chaired the regular Ehsaas Communications Committee meeting held at the PM Secretariat on Oct 9, 2019. During the meeting, the communications plan for the upcoming Ehsaas undergraduate scholarships scheme and the World Poverty Day was set up in a consultative manner. In addition, the committee focused on exploring ways to communicate more effectively to target those who could benefit from the government’s Ehsaas’ interventions, precisely those that are marginalized and the hardest to reach out. Secretary PASSD, Principal Information Officer, PIDPASSD and communications and media representatives from various stakeholders including MoIB, PID, Associated Press of Pakistan, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, PEMRA, PTV News, ATV, Provincial Social Welfare Department – Punjab, BISP, Pakistan Bait ul Mal and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund joined the meeting. Ehsaas Communications Committee is due to meet every Wednesday under the leadership of Dr. Nishtar.

Oct 8, 2019, The steering committee carrying out the forthcoming Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships scheme met for the second time in this month to set up modalities of the combined working. In the month of October 2019, the ‘Ehsaas’ Undergraduate Scholarship scheme, a collaborative project of the BISP and Higher Education Commission (HEC) will be launched. With the help of this scheme, the deserving students from marginalized families who qualify for the scheme will be able to access undergraduate education. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation.

Oct 7, 2019,  Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar says the government has decided to run social protection programmes under public private partnership. Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, she said social welfare programmes will be expanded through public private partnership model. Dr. Sania Nishtar said a Langar was opened in Islamabad today in collaboration with Saylani Welfare International Trust to provide free food to the needy. This langar scheme will be stretched out countrywide with 112 langar schemes under Ehsaas to be set up over 2 years period. These schemes will feed millions of deserving people. She said under the MoU signed with Saylani Trust, quality of food will be ensured. Further Dr. Sania outlined that once, clear Ehsaas Langar policy, brand book, one window app and governance framework are in place, the Langar scheme will ensure philanthropy by private sector reaches out deserving. The full press conference can be accessed here.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kIYn3UBXMPaAkH5vUrgi790FDKvKlpcL

Oct 7, 2019, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $200 million loan as additional financing to help support the Government of Pakistan’s flagship social protection programme, Ehsaas under which BISP supports more than 5 million eligible families across the country through over $3.6 billion in total cash transfers disbursed so far. BISP is one of the largest executing agencies of Ehsaas which is primarily funded by the Government of Pakistan and it supports Ehsaas through cash transfers, poverty graduation programs, and a targeted social safety net. The ADB-financed Social Protection Development Project, has enabled the enrollment of over 855,000 women beneficiaries to BISP, or about 15% of the eligible beneficiaries. The $200 million additional financing for this project will continue to support cash transfers as well as help BISP implement institutional strengthening measures. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP stated, ‘Ehsaas welcomes ADB’s funding to Pakistan that will help the Government in implementing the social protection and poverty alleviation initiatives which foster human capital development’.

Oct 7, 2019, The Prime Minister launched the ‘Ehsaas Langar Scheme’ today in Islamabad. Under an agreement with the Saylani Welfare Trust, Ehsaas will open 112 Langars nationwide over a 2-year period in the public private partnership. The Langars are meant to serve meals to the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the society, especially daily wage laborers. The first Langar was opened in Islamabad today, where at least 600 people will be provided free meals daily. The Ehsaas scheme will now be extended countrywide with as many as 112 Langar schemes being set up over the period of two years to feed millions of people lacking food. Talking to the people being served with food at the Langar site, the Prime Minister said, “Ehsaas Langar is a real step towards the creation of welfare state modelled on Riyasat e Madina. The Langar is aimed at feeding the poor and improving the lives of marginalized. This is our government’s top priority that nobody should sleep hungry in Pakistan’. Addressing all present at the occasion, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation thanked the Prime Minister for his supervision and guidance in making Langar scheme a reality. She then continued, ‘the recent Langar scheme is a continuation of our religious and cultural legacy as well and it will not only provide relief to those in need but will also add value to the lives of daily laborers and those earning low incomes’.

