PM Imran to launch Data4Pakistan portal today

Portal will provide access to statistics on poverty for each province and districts

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will launch a district development portal, titled Data4Pakistan on Tuesday under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government's Ehsaas programme.

Claimed to be a first of its kind initiative in the country, the portal will provide the public open access to estimates regarding poverty for every district in Pakistan, along with over 120 development and policy indicators. It currently has six rounds of district poverty and development data, covering the period 2004-2018.

Developed in collaboration with the World Bank, the Data4Pakistan portal will be accessible under the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division on the Ehsaas programme's website. The portal is claimed to be a valuable resource facilitating the decision making of federal, provincial and district level policymakers.

The portal would allow access to interactive maps which would help users visualise and compare districts' poverty and two additional indicators. The user can also select a subset of provinces or districts to focus on through a simple drop-down list. Customised maps built by a user can also be downloaded and printed.

The data provided in the portal has been produced by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, as part of its Social and Living Standards Measurement Surveys as well as the Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys produced by the provincial bureaus of statistics.

The indicators currently available in the portal range from demography, health, education and employment. It also includes data on key services like water, sanitation, electricity and gas, while also providing a number of gender parity indices regarding districts.

Users can access information about the indicators included in the portal as well as other background material and reports under the ‘Additional Resources’ tab on the website. The government claims it will frequently update the website by adding new material, data and indicators.