The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in collaboration with Planning Commission and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched awareness raising projecting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and findings of the study, "Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), conducted by the Planning Commission of Pakistan recently.
The event was inaugurated by Zafar Ali Shah, Secretary Planning and Development Department, Government of KP while Arif Yousaf, Convener Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs concluded the workshop. A large number of participants presenting government line agencies, UN agencies, civil society and NGOs were present on the occasion.
Ashraf Khan, a consultant on policy subject from the Institute of Management Sciences while explaining the purpose of workshop said that the relevant stakeholders across the province would be briefed on SDGs and discussed its implementation framework. The workshop will also sensitise key government and non-government stakeholders on the use of MPI for policy and resource allocation discussion. He said that similar events will be arranged at the divisional level for this purpose. It is pertinent to mention that IMSciences is providing facilitation services in organising and conducting these workshops.
Secretary Planning after his opening speech made a detailed presentation on SDGs. He said that Pakistan is one of the 193 member states of the United Nations which have signed the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) agenda. The National Assembly of Pakistan has also adapted these goals as Pakistan Sustainable Development Goals. By 2030, these 17 goals aim to end poverty, hunger and inequality, take action on climate change and the environment, improve access to health and education and build strong institutions and partnerships.
To establish solid baselines for tracking progress towards these new global goals for poverty alleviation and sustainable development the Ministry of Planning, Development & Reform has prepared Pakistan's first national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
He also raised his apprehension that a number of challenges and resource constraints could be emerged while fulfilling these goals but through effective partnership with the international development partners and UN Agencies these challenges would be overcome.
Secretary Planning and Development appreciated the initiative of Planning Commission in commissioning the study on MPI and sharing the results with the stakeholders. He said that the statistical information and results will be used as baselines for social sector planning and execution of interventions.
Zafar Hassan, Chief Poverty Section, Planning Commission made a presentation on MPI. He shared major findings of the study relevant with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He highlighted that income-based poverty has fallen sharply in Pakistan with the percentage living below the national poverty line decreasing from 64% in 2001/02 to 30% in 2013/14. However, similar progress has not been evident across social indicators such as access to education and health facilities. Although Pakistan's economic indicators are comparable to lower middle-income economies, the social indicators are comparable to those of least developed countries.
A unidimensional measure of poverty through income or consumption cannot measure multiple aspects of poverty. As a result, the Planning Commission of Pakistan has adopted Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) as a second official measure to complement the existing income-based measures.
Giving the information about KP he said that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) poverty has been decreasing. However, nearly half of the population in the province still experience multidimensional poverty. KP ranks second, after Balochistan with the highest proportion of multi-dimensionally poor population. On a positive note, its pace of decreasing poverty is second only to Punjab.