October 2, 2019,  Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was invited by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to represent the Federal Government at the event that took place in Mirpur to distribute cheques amongst the next of kin and legal heirs of the deceased due to earthquake last week.  Chairman NDMA, SAPM on Information, Firdaus Ashiq Awan and members of the local administration were also present on the occasion. Speaking to the affectees, Dr. Nishtar extended her heartfelt condolences to them and said that Government of Pakistan will never leave them alone in these hard times. Later, Dr. Nishtar together with Lt. Gen. Muhammad Afzal, Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) paid a visit to the earthquake affected areas of Mirpur to inquire after the affecters. She expressed her grief over the loss of human lives and went to village Sahang Kikri to inquire after the affected families. ‘I can deeply feel the pain of the people who suffered losses and extend my greatest sympathies to them’, she added. Sympathizing the affectees, she assured them that the rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the earthquake-hit areas is the top priority of the government of Pakistan.

Oct 2, 2019,  Fully determined to reduce the burden of hunger for the poor, the Government of Pakistan’s multisectoral poverty alleviation programme, ‘Ehsaas’ is partnering with Saylani Welfare International Trust (SWIT) to open ‘Ehsaas Langar’ (soup kitchen) shortly in Islamabad. This joint initiative will later be extended countrywide to other cities as well to feed the poor and needy, in particular in Karachi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Peshawar.  To mutually articulate the policy and operational modalities for launching and expanding Ehsaas Langar, Dr. Sania Nishtar had invited the leadership of SWIT at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in Islamabad yesterday. It was discussed that once the overarching policy and operational modalities have been finalized by the end of this week, it will be followed by memorandum of action that will be inked between Ehsaas and SWIT.  During the course of meeting, the preliminary scale, breadth and diversity of the joint initiative were also framed out by both the parties.  It was agreed that further deliberations will take place soon to build up on the agreed areas of collaboration including identification of Langar sites in different areas of Pakistan.

Oct 1, 2019, One of the important Ehsaas initiatives, the Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships scheme is to be launched soon. Ehsaas has over 130 policies and programmes and this is one of them. The Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships scheme is a key initiative of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and Higher Education Commission (HEC). A memorandum of agreement has already been signed on September 20, 2019 and today the project steering committee met, to firm up modalities of the joint working. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, HEC. Talking about the initiative, Dr. Nishtar said, “the Prime Minister has instructed that the undergraduate scheme should be launched as soon as possible. The Government realizes that deprivation to education is the highest contributor in Pakistan’s national multi-dimensional poverty index. Therefore, Ehsaas wishes to pay special attention to the education of undergraduate students especially women and girls from underprivileged families and areas’. Through this initiative, students qualifying for the project will have access to undergraduate education regardless of income, gender, or location. The number of scholarships will be determined based on the budget envelope.

Sep 29, 2019,  Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation together with Dr. Hafeez A. Pasha, a renowned Pakistani economist, Jochen Hippler and Muhammad Ziauddin led an informative session on ‘Economic Reform agenda of Pakistan’ at 6th Islamabad Literature Festival 2019. During the session, Dr. Nishtar threw light on several economic challenges being faced by Pakistan. The session was organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is a private, German non-profit organization committed to the values of Social Democracy. She highly applauded the Islamabad Literature Festival and appreciated the manner in which it had succeeded in emphasizing Pakistani literature and culture.

Sep 26, 2019,  Dr. Sania Nishtar joined President of Costa Rica, Dr. Sabina Alkire & other ministers at the multidimensional poverty peer network meeting during 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 74). Dr. Nishtar shared about how Ehsaas is using both income as well as multidimensional poverty index (MPI) metrics for policy design and targeting. She also highlighted 4 data-related aspects in Ehsaas framework including 1) evidence gathering on the local drivers of poverty for policy action; 2) launching of district development portal; 3) the national strategy for the development of statistics; and 4) the national socio-economic registry 2019. It was emphasized that since rigorous data is needed for good policies, the government of Pakistan uses district level disaggregations of the National MPI for policy design and targeting.

