Commonwealth Business Communications
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • COUNTRIES
    • AFRICA
      • BOTSWANA
      • CAMEROON
      • GAMBIA
      • GHANA
      • KENYA
      • KINGDOM OF eSWATINI
      • LESOTHO
      • MALAWI
      • MAURITIUS
      • MOZAMBIQUE
      • NAMIBIA
      • NIGERIA
      • RWANDA
      • SEYCHELLES
      • SIERRA LEONE
      • SOUTH AFRICA
      • TANZANIA
      • UGANDA
      • ZAMBIA
    • ASIA
      • BANGLADESH
      • BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
      • INDIA
      • MALAYSIA
      • MALDIVES
      • PAKISTAN
      • SINGAPORE
      • SRI LANKA
    • CARIBBEAN AND AMERICAS
      • ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
      • BAHAMAS
      • BARBADOS
      • BELIZE
      • CANADA
      • DOMINICA
      • GRENADA
      • GUYANA
      • JAMAICA
      • SAINT LUCIA
      • ST KITTS AND NEVIS
      • ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
      • TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
    • EUROPE
      • CYPRUS
      • MALTA
      • UNITED KINGDOM
    • PACIFIC
      • AUSTRALIA
      • FIJI
      • KIRIBATI
      • NAURU
      • NEW ZEALAND
      • PAPUA NEW GUINEA
      • SAMOA
      • SOLOMON-ISLANDS
      • TONGA
      • TUVALU
      • VANUATU
  • AREAS OF WORK
    • GOVERNMENT
    • EDUCATION
    • HEALTH
    • ICT
    • INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
    • NATURAL RESOURCES
    • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
    • TRADE AND INVESTMENT
  • OUR PUBLICATIONS
    • CHOGM
      • COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT INTERIM REPORT 2020
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2018 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2015 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2011 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2009 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2007 REPORT
    • HEALTH
      • COMMONWEALTH HEALTH REPORT 2020
    • EDUCATION
      • COMMONWEALTH EDUCATION REPORT 2019
    • MINISTERS
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2017
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2015
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2014
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2011
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2010
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2009
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2008
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2007
    • FINANCE
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REPORT 2012
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2010
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2009
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2008
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2007
    • TRADE AND INVESTMENT
      • AFRICA INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT REPORT 2013
    • QUEEN AND COMMONWEALTH
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: 90 GLORIOUS YEARS
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: CELEBRATING HER MAJESTY’S DIAMOND JUBILEE
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
  • CONTACT US
Commonwealth Business Communications
Commonwealth Business Communications
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • COUNTRIES
    • AFRICA
      • BOTSWANA
      • CAMEROON
      • GAMBIA
      • GHANA
      • KENYA
      • KINGDOM OF eSWATINI
      • LESOTHO
      • MALAWI
      • MAURITIUS
      • MOZAMBIQUE
      • NAMIBIA
      • NIGERIA
      • RWANDA
      • SEYCHELLES
      • SIERRA LEONE
      • SOUTH AFRICA
      • TANZANIA
      • UGANDA
      • ZAMBIA
    • ASIA
      • BANGLADESH
      • BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
      • INDIA
      • MALAYSIA
      • MALDIVES
      • PAKISTAN
      • SINGAPORE
      • SRI LANKA
    • CARIBBEAN AND AMERICAS
      • ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
      • BAHAMAS
      • BARBADOS
      • BELIZE
      • CANADA
      • DOMINICA
      • GRENADA
      • GUYANA
      • JAMAICA
      • SAINT LUCIA
      • ST KITTS AND NEVIS
      • ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
      • TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
    • EUROPE
      • CYPRUS
      • MALTA
      • UNITED KINGDOM
    • PACIFIC
      • AUSTRALIA
      • FIJI
      • KIRIBATI
      • NAURU
      • NEW ZEALAND
      • PAPUA NEW GUINEA
      • SAMOA
      • SOLOMON-ISLANDS
      • TONGA
      • TUVALU
      • VANUATU
  • AREAS OF WORK
    • GOVERNMENT
    • EDUCATION
    • HEALTH
    • ICT
    • INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
    • NATURAL RESOURCES
    • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
    • TRADE AND INVESTMENT
  • OUR PUBLICATIONS
    • CHOGM
      • COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT INTERIM REPORT 2020
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2018 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2015 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2011 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2009 REPORT
      • THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING 2007 REPORT
    • HEALTH
      • COMMONWEALTH HEALTH REPORT 2020
    • EDUCATION
      • COMMONWEALTH EDUCATION REPORT 2019
    • MINISTERS
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2017
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2015
      • MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK COMMONWEALTH 2014
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2011
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2010
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2009
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2008
      • COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS REFERENCE BOOK 2007
    • FINANCE
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REPORT 2012
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2010
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2009
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2008
      • COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS REFERENCE REPORT 2007
    • TRADE AND INVESTMENT
      • AFRICA INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT REPORT 2013
    • QUEEN AND COMMONWEALTH
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: 90 GLORIOUS YEARS
      • QUEEN & COMMONWEALTH: CELEBRATING HER MAJESTY’S DIAMOND JUBILEE
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
  • CONTACT US

