It is Pakistans unique demographics and the youth bulge that give the country an edge over various others, or so we are told. The demographic dividend is an oft-used term by policymakers and governments, when Pakistans economic development potential is talked about. Yes, Pakistan has a huge chunk of population that falls in the youth category 29 percent to be preside as estimated by a latest report titled Youth Development Index 2016.
Unfortunately, apart from scoring high on the sheer number of youth in Pakistan, there is nothing else to cheer about. As has been the case with dozens of other such reports that measure development, Pakistan continues to be grouped in the unwanted company of the likes of Chad, Haiti, Angola and others.
A little word on what the Youth Development Index (YDI) is all about would do well. The YDI measures five distinct key domains of youth development, namely: Education, Health and Well-being, Employment and Opportunity, Political Participation, and Civic Participation. The scoring system ranges from 0 to 1, on similar lines used by the more famous the UNs Human Development Index.
Pakistans score is 0.471, down from 0.571 in 2010. If you are one for rankings, Pakistan ranks a familiar 154 amongst 183 countries. Pakistan is categorized in the lowest category of bad YDI, moving down from medium YTI category in 2010. Pakistan, is in fact one of only three countries to have faced deterioration in the score the other two being Angola and Haiti.
Pakistan also has the unwanted distinction of being the only non-African Commonwealth nation in the bottom ten, and the country that saw the largest deterioration of 18 percent over its previous score. The world, in general, has certainly moved in the other direction all this while, which, should at least be alarming for those at the helm of affair in Pakistan.
Inequalities have been pin pointed as one of the key contributing actors towards Pakistans troubled index standing. So while Pakistan readies itself for the game-changing CPEC, and to become the 16th largest economy of the world, and to be the growth engine for regional growth the state of youth affairs warrants some serious attention.
Granted that youth development per se now falls under the provincial domain, but it does not lessen the responsibility of those who matter. Todays world is all about competitiveness and with the largest segment of population barely competing with the likes of Angola and Chad, the future does not sound too promising from these lenses. You can have all the natural resources and roads and bridges you like, if the youth stays deprived and uncompetitive as it is, the demographic dividend will remain elusive.
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