Resource information
The vision of Pakistan's social
protection strategy to reach the poor and vulnerable (2007)
is 'to develop an integrated and comprehensive social
protection system, covering all the population, but
especially the poorest and the most vulnerable'.
Consistent with this vision, the goals of the strategy are
identified as: 1) to support chronically poor households and
protect them against destitution, food insecurity,
exploitation and social exclusion; 2) to protect poor and
vulnerable households from the impacts of adverse shocks to
their consumption and well-being that, if not mitigated,
would push non poor households into poverty, and poor
households into deeper poverty; and 3) to promote investment
in human and physical assets, including health, nutrition,
and education, by poor households capable of ensuring their
resilience in the medium run and of interrupting the
intergenerational cycle of poverty. This vision is fully
consistent with the World Bank's social protection and
labor strategy for 2012-2022, which recognizes that
effective social protection and labor policies and programs
help create the resilience, equity and access to jobs and
opportunities essential to save lives, reduce poverty and
promote sustainable growth. The focus of this report is
Pakistan's main safety net program: the Benazir Income
Support Program (BISP), which is only one part of the
broader poverty reduction and social protection
interventions. In particular, social protection includes
labor policy, contributory social insurance, and social care
services as well as safety nets. Pakistan's social
protection system comprises safety nets, social security and
employment promotion and protection.
