ISLAMABAD: The federal and provincial governments in Pakistan have designed and launched various programs in response to a variety of emergencies, however, no policy or framework has been developed to support adaptive social protection (ASP), says the World Bank.

The bank in its report “Responsive by Design: Building Adaptive Social Protection Systems in South Asia”, stated in Pakistan, there are no formal emergency finance mobilisation mechanisms to facilitate ASP.

A formal emergency finance mobilization strategy should be developed within the overall DRF strategy framework, which clearly delineates budgetary instruments, and access to emergency funds at both the provincial and federal levels (the Ehsaas Program). Moreover, while programs, such as the Benazir Income Support Program, have been able to mobilize funds quickly in the aftermath of crisis, there are no formal mechanisms for the mobilization of emergency funds. In ex-post-emergency response, social protection programs have relied primarily on the reallocation of funds rather than funds earmarked for emergency situations.

Pakistan has emerging programs and delivery systems. Several emergency response social protection approaches have been adopted over the years to respond to various shocks, however, payment systems are emerging, given that most payments are digitally executed, but there are short delays in expanding coverage and benefit amounts.

Data and information systems are rated emerging and have room for growth in terms of the functionality, vulnerability, and risk assessment of early warning systems and the more frequent updating of the social registry. The financing aspect is nascent given the absence of formal mechanisms for the mobilization of emergency funds. Ex-post emergency response social protection programs have relied primarily on a reallocation of funds rather than the earmarking of funds specifically for emergencies, it added.

Institutions and partnerships need to be improved mainly because of the outdated response plans and the inadequacy of contingency plans. Ad hoc links and weak coordination across social protection agencies and disaster risk management (DRM) counterparts have also been highlighted by the stress test.

In Pakistan, existing data-sharing platforms and protocols could be improved to enhance the synergies among provincial and federal initiatives and avoid the duplication of efforts.

Following floods in 2010, the federal government developed a national Federal Disaster Response Action Plan in consultation with provincial authorities to outline how cash transfers could be applied to prepare for, mitigate, and respond in the aftermath of disasters. However, the plan has still not been operationalised or supported by legislation, and major gaps in institutional capacity persist.

Although participation in the social protection sector is still undertaken in an ad hoc manner, the government makes regular use of social protection programs and systems, such as the Ehsaas Kafaalat unconditional cash pillar of the Ehsaas Program.

The formalization of social protection’s role in DRM is only nascent in these countries, except in Bangladesh, in which, however, the main social protection ministries are excluded from the disaster response coordination committees. In the case of India and Pakistan, de facto functional linkages exist, are continuously used, leverage existing policies, and piggyback delivery systems (for example, the use of direct benefit transfer system in India or the national socio-economic registry in Pakistan). In both cases, the cumulative set of experiences can become an enabling factor in formalization.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Pakistan was able to reallocate approximately Rs 203 billion (US$1.23 billion) to support the provision of much-needed social support. However, while funds for programs, such as the Benazir Income Support Program, have been mobilized quickly in the aftermath of crisis, there are no formal mechanisms for the mobilization of emergency funds. Ex-post emergency response social protection programs have relied primarily on reallocations of funds rather than separate funds set aside for emergencies.

The social protection scheme in Pakistan has an embedded nonparametric scale-up mechanism, and this could be augmented by the introduction of a trigger that can activate and disburse funds shortly after the onset of a disaster. The experience of the Ehsaas COVID-19 Emergency Cash pillar of the Ehsaas Program and international best practice in designing and scaling up pre-established shock-responsive social protection schemes can be fruitful. To respond to the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak, the government of Pakistan allocated PRs 203 billion ($1.23 billion) through the Ehsaas Program to deliver emergency cash assistance to 16.9 million families (over 100 million people) at risk of extreme poverty, representing the most extensive social protection intervention in the history of the country. This exercise demonstrates the power of scaling-up social protection following disasters and shocks.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023