Securing workforce: Address stunting in children immediately, says WB president
Says Pakistan may lose half of its workforce in 15 years otherwise
PHOTO: APP
KARACHI:
Pakistan should address the high prevalence of stunting among its children on a priority basis, said World Bank (WB) President Dr Jim Yong Kim on Wednesday.
Pakistan has one of the highest prevalence of stunting in the world: as many as 45% of its kids under the age of five face stunted growth, according to WB data.
Speaking at the Institute of Business Administration, Dr Kim said Pakistan must focus on inequality starting with pregnant women. “(It should) then focus on building the kind of industries that would create jobs for the youth,” he said.
If the problem of stunting is not tackled immediately, he said, almost half of the workforce may not be able to participate in the digital economy in about 15 years. Nutritional stunting means short height for an age or a reduced growth rate in human development.
Avoiding any controversial topic, Dr Kim repeatedly said WB is not an ideological institution. “We are extremely careful about not being ideological.”
However, he noted that in addition to providing financing to middle-income and poor countries, WB also provides ‘evidence’ from around the world about what has worked, and what has not, in lifting people out of extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.
He said WB maps out the kinds of growth strategies that lead to greater equality and ones that worsen equality. “We are in Pakistan and other countries not to tell people what to do. What we do is provide evidence and experience.”
Dr Kim said Pakistan should adopt an economic model that can create more and more jobs. “Manufacturing creates millions of jobs. Inequality grew in China, but the rate of growth was so high - and the model of economic growth was very much job-rich - that it lifted 600 million people out of extreme poverty,” he said.
He implied that he was against taxing the rich heavily to counter rising inequality. “That’s been tried in certain countries… (Rich people’s) ability to move capital around the world is just stunning.”
Responding to a question, Dr Kim said WB extends loans that are sometimes at zero per cent interest rate with a 40-year maturity to help poor countries meet their capital needs.
WB utilises its ‘very strong rating’ to acquire credit and then provide capital to countries that would otherwise not have access to it, he said.
“Some people have asked why we don’t give grants. If we were just giving grants, we would be out of business probably 50 years ago,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2016.
Pakistan should address the high prevalence of stunting among its children on a priority basis, said World Bank (WB) President Dr Jim Yong Kim on Wednesday.
Pakistan has one of the highest prevalence of stunting in the world: as many as 45% of its kids under the age of five face stunted growth, according to WB data.
Speaking at the Institute of Business Administration, Dr Kim said Pakistan must focus on inequality starting with pregnant women. “(It should) then focus on building the kind of industries that would create jobs for the youth,” he said.
If the problem of stunting is not tackled immediately, he said, almost half of the workforce may not be able to participate in the digital economy in about 15 years. Nutritional stunting means short height for an age or a reduced growth rate in human development.
Avoiding any controversial topic, Dr Kim repeatedly said WB is not an ideological institution. “We are extremely careful about not being ideological.”
However, he noted that in addition to providing financing to middle-income and poor countries, WB also provides ‘evidence’ from around the world about what has worked, and what has not, in lifting people out of extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.
He said WB maps out the kinds of growth strategies that lead to greater equality and ones that worsen equality. “We are in Pakistan and other countries not to tell people what to do. What we do is provide evidence and experience.”
Dr Kim said Pakistan should adopt an economic model that can create more and more jobs. “Manufacturing creates millions of jobs. Inequality grew in China, but the rate of growth was so high - and the model of economic growth was very much job-rich - that it lifted 600 million people out of extreme poverty,” he said.
He implied that he was against taxing the rich heavily to counter rising inequality. “That’s been tried in certain countries… (Rich people’s) ability to move capital around the world is just stunning.”
Responding to a question, Dr Kim said WB extends loans that are sometimes at zero per cent interest rate with a 40-year maturity to help poor countries meet their capital needs.
WB utilises its ‘very strong rating’ to acquire credit and then provide capital to countries that would otherwise not have access to it, he said.
“Some people have asked why we don’t give grants. If we were just giving grants, we would be out of business probably 50 years ago,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2016.