Governance of population agenda in Pakistan

As I begin my third year of a rewarding assignment as UNFPA Representative in Pakistan, I would like to acknowledge the warm welcome and trust I received by the government of Pakistan, political leaders, donors, partners, and members of the intellectual community.

I am grateful for the opportunity to understand, engage with, and serve the people, especially women and girls, of this country which holds a special place in my heart. I also appreciate the chance to share my professional insights on various platforms.

My UNFPA team and I have put our hearts and souls into contributing to positive change in the lives of Pakistanis, especially women and girls. Over the past two years, I have experienced many uplifting moments alongside a few disappointments, yet my hope for Pakistan's future remains unwavering.

Overall, the support of the development and humanitarian community is unparalleled yet incomparable with the immense needs of people of a country classified as facing 'serious' level of food insecurity, as indicated by the Global Hunger Index 2024, where Pakistan ranked 109th out of 127 countries

Here, I would like to share an observation regarding the slow pace of positive change in Pakistan, despite its wealth of adept senior civil servants, a robust pool of intellectuals, and sufficient resources to drive faster progress.

One major hurdle to progress is the lack of accountability to the affected people (AAP). This deficiency not only hinders progress but also weakens public trust in the institutions and the population agenda. This overarching challenge manifests in many ways, contributing to governance issues. For example, many initiatives fail shortly after their launch, due to inadequate follow-up.

Furthermore, there is a tendency to overemphasise coordination at the expense of tangible results. As a result, structures become cumbersome; convening meetings often becomes an end, rather than a tool to accelerate the processes necessary to achieving the results.

Population and family planning programmes have been in place in Pakistan since the 1960s, supported by a comprehensive national and provincial public sector institutional framework, yet enforcement has been lacking. Considerable efforts go into developing plans, but insufficient attention is paid to performance and results. Consequently, it is entirely legitimate to question the effectiveness of many existing structures.

The narrative of public service that mobilises efforts to serve affected people offers significant potential for development in Pakistan. As progress lags, public debates often devolve into a blame game particularly in the absence of robust, credible and timely data to explain what went wrong. Without data-driven insights, initiatives remain unfocused, leaving the most vulnerable segments of society further behind.

This fault-finding is counter-productive, it seeks to identify the offender who failed the system rather than addressing the underlying issues. Tragically, the easiest targets for criticism are often the victims themselves. The direct consequences of the blame culture prevent learning, stifle critical thinking, and diminish the desire to understand the overall system.

Indirectly, it creates an environment where mistakes are concealed, concerns go unvoiced, scapegoating occurs, and responsibility is denied. This ultimately lowers productivity and effectiveness, as individuals focus on protecting themselves rather than achieving the key performance indicators that reflect people's quality of life. To cultivate a culture of learning and accountability, we must create an environment that encourages the sharing of mistakes and a collective effort to identify and solve systematic issues.

Accountability arises from a clear concept that enhances ownership while setting aside emotions and ideology, thereby opening the horizon for conversations and debates that critically assess both systems and individuals. Robust accountability mechanisms are crucial to ensuring that the most vulnerable populations benefit from family planning programmes.

In this context, accountability in Pakistan could be a game-changer, uniting political parties, governments, and the opposition around the shared mission of improving the lives of Pakistanis and creating a prosperous future for the country.

UNFPA supported the establishment of some accountability forums such as the Parliamentary Forum, which includes parliamentarians from all major political parties, as well as coalitions of civil society organisations and media. These forums serve as watchdogs, to honour national and global commitments related to family planning and population issues.

Global experience indicates that economic and social progress cannot be achieved solely through mega initiatives that mobilise funds and partnerships. Instead, countries must ensure integrated and coordinated policies, efficient institutions for implementation, and a disciplined follow-up system to monitor the progress.

Regional experience, such as Malaysia, demonstrates that enhancing the accountability of government-linked companies can create sustainable competitive advantage and drive value creation - an approach that holds promise for family planning commodities and manufacturing in Pakistan. Best practices suggest that social and economic development policies should be responsive to anticipated shocks, recognising that improving services hinges on maximising productivity through competitiveness, which inherently calls for a leading role of the private sector.

The culture of public service in Pakistan needs to be revisited to align entitlements with the duty of providing quality service to the public. Public-private sector initiatives have the potential to address needs and gaps by adopting global and regional best practices in the field.

Another area that might transform Pakistan's challenge of population burden into an opportunity is to make a breakthrough in incubating technology and AI business by fostering innovation in medical and biological technology.

The private sector can play a key role. This solution could attract partners motivated by interests beyond political or solidarity ties, including those from Arab Gulf states. This presents an opportunity for Pakistan's leaders and intellectuals to enhance the culture of accountability and competitiveness within the public machinery. By doing so, they can achieve a real breakthrough in the quality of services and commodities related to population policies and productivity, ultimately reaching the planned targets.

My two years in Pakistan constituted a very rich and rewarding experience, both personally and professionally. This experience has taught me that leadership, good governance, and accountability for the population agenda are essential for translating good ideas into positive change in Pakistan. Only through collective efforts, driven by accountability and innovative thinking, Pakistan can make meaningful strides in improving the lives of its citizens and achieving its development goals.