Sep 26, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation together with Bill Gates, Co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation joined a lightning talk at the SDG Action Zone 2019 in New York. During the talk, Dr. Nishtar explained about what Ehsaas entails, its components, progress underway, its priorities, & partnership approach, challenges & opportunities and what success entails. Bill Gates outlined how digital & financial inclusion can be a force multiplier to address poverty.  The SDG Action Zone has shown keen interest in partnering for poverty alleviation in Pakistan with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The SDG Action Zone is a space inside the United Nations grounds during General Assembly week (UNGA) where different actors can engage around the UN-high-level meetings and events in a meaningful and visible way.

Sep 26, 2019, During 74^th session of UN General Assembly in New York, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation joined Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammad and ministers from Turkey and Malaysia to discuss the imperative of environmental stewardship for addressing poverty. During the meeting, it was emphasized to build synergies between climate action and the drive against poverty.

Sep 25,2019, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakistan for its Ehsaas initiative on poverty alleviation. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Bill Gates, co-chair of the B&MGF, witnessed the signing ceremony as Special Assistant to PM on Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar and president of Global Development at B&MGF, Dr. Chris Elias inked the MoU. The B&MGF will assist the Pakistan government with a range of activities, including accelerating stunting reduction programmes, supporting financial inclusion initiatives and investing in public health systems to improve health and reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality. The foundation plans to spend about $200 million in Pakistan in 2020.

Sep 25, 2019,  Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation shared Ehsaas Nutrition Plan at the SUN Movement lead group meeting in New York.  The government of Pakistan’s resolve to use all government sectors to fight malnutrition was highly lauded. It was also urged that it is the hardest part of Ehsaas but also be the one that’s most rewarding in relation to human capital development.

Sep 24, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar Pakistan at the WHO High level Summit on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in New York.  She outlined details about the multi-pronged approach to UHC under Ehsaas. Further, she urged that beyond Bismarck and Beveridge, we need financing innovations to achieve financial risk protection in mixed health systems.

24 September, 2019, Accelerating women’s economic empowerment is good for business and good for Pakistan, this is the message behind the launch of a new mentoring campaign by the US-Pakistan Women’s Council today. Attending the launch was honoured guest Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection. Dr. Nishtar elaborated on the myriad ways in which Ehsaas, Pakistan’s new equality centered initiative is mainstreaming the role of women in the economic sphere, through financial inclusion amongst other measures, creating livelihoods and jobs. The programme is called the Pakistan Million Women Mentors Initiative and it aims to connect a million women and girls in Pakistan with mentors over the next three years. “Women’s empowerment is absolutely critical to ending poverty and is a key principle of the Ehsaas. When women join the work force it benefits everyone in the country, and I am glad to support the US-Pakistan Women’s Council and the Pakistan Million Women Mentors Initiative,” said Dr. Nishtar following the event. “By connecting young women and girls from Pakistan with leaders in industry we can give them many more opportunities to thrive as the businesswomen and leaders of tomorrow.” Attending the event were dozens of talented Pakistani exchange students, who took part in a speed-mentoring event to launch the mentoring initiative.

Sep 19, 2019,  During her meeting with IMF team, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP apprised them about how the IMF’s Fund can help the ongoing efforts of the government of Pakistan to protect the most vulnerables. She informed the IMF team that the government has substantially increased the social protection spending under Ehsaas framework. ‘The Ehsaas’ poverty reduction strategy isarticulated in four pillars and it currently embodies 115 policy actions, which may be expanded as the process of consultations on the program, further widens. Thefour pillars include: addressing 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’, she added. IMF team appreciated the multisectoral approach of the government of Pakistan under Ehsaas.

