The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) published an important report this week. It is one that ranks Pakistan as one of least big spenders when it comes to social protection, education and healthcare.
Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific: Poorly Protected places this country in the South and South-West Asia (SSWA) bracket that includes India, Afghanistan and Iran. The (relatively) good news in that during the 1990-2013 period, Pakistan lifted some 49 million people out of poverty. Naturally, much more needs to be done. As a low-income income country, the largest deprivation is defined as lack of access to bank accounts; out of reach for 73 percent of households. In neighbouring India, by contrast, it is secondary education. Pakistan’s largest group of poor comprises rural, uneducated parents without full-time jobs; accounting for 36 percent of the total poor population. Within this category: 98 percent have children; just 4 percent have any kind of secondary education under their belt; zero percent have gone on to tertiary education; 76 percent have no full-time employment; and 9 percent are from religious minority backgrounds. Almost all who fall within this group live in rural areas and are married. Unsurprisingly, there is a gender imbalance: with more women (57 percent) than men (43 percent) making up the total.
Closing income gaps is imperative; particularly for the bottom 40 percent. In fact, levelling this requires targeted substantial income growth for the latter. Yet as things currently stand, ESCAP estimates (if growth rates remain constant) that it would take Pakistan more than 150 years to overcome this differential. Thereby underscoring the urgency of the current situation. By 2030, this country is expected to see an additional one million people living below $5.50 per day. This cannot go on. For social protection is one of the major driving engines of economic growth in terms of GDP per capita. And, of course, being free from poverty is, of course, a fundamental human right.
Thus the findings and recommendations of the ESCAP report offer a timely blueprint of sorts for the next five years and beyond; to the 2030 deadline for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And this is what the PTI government ought to be focusing on. The 100-day-record is all well and good when it comes to demonstrating ongoing intent. But as we, here at this newspaper, have previously argued — it allows the both opposition and the Centre to squander precious time on the blame-game.
What is required now are facts and figures. And how a potential IMF loan, say, will redirect funds towards social protection when the country is already suffering severe cuts to development budgets across the board as a means of stalling the balance of payments crisis. The same holds true on the Saudi and Chinese bailout fronts. Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly contended that CPEC will contribute massively to socio-economic development. And while this is undoubtedly true — exclusive focus on infrastructure and trade routes at this critical juncture will be a disastrous misstep. For the latter must go hand-in-hand with social protection if there is to be any hope of a meaningful trickle-down effect.
In short, nothing less than a comprehensive plan for the next five years will do. For the IMF and FATF are not only interested in Pakistan’s commitment to confronting terrorism and money-laundering. The PTI must be able to provide assurances that strengthening the social safety net for all is the unequivocal priority. After all, that is the mandate on which it was elected.
No comments:
Post a Comment