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Covid exposes weaknesses in social protection system

Expert calls for extending social protection to informal workers

APP October 13, 2021

Home workers enjoy less social protection, face greater health and safety risks and have less access to training, which can affect career prospects, said the report. PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD:

Experts have agreed that the alignment of federal and provincial social protection schemes is needed to create an optimal shock-responsive social protection system.

Speaking at a consultative session titled “Aggregating the Evidence: Shock-responsive Social Protection Delivery Mechanism in Pakistan” on Tuesday, they underlined the need for enhancing innovation in delivery and paying attention to evidence gaps.

Akhuwat Founder Dr Amjad Saqib highlighted the need to view poverty through a multidimensional lens, especially in the context of shocks similar to Covid-19.

He called for deepening synergy between the public and private sectors to address poverty through reliable and innovative solutions.

Speaking on the occasion, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said that consolidation of social safety nets by the government was a step in the right direction.

“It helped in avoiding the overlapping and duplication of institutions, programmes and benefits,” he said.

Ehsaas Labour Expert Group member Dr Aliya Hashmi Khan emphasised that social protection should be extended to informal workers and shared the vision of establishing a live registry in this regard.

She called upon the federal and provincial departments to collaborate for the registration of informal workers and to link them with the contributory social insurance.

Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) Group Head Samia Liaquat Ali highlighted the need for a digital literacy and gender-sensitive approach for the rollout of new social protection programmes.

Punjab Social Protection Authority Chief Executive Officer Beenish Fatimah Sahi pointed out that Covid-19 exposed the weaknesses of Pakistan’s social protection system.

“We need to come up with cutting-edge, shock-responsive strategies to help the vulnerable population,” she added.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Social Protection Reforms Unit official Musharraf Khan said that well-articulated provincial policies and strategies could play an important role in addressing a crisis such as Covid-19 by devising inclusive interventions for all vulnerable segments of the population.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Senior Social Development Adviser Mazhar Siraj called for stepping up efforts to strengthen the regular social protection programmes, citing that they could be adjusted during the shock.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2021.

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