Sep 16, 2019, The Ehsaas strategy has been released to the public for feedback today at pass.gov.pk. The strategy elaborates on the Prime Minister’s vision of a welfare state. This is a landmark document because of the quality, clarity and comprehensiveness of the Strategy presented. It is the first time in the history of the country that a strategy document of the government has been shared with government departments and the public at the same time.  “By putting the strategy out for public consultation, we are introducing a new culture of openness and transparency that will enable the government to work in collaboration with the best and brightest brains in the country” Sania Nishtar tweeted @SaniaNishtar while releasing the strategy, seeking inputs on feedback@pass.gov.pk. The Strategy document is on the website of the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division. According to the new strategy document, it “outlines the Government’s vision, which is the bedrock on which Ehsaas has been built; the Principles, which drive Ehsaas; the context in which it has been shaped; the Theory of Change, which underpins its conceptualization; and the four pillars under which its goals, pillars, objectives, policies, programs and initiatives are organized. The Strategy document also outlines details about the manner in which 21^st century tools and approaches are envisaged to build a welfare state.”

September 11, 2019, Chief Minister Punjab, Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired the Punjab Cabinet meeting today in Lahore. Dr. Sania Nishtar Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection was invited to brief the Punjab Cabinet about the Federal Government’s Ehsaas program. This is the third provincial briefing on Ehsaas, following briefings in Sindh and Balochistan in the last ten days. All Provincial Ministers of Punjab, the Advisors to the Chief Minister Punjab, the Chief Secretary Cabinet Punjab, the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Punjab, the Secretaries from the Government of Punjab Finance Department, Information and Culture and Law Department, Chairman Planning and Development Board Punjab, the Senior Member Board of Revenue Punjab and Inspector General of Punjab Police were also present at the occasion together with Federal Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division. Dr. Nishtar emphasized the commitment of the Prime Minister of Pakistan towards welfare of the disadvantaged, and reiterated that Ehsaas is one of the important vehicles through which this would be achieved. The Cabinet expressed keen interest to strengthen existing collaboration between Federal Ehsaas and Punjab.

Sep 9, 2019,  Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) thanked Dr Sania Nishtar today for her outstanding work in leading the WHO Independent High-level Global Commission on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs). The announcement came at the final meeting of the Commission held on 9 September 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Commission, is co-chaired by President Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay; President Sauli Niinistö of Finland; President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka; Minister Veronika Skvortsova of Russia and Dr. Sania Nishtar, federal minister, government of Pakistan. Prominent global health leaders are on the commission, which was established in October 2017. The commission’s aim was to identify innovative ways to curb the world’s biggest causes of death and extend life expectancy for millions of people.  “We need leaders to unite and take action to tackle the biggest killers of people. NCDs are the leading cause of medical impoverishment. They lead to catastrophic health expenditures and many who can’t afford forego healthcare” said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection. “Progress is possible and if we don’t take action we’re going to see already fragile health systems across the world collapse.”

Sep 4, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar was invited by Women Chamber of Commerce and Industries Peshawar and GIZ Pakistan to congratulate winners of ‘Champions of Change Awards’ for Women from KP. Speaking to awardees at the occasion, she reiterated that Government of Pakistan’s Ehsaas programme is centered on socio-economic empowerment of women. The first lady of Pakistan, Ms. Samina Alvi and Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting were also present at the occasion.

Sep 4, 2019, Weekly Ehsaas Implementation Committee meeting was held today with BISP, Pakistan Bait ul Mal, PPAF, Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Centre for Rural Economy. These meetings have now been institutionalized under Ehsaas guide safety net institutions engaged in execution of Ehsaas programme to work together in a well-coordinated way.

