$600m social protection project: World Bank describes implementation progress as ‘satisfactory’

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank (WB) has rated the overall implementation progress of the “Pakistan Crisis-Resilient Social Protection”, of around $600 million as satisfactory.

The Crisis Resilient Social Protection program became effective on March 29, 2021. It is a 4-year, $600 million program for results operation, which includes a $5 million Technical Assistance component.

The project closing date is 30 June 2025 where 99 percent disbursement have so far been made.

The program has three result areas focusing on; a) Building a crisis-resilient