Social protection policy planned

The Planning Commission is working on a 'social protection' policy, which will be presented to the social sector co-ordination committee of the cabinet for approval in the first quarter of 2006.
Planning Commission deputy chairman Dr M. Akram Sheikh said work is underway on the policy and once it is vetted by the cabinet, the government will hold workshops in all the four provinces for further consultation and feedback on it.
The Planning Commission is the right forum for formulation of a comprehensive policy, which could offer means of strengthening poor people's ability to mitigate and manage risk and vulnerability.
According to experts, the social protection means provision of support to individuals and households through public and collective measures to guarantee a socially acceptable standard of living and to protect them against low or declining living standards caused by exposure to vulnerabilities, market-related or contingent risks. It would in turn have a positive impact on underlying poverty and inequality.
During the final and second day of the workshop on "Developing a Social Protection Strategy for Pakistan", organised by the Planning Commission in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and Department for International Development (DFID) here on Tuesday, experts feared if scaling up (involving more people) and deepening services (products) were not improved, the micro-finance scheme of the government will not be able to make a major contribution to poverty alleviation.
Representatives of the ADB, WB, DFID and other donor agencies stressed on proper implementation and co-ordination among relevant ministries to achieve goals of the policy.
Pervez Tahir, chief economist of the Planning Commission, said social protection policy is as important as the national security of the country and added its formulation and just implementation will support the poor and vulnerable population of the country at large. The work of Citizen Community Boards (CCBs) at local level was appreciated.