Sep 1-2, 2019, The Balochistan Cabinet was briefed today about the Ehsaas Program of the federal government. The Cabinet Meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Balochistan, Jam Kamal Khan. The briefing was given by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation who was on a two-day visit to Quetta to raise awareness about Ehsaas and forge partnership with the provincial government. The Cabinet took keen interest in Ehsaas programme and had several questions about the new national socio-economic registry survey which is underway to identify the poor. Dr. Nishtar briefed the Cabinet about Prime Minister’s priority programme ‘One Window Ehsaas’ and outlined many initiatives including Kifalat, Tahafuz, National Poverty Graduation Initiative, and online free resources that will be extended to provinces. She emphasized that the new programme will benefit all provinces. Earlier in the day, Dr. Nishtar met with CM Balochistan who briefed him about the innovations in PSDP process that Balochistan had spearheaded and the new instruments of social protection. Dr. Nishtar appreciated the initiative and vision of the CM. Both agreed to explore collaboration in the area of Balochistan’s Awami Endowment Fund and ‘Ehsaas Tahafuz’, as well as in the area of provincial finance commission which is Ehsaas policy area number 8 (PM’s Ehsaas Policy Statement dated March 27, 2019). Dr. Nishtar also called on Governor Balochistan, Amanullah Yaseenzai in Quetta on Sunday. She briefed the Governor about Ehsaas programme and its upcoming strategy. “The Ehsaas’ premise is primarily grounded in the importance of fostering federal provincial cooperation, strengthening institutions, transparency and good governance”, Dr. Nishtar added. Honorable Governor Balochistan, lauded the federal government’s efforts to benefit and uplift marginalized and deprived segments of the society through Ehsaas framework.

Sep 1, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar conducted stakeholder meeting with local dignitaries and civil society from Balochistan. Dr. Nishtar gave them a comprehensive presentation on Ehsaas framework that is whole of the government programme aimed to reduce inequality, invest in people, and lift lagging districts. The stakeholders from Balochistan were apprised that Ehsaas currently embodies 134 policy actions whose implementation is the responsibility of 34 federal ministries, divisions and agencies in close coordination with provincial governments. These policy actions may be expanded as the process of consultations on the program, further widens. Dr. Nishtar mainly talked about Prime Minister’s vision on which Ehsaas has been based. “The Government envisages Pakistan to be a ‘welfare state’ based on the principles of Islamic ideology similar to those put in place by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Madina. Our commitment is to form a welfare state where rule of law, meritocracy, transparency and accountability in governance are guaranteed, where equal opportunity exists for all and where social welfare is provided to all those who need it”, Dr. Nishtar added. Further, she said that Prime Minister of Pakistan in each of the cabinet meetings lays special emphasis on welfare of the marginalized and asks each of the cabinet members about measures that have been done by their Ministries for the welfare of people.

Sep 1, 2019, During her visit to Quetta, Dr. Sania Nishtar visited the regional office of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Quetta and district office in Pishin to oversee the provincial progress and operations of BISP in Balochistan. She also met with the beneficiaries and guided them about the revamped BISP process and reform to make transactions more transparent. She shared that her focus is to build a strong system and to have preventive measures in place so there are no loopholes for corruption and other wrongdoings across safety net programmes. She will be conducting more visits to Balochistan in future. “When we make policies sitting in offices, there is a chance that we’re not getting it right. It adds significance in the policy-making when you go in the field and meet people on your own”, she added.

Sep 1, 2019,  On Sunday evening in Quetta, Dr. Sania Nishtar together with Shaista Sohail, Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, paid a visit to Saylani Welfare International Trust in Quetta to explore options to collaborate under ‘Ehsaas’.’ Saylani Langar’ (soup kitchen) that runs thrice daily to feed thousands of poor and distressed is an exemplary engine. They have built transparent and accountable systems for scale. Ehsaas looks forward to exploring avenues of cooperation. Saylani Welfare Trust provides the charity services in areas including food, education, medical and social welfare free of cost to the marginalized people.

Aug 31, 2019, Addressing a session hosted by Governor Sindh and presided over by President Dr. Arif Alvi at the Governor House in Karachi, Dr. Nishtar apprised Sindh Cabinet members and parliamentarians about the government of Pakistan’s flagship programme ‘Ehsaas’. Nasir Ali Shah, Sindh Cabinet Minister, Mustafa Wahab, advisor to the PM, Waseem Akhtar, Mayor Karachi, and Naheed Shah, Chair of the Planning Development Department of Sindh were present at the meeting. She gave a detailed presentation on Ehsaas. Prominent members of the philanthropic community were also present. During her presentation, Dr. Nishtar elaborated on what Ehsaas can offer to Sindh, and how it can partner with Government and Non-governmental sector; she invited all public and private representatives from Sindh to work together with Ehsaas programme for the uplifting of people. She stressed that Ehsaas is a nation-wide program. It offers many things to the provinces—the Ehsaas one window programmes (Kifalat, Tahafuz, National Poverty Graduation Initiative, online free resources) will all be nation-wide. The New Socio Economic Survey currently being carried out of BISP is also country wide. And, the Solutions Innovation Challenge which Ehsaas will be launching for livelihood creation and social protection will also impact the entire country. Later in the Governor House, Dr. Nishtar held a detailed meeting with members of the press and responded to their questions about Ehsaas programme, clarifying the scale, breadth and diversity of Ehsaas.