PAKISTAN – PANDEMIC COULD PUSH MILLIONS MORE INTO POVERTY

  • CBC News Team
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

Nearly 42 million children are now out of school, while 17 million children under five are missing routine vaccinations in Pakistan.

Spiking COVID-19 rates risk overwhelming Pakistan’s health system, slashing growth, derailing recovery, and pushing the country’s most vulnerable further into poverty, a new UN impact assessment, coordinated by UNDP, finds.

Pakistan’s confirmed and reported COVID-19 cases, as of 10 June, topped 113,000. More than 2,200 people have died, including at least four provincial legislators. Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world, with dense cities where contagion spreads far and fast. This virus, alongside measures to mitigate it, poses major risks to lives and livelihoods with impacts that could last for decades, the study says.

Public health systems were stretched long before the pandemic, with a ratio of one doctor to 963 people and one hospital bed to 1,608 people. Its shortage of trained medical staff is estimated at 200,000 doctors and 1.4 million nurses, and universal health coverage is non-existent.

While the poverty rate declined by 40 percent over the last two decades to 24.3 percent in 2015, the IMF projects a sharp reversal, with up to 40 percent of Pakistanis living below the poverty line in COVID-19’s viral wake.

Real GDP growth is expected to slow by 3 percent, with downturns in services and manufacturing. Agriculture will also lag if lockdowns continue and disrupt needed transportation, logistical support, labor, and access to inputs for the next planting season.

Those most at-risk include people already living below poverty line, women, children, people with disabilities, the elderly, and other marginalized groups whose lives, livelihoods, nutrition, and access to basic services are least secure.

Nearly 42 million children are now out of school, while 17 million children under five are missing routine vaccinations. An additional 2.45 million people—beyond an existing 40 million—now suffer food insecurity, the study finds.

This assessment, which will inform policies and programs to help the country recover, argues for a “deliberate effort to reach out to the furthest and most vulnerable through economic relief packages and social sector services.” But implementers and planners will face challenges in finding innovative technologies and credible partners to provide support efficiently and transparently, it says.

The UN study recommends a response comprising five workstreams:

  • Making essential health services available to those in need and protecting health systems.
  • Helping people cope through social protections and ensuring basic services and food security.
  • Protecting jobs, supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises, and shoring up the most vulnerable workers through economic recovery programs.
  • Guiding a badly needed surge in fiscal and financial stimuli and strengthening multilateral and regional responses.
  • Promoting social cohesion and investing in community-led resilience and response systems.

On the ground

At the Government’s request, UNDP established a COVID-19 Secretariat at Pakistan’s Planning Commission to support the country’s economic and social response to the pandemic. It also facilitated preparation of a socio-economic framework in collaboration with other UN agencies. This framework will inform the Government’s 2020-2021 budget and National Action Plan for COVID-19.

