First-ever evaluation report of BISP's impact launched

Welfare of the citizens is the responsibility of the state. The Constitution of Pakistan under Article 38 ensures the promotion of social and economic well being of all the citizens of Pakistan and, in this regard, the BISP is playing a key role for the welfare of the poorest and most vulnerable in the country.
This was stated by President Mamnoon Hussain during the launching ceremony of "First Ever Evaluation Report of BISP's Impact" organised at the BISP Secretariat here on Thursday. Evaluation Report of the BISP's Impact focuses on the objective of evaluating whether the BISP has achieved its objective of providing direct support to the poorest families by supplementing their incomes and also its impacts on key intended areas including consumption smoothening and poverty alleviation.
The Evaluation Report of BISP's Impact will guide policy makers, stakeholders, international communities and donors, on the scope, efficiency and effectiveness of the BISP as an anti-poverty instrument. In this regard, the BISP has initiated a series of impact evaluation studies through Oxford Policy Management (OPM), which is a globally renowned research organisation.
In her welcome remarks, Minister of State and Chairperson BISP, MNA Marvi Memon thanked the honourable President for gracing the occasion when the BISP is going public with its First Impact Assessment.While highlighting the key findings of the report, the chairperson BISP said that 64% beneficiaries had control over the BISP's stipend which meant empowerment of women and more expenditure on children's nutrition needs.
She apprised of other findings related to health of beneficiaries, grievance redressal system, impact on child labour, travelling by beneficiaries for receiving payments and children education. In his opening remarks, President Mamnoon Hussain commended the efforts of the BISP management and said that the team of BISP, under the leadership of Minister of State and Chairperson BISP, MNA Marvi Memon, is working diligently. Making the impact evaluation report public is a giant leap in this direction, he said. He said that there is nothing more satisfying and rewarding than knowing the fact that our meagre efforts are bringing change in the lives of millions of families around Pakistan.
The President said that with the right approach, increased budget and implementation of focused policies by the PML-N government, the BISP has truly become a pride of Pakistan as it is the largest social safety net initiative in South Asia and one of the largest around the world. The PML-N government has made significant investment in BISP Waseela-e-Taleem Program which is being run in 32 districts of the country and more than 700 thousand children have already been admitted to schools under this initiative. In the beginning of the event, Secretary BISP, Muhammad Saleem Ahmed Ranjha, said that evaluation of any programme is crucial for its transparency and accountability.