Aug 31, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar together with Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, Shaista Sohail visited the Saylani Welfare International Trust, which is a Pakistani charity focusing on social welfare of the poor and distressed. Here, she spent a long time inspecting each of Saylani’s departments. She took keen interest in the food distribution system of Saylani Trust. “We will be discussing ways of opening ‘Joint Langars’, beginning in the city of Islamabad”, said Dr. Nishtar.  Saylani Welfare Trust endeavors to provide the quality services in areas including food, education, medical and social welfare free of cost to the marginalized people. With over 60 different sectors, they primarily feed thousands of hungry people each day, hundreds more are given the hope of life through medical health care, many are educated to become leaders of tomorrow and several are given the opportunity to stand on their feet financially. Their physical presence extends throughout Pakistan with a vast network of 125 branches operating in major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad and Faisalabad.

The third Ehsaas Communications Committee meeting took place today at PM Secretariat. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation chaired the meeting. During the course of meeting, the communications plan for the upcoming Ehsaas strategy was discussed in detail with Secretary PASSD, Secretary MOIB, Additional Secretary PASSD and communications and media representatives from various stakeholders including Press Information Department, Associated Press of Pakistan, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, PEMRA, PTV News, ATV, Provincial Social Welfare Department – KP, Provincial Social Welfare Department – Punjab, Benazir Income Support Programme, Pakistan Bait ul Mal and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund. Ehsaas Communications Committee is due to meet every Wednesday under the leadership of Dr. Nishtar.

Aug 22, 2019, In her capacity as a Co-chair of the WHO’s High-Level Commission (HCL) on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Dr. Sania Nishtar was invited to join the opening plenary of 19th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry in Lisbon, Portugal. The World Congress was convened between Aug 21-24, 2019 to discuss how psychiatry can impact some of the most important social challenges facing communities across the globe. Virtually addressing the amazing gathering of 4,000 psychiatric community and mental health experts from 119 countries across the globe, Dr. Nishtar said that WHO’s HCL on NCDs strongly believes that mental health and NCDs are inextricably linked. They share common determinants each of which predisposes and exacerbate one other. She continued, ‘It is a dilemma that people with severe mental illness die 10-20 years early because of NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and unmanaged cancer. This is mainly because of their vulnerability to higher NCD risks such as physical inactivity, smoking, unhealthy diet and harmful use of alcohol’. The full footage of Dr. Nishtar’s address can be accessed here

Aug 20, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Federal Minister and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, launched the first Women in Global Health (WGH) Chapter in South Asia in an inauguration ceremony at the federal capital. During the launch she stated that women are 70 percent of global health workforce. But they hold only 25 percent of senior and leadership roles. The percentage is even less in Pakistan and there is a recognized need for introducing gender sensitive workplace policies for attracting and retaining female health workforce in the labor market. Dr. Nishtar also revealed that government is introducing a number of initiatives under the Ehsaas that are aimed at promoting gender mainstreaming and empowering women.

Aug 17, 2019, In line with his vision of universal health coverage, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday launched Sehat Sahulat Programme for persons with disabilities and their families in Pakistan and said his government’s vision was based on the principles of lifting the conditions of the downtrodden and weaker segments of society. Special Assistant to the PM on Health, Dr. Zafar Mirza and Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar were also present at the launch ceremony. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sania Nishtar announced 5 of the priority goals of Ehsaas, which are part of the Ehsaas Strategy. These include: Safety net for at least 10 million families, Livelihood opportunities for 5 million individuals (50% women); financial access to healthcare through Insaf card for 10 million families; scholarships and education incentives for more than 5 million students (more than 50% girls); and through the Kifalat program, financial inclusion and access to mobile phones for 6 million women and 500 digital hubs for them to access internet. These goals will be explained in the Ehsaas strategy, which will be released soon. Dr. Sania also elaborated on the other disability related policies in the Ehsaas framework.