UNDP is also providing technical expertise to the Federal Ministry of Health to enhance communications, coordination, and data analysis and to the National Disaster Management Authority as it implements its Pakistan Preparedness and Response Plan COVID-19.

UNDP is meanwhile working closely with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Command and Control Center to strengthen its crisis management capacity. This support includes the design of a data collection system from districts, analysis and reporting to inform decision-making by the Health Department, and provision of strategic communications to the provincial authorities. 

UNDP is, further, supporting a nationwide youth perception survey, Youth Innovation Challenges, and online hackathons to understand the views of young people and include their voices in developing COVID related interventions.

UNDP’s Innovation AccLab supported the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation in launching a National Health Hackathon, focused on COVID-19 prevention and treatment.

Learn More: United Nations Development Programme

Picture Credit: UNDP Pakistan

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Related Topics
  • COVID-19
CBC News Team

Previous Article

FOSSIL FUEL LOCKDOWN NEEDED FOR A CLIMATE REVOLUTION

  • CBC News Team
Read More
Next Article

FUTURES OF 600 MILLION SOUTH ASIAN CHILDREN UNDER THREAT

  • CBC News Team
Read More
You May Also Like
Rwanda Giants Club - Family of Silverback Gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda sit amongst the trees.
Read More
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
  • RWANDA

RWANDA PRESIDENT PAUL KAGAME JOINS GIANTS CLUB TO BOOST INVESTMENT IN WILDLIFE ECONOMY

  • CBC News Team
  • 2 March 2021
Electric Mobility in Kenya - Boda Boda, a motorcycle taxi, waiting for customers in a park.
Read More
  • AFRICA
  • KENYA
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

E-BODA-BODAS: A PROMISING DAY FOR ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION IN EAST AFRICA

  • CBC News Team
  • 2 March 2021
Africa Regional Review - An African girl sitting outside her house in a torn yellow vest.
Read More
  • AFRICA
  • HEALTH
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

AFRICA’S MOST VULNERABLE NATIONS CALL ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR GREATER SUPPORT

  • CBC News Team
  • 1 March 2021
Read More
  • ASIA
  • FIJI
  • INDIA
  • PACIFIC
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY KEY TO BUILDING BACK BETTER FROM COVID-19 IN ASIA-PACIFIC

  • CBC News Team
  • 1 March 2021
Read More
  • AFRICA
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

GENDER EQUALITY IS ‘A MUST FOR OUR YOUNG GIRLS’

  • CBC News Team
  • 27 February 2021
Environment assembly meeting - The wind field of the mountain ridge. High angle aerial photography.
Read More
  • AFRICA
  • ASIA
  • CARIBBEAN AND AMERICAS
  • EUROPE
  • PACIFIC
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

UN ENVIRONMENT ASSEMBLY | AN URGENT CALL FOR ACTION TO SOLVE PLANETARY EMERGENCIES

  • CBC News Team
  • 26 February 2021
Planting a sapling for clean and green environment
Read More
  • PAKISTAN
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

PAKISTAN TO HOST WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2021

  • CBC News Team
  • 22 February 2021
Read More
  • HEALTH
  • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

KEY POST-PANDEMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE WORLD’S CHILDREN

  • CBC News Team
  • 20 February 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

OUR LATEST PUBLICATION

Subscribe to our Newsletter

PARTNER FOCUS
Recent Posts
  • MOZAMBIQUE – ECONOMIC GROWTH EXPECTED TO REBOUND BY 2022
  • KENYA COMPLETES AfCFTA IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY REVIEW
  • NATIONAL DAY – GHANA
  • A woman with Fiji flag on hygienic mask in her hand and lifted up the front face on brown background. COVID-19 Fiji testing kits
    ADB, UNICEF SUPPORT HEALTH CARE WORKERS IN FIJI WITH 22,000 COVID-19 TESTING KITS

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Commonwealth Business Communications
  • HOME
  • About
  • Contact
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
© 2021 Commonwealth Business Communications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.