Pakistan tops in Asia for highest response on social protection

ISLAMABAD - The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) has acknowledged Pakistan as one of the top-ranked countries in Asia with highest number of responses to social protection, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday.

The PM’s Office quoted Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar, who gave a briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan here at a meeting.

Though the data of Asian countries shown in a bar graph puts Afghanistan ahead of Pakistan, however the former’s position has been linked with several external humanitarian interventions.

“Afghanistan included many humanitarian interventions, hence Pakistan tops the list” says Marina Andrade, a researcher at IPC-IG team.

The study was conducted by UNICEF, United Nations and IPC-IG to assess social protection response in Asia focusing on an extensive mapping and overview of how social protection measures were deployed by the countries in Asia and the Pacific region in response to COVID-19 crisis.