Aug 12, 2019, On Eid day, Dr Sania Nishtar visited the Government of Punjab’s Child Protection home in Rawalpindi and the Edhi home in Islamabad. During both visits she interacted with resident children and women and social welfare workers firsthand over several hours and was briefed about the activities of both welfare homes. Their heartbreaking stories provided rich insights for Ehsaas policy actions on social safety of vulnerables particularly women & children.

Aug 9, 2019, The first meeting of Ehsaas Communications Committee was held in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat to discuss the communications strategic planning process, identify communications needs and priorities for Ehsaas Program and define key respective areas of execution for different organizations involved in the implementation of Ehsaas Program under the umbrella of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD). Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation chaired the meeting. In its first meeting, participants discussed the key elements of the Ehsaas communications strategy that is in its final stages of being developed. “The core objective of the strategy is to apprise potential beneficiaries about ways of accessing benefits”, Dr. Nishtar emphasized.

Aug 4-5, 2019,  Dr. Nishtar joined Strategic Leadership Retreat for Ethiopian women Ministers as part of the expert adjunct faculty along with distinguished women leaders from around the world. Ethiopian President H.E. Sahle-Work Zewdie and first African woman president from Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf also joined the Leadership Retreat and motivated Women Ministers.The retreat was organized in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.The primary goal of the Leadership Retreat was to equip the new cohort of 10 Ethiopian women Ministers with tools to help them navigate effectively in a historically patriarchal political system, and to achieve their priority policy goals. The retreat was organized in three main parts: Legacy, Leadership and Delivery.Dr. Nishtar helped, led and informed discussions throughout the retreat. She mentored the Ethiopian Ministers along with other women leaders from around the world to map personal plans for their tenure in office.

Aug 1, 2019,  The Prime Minister’s Special Assistant( Federal Minister)  for Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation/Chairperson BISP,  Dr. Sania Nishtar held an intensive dialogue with youth from the newly merged districts of North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Khyber to discuss development issues and poverty alleviation,  and youth’s participation in these efforts , at the Human Resource Center of Sarhad Rural Support Programme at Peshawar.Dr. Nishtar said that Ehsaas would like to learn from the grass root experience of the youth for poverty alleviation.

July 30, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar was a keynote speaker at the 5th CPA Pakistan 2019 Asia Regional Conference held in Islamabad. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Nishtar stated that Ehsaas is biggest pro-poor & whole-of-government multisectoral program, not only for poor but for poverty-stricken areas as well. The conference was attended by Speaker of Ugandan Parliament and incumbent President, Member of British Parliament Lord Purvis of Tweed Jeremy Purvis, Member Malaysian Parliament Dr. Noraini Binti Ahmad, Chairperson CPA Executive Committee Emilia Lifaka, Secretary General CPA Akbar Khan, Speaker Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly Fida Muhammad Nashad, Speaker Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly Shah Ghulam Qadir and other national and international personalities of prominence, members of parliament and observers.

July 29, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, was a keynote speaker at the inaugural session of the 4-day training program, ‘accelerating progress towards health related SDGs in Pakistan under the 2030 Agenda’, organized by WHO in collaboration with Imperial College London and Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Pakistan. Dr. Nausheen Hamid, Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Dr. Shabnam Sarfraz, Member- Social Sector and Devolution were also present at the occasion along with WHO representatives. In her keynote address, Dr. Nishtar stated that Ehsaas is the most widely ranging, multisectoral -the whole of government program with multiple end points centered at equality and equity. It has four pillars and currently embodies 115 policy actions. Under the Ehsaas framework, multisectoral collaboration is a policy priority which is one of the unique illustrations of how multisectoral objectives can holistically drive the program towards equality.

July 25, 2019, Under the framework of the Ehsaas, the Labour Expert Group was constituted in May 2019 to develop recommendations to bring informal workers in social safety nets. Since its constitution, the group has met eight times and has put together an unprecedented effort. At the recent meeting, the phase of presentations by experts of Labour Expert Group has been concluded. At the conclusion, Dr. Sania Nisht constituted a writing committee to furnish a report on urgent basis so that practical steps can be taken to commence registration of informal workers.

July 24, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar chaired a research meeting at the Marriott today where findings of research conducted by Oxford Policy Management Group (OPM) were presented. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sani Nishtar said that “BISP was undergoing a multi-pronged process of reform and that the process was heavily being guided by evidence. She said that the reforms embodied creation of a new payment system, a new national census level Socio-Economic Survey, a new communications strategy and new program windows, especially configuring BISP’s operations around Kifalat and Tahafuz”.

July 23, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar today chaired the first meeting of the Ehsaas Implementation Group. Representatives from all ancillary organizations of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) agreed a future road map with a special focus ongovernance and cross-organizational collaboration. Dr. Nishtar stressed the importance of efficiency, stating that “To avoid duplication among the implementing organizations, an online portal would be set up to provide one comprehensiveplatform of all social safety and poverty alleviation interventions being carried out under Ehsaas.”BISP is being mandated to run cash transfers, Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal’s role is to be responsible for demand side social protection whereas the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation has the responsibility for poverty graduation.

July 19, 2019, As the present government’s fight against poverty picks pace, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation had detailed deliberations with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund’s senior team at the latter’s offices to discuss its plan of action in reducing poverty under the Government of Pakistan’s flagship Ehsaas Programme. The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) is the lead implementing agency for the government’s National Poverty Graduation Initiative – NPGI, launched two weeks earlier by the Prime Minister, under “Ehsaas Programme; and NPGI is an important component of Pillar II of Ehsaas. The programme aims to provide the vulnerable segments of society livelihoods and social protection.

July 17, 2019,  At a meeting with a high-powered delegation of the U.S.-Pakistan Business Council, Dr. Sania Nishtar today briefed delegates on the importance of public-private partnerships in the Ehsaas Program. Dr Mehmood Khan, Chairman of the Council, led the delegation of over a dozen leading businesspeople.

July 17, 2019, Today, Gilead Sciences announced that it had partnered with 12 companies in Pakistan as part of the Corporate Coalition for Viral Hepatitis Elimination in Pakistan (CCVHEP). The announcement was made at a press conference attended by Dr. Sania Nishtar and senior officials from the Ministry of National Health Services. The coalition is led by a partnership between Gilead Sciences and Pakistani partner Ferozsons, with the founding members.In her keynote address, Dr. Nishtar stated that within the government system, Ehsaas is Prime Minister’s flagship program on social protection and poverty alleviation. This is first whole of government program in which implementation of 115 policy actions will be the responsibility of 28 federal ministries, agencies and divisions.

July 14, 2019, The Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) of the Ehsaas Program has today adopted a comprehensive set of policy parameters aimed at ensuring that money reaches those in need by promoting transparency and accountability across all its projects. Commenting on the announcement, Dr Sania Nishtar said, “The primary goal of the new set of policies is to limit opportunities for corruption, while promoting efficiency, transparency and accountability for results.” It has been made mandatory for all ancillary organizations of PASSD to convene board meetings and board committee meetings regularly. Read More:

July 11, 2019, On a visit to Pakistan, President of the World Economic Forum (WEF) BørgeBrende said that Pakistan overcame problems of power blackouts and security, and should now focus on skill acceleration, required to cater to the needs of young people, who make up 60 percent of the population. Dr. Sania Nishtar was a keynote speaker at the meeting and praised the role that WEF was playing to connect thought leaders in Pakistan. She appreciated Mr. Brende for visiting Pakistan at a very opportune time when Pakistan is moving forward with transformative development agenda as the Prime Minister’s top priority. She elaborated on Ehsaas, as one such transformative agenda.