National Poverty Graduation Programme

Press Coverage

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ABOUT THE EVENT

NPGP Macroeconomic Research Launch

National Poverty Graduation Programme (NPGP) is a flagship initiative of the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) contributing to the Ehsaas Amdan Programme supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Pakistan.

The event is titled ‘Assessing Impacts of Macroeconomic Shifts on Microeconomy of Pakistan’s Poor and Ultra-Poor Households’ which will feature two research studies – NPGP Macroeconomy Study and PPAF COVID Study, both of which assess impacts of the recent macroeconomic shocks on NPGP households. A set of two panel discussions will follow the launch of these studies.

The aim of the event is to generate a solid conversation around research findings and feed into actionable policy and programmatic takeaways for policy corridors and the development sector.

Senator Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation will grace the event as the Chief Guest.

Event Agenda

NPGP Macroeconomic Research Launch

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Panels

NPGP Macroeconomic Research Launch

Panel Discussion 1
Panel Discussion 2

Panel Discussion – 1

Creating New Livelihoods : Post-COVID Impacts on Youth

09:40 am - 11:10 am

This panel aims at underscoring the urgency of placing youth at the front and centre of Pakistan’s policy and development discourse. Conversations at this panel will centre the skills youth immediately require for a shift away from traditional livelihood and into tech enterprises; the challenges of accessibility to training programmes for the development of these skills; the opportunities for urban-rural market and service linkages to generate youth livelihoods in remote rural districts; and the rethinking of public policy and legislation to address urban and rural youth-specific livelihood challenges emerging since COVID.

Panelists

Ms. Fatima Mazhar

Chief Executive Officer COLABS
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Dr. Rashid Bajwa

Chief Executive Officer NRSP
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Ms. Shua Khalid

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Atomcamp
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Ms. Nazil Danish

Creative Strategist Eikon7

Chair

Ms. Samia Liaquat Ali Khan

Senior Group Head - Graduation Group / Programme Director–National Poverty Graduation Programme PPAF
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Panel Discussion – 2

Adapting for Change - Challenges for Women in a Fast-Changing Economic Environment

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

This panel aims at enabling stakeholders to rework the agility of women-led businesses, especially those based out of rural geographies. Conversation at this panel will centre the development sector’s inability to scale up its shift away from non-growth livelihood businesses for rural women; the kind of public-private interventions needed to dilute this challenge of scaling up; making tech-based startups relevant to rural economies to amplify livelihoods for rural women; and bypassing the lack of digital penetration midst poor rural infrastructure to achieve integration of tech and rural entrepreneurship among poor women.

Panelists

Ms. Wardah Noor

Founder, KhudKaar
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Ms. Sidra Amin

Programs Lead I2I
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Ms. Kiran Afzal

Private Sector Development Specialist World Bank Group
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Dr. Allah Nawaz

CEO TRDP
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Mr. Favad Soomro

Head Engro Foundation
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Chair

Syeda Shehrbano Kazim

Chief of Staff Cheetay
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Reports

NPGP Macroeconomic Research Launch

NPGP Macroeconomic Research Study

The Study is based on primary data spanning 45 Focus Group Discussions (with NPGP and BISP beneficiaries), 34 Key Informant Interviews (with local and national stakeholders), and surveys with over 400 NPGP households in 16 Union Councils across Pakistan. Based on these data points, the Study presents findings – segregated for gender and youth demography – on how recent macroeconomic shifts triggered by COVID, floods, and locust attacks, have impacted the critical socioeconomic indicators – including poverty, unemployment, consumption, school dropouts, and climate emergency preparedness – of Pakistan’s poorest households. The Study quantifies macroeconomic impacts for these indicators across 3 projected scenarios of GDP growth; and closes with over 10 macro and micro-level policy and programmatic recommendations to dilute these impacts.

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PPAF COVID Research Study

The longitudinal Study performs a multi-regression analysis to identify precise temporal shifts, induced by Covid, for nearly 3,000 NPGP beneficiary households in 17 poor districts across Pakistan. The Study first benchmarks socioeconomic indicators of these households at pre-COVID baseline using NPGP’s beneficiary profiling tool of Livelihood Investment Plan (LIP). It then compares the baseline with its survey data which captures changes across the same socioeconomic indicators – including monthly income, monthly expense, asset ownership, loan borrowing, employment status, number of earning members in a household, nature of employment, etc – for 3 COVID waves in Pakistan. The survey also captures the ‘perceived resilience’ of households against massive shocks but is not limited to COVID. With this temporal comparison, the Study presents a comprehensive quantification of how profiles of Pakistan’s poorest households have reshaped since the pandemic.