BISP serves nine million households: Shazia Marri

BISP serves nine million households: Shazia Marri

BERLIN, Jun 16 (DNA): Federal Minister and Chairperson Benazir Income
Support Programme (BISP) Ms. Shazia Marri has said that a cash
assistance initiative of BISP provided financial assistance to nine
million women heads of households under Benazir Kafaalat.

In addition to Benazir Kafaalat, under Benazir Nashunama, 710 thousand
lactating mothers and their children under two years of age are being
supplied with food supplements to overcome malnutrition among them, she
told.

During a panel discussion at the closing session of the “Global Forum on
Adaptive Social Protection: Protecting lives and livelihoods in times of
crisis” in Berlin, Germany on Friday, the Chairperson BISP said that
since its inception in 2008, the Programme had greatly contributed
towards uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the improvised and
economically marginalized segments of the society, particularly the
women.

The BISP is an ideal model of social protection that could be emulated
in other parts of the world as well, mainly in the developing nations,
she expressed.

Shazia Marri expressed gratitude to the German Government, specifically
Minister Schulz, and other partners, including the World Bank and German
Development Partner GIZ, for hosting an event on such an important
subject.

She acknowledged Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate hazards, citing the
examples of last year’s devastating floods and the ongoing threat of a
cyclone BIPARJOY targeting Pakistan and neighboring India.

The closing session was moderated by Ms. Conny Czymoch, an Independent
International Moderator and journalist. Other speakers, inter alia,
included Ms. Svenja Schulze Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation
and Development, BMZ; Ms. Esther Schüring, Social Protection Advisor,
GIZ; Mr. Colin Andrews, Program Manager, World Bank; Mr. El Hadji
Ndiogou Diouf.

In her talk, Shazia Marri shed light on the climate vulnerability faced
by Pakistan.

She said, the country has experienced devastating floods in the past,
including in 2010, 2011, 2022, and most recently last year, adding that
approximately 33 million people were displaced, with 6000 pregnant women
directly affected due to flood 2022. However, our coalition government,
through the BISP, disbursed a cash assistance of over Rs 70 billion
among 2.8 million families affected by these floods, she expressed.

Highlighting the significance of coordination, Shazia Marri emphasized
that BISP was working closely with provincial setups on social safety
initiatives to maximize the benefits extended to the marginalised and
poorest segments of society.

She expressed her government’s willingness to share experiences with the
representatives of the 58 countries present at the forum, showcasing the
country’s commitment to global collaboration for social protection.

Shazia Marri apprised the audience on National Socio-Economic Registry
(NSER), a comprehensive database of over 35 million households.

The NSER enables BISP to gather essential data and add layers of
information to expand the beneficiaries’ net and ensure efficient
adoptive social protection potential beneficiaries, she told and added
that adaptive social protection was the way forward to deal with all
sorts of shocks.

Shazia Marri concluded the discussion with a gesture of gratitude to the
hosts for offering an opportunity to share Pakistan’s experiences and
achievements at the Global Forum.

She reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis
and advocated for international collaboration to protect vulnerable
nations from potential damages of climate change.

Secretary BISP Amer Ali Ahmad and DG Naveed Akbar also attended the
conference on the invitation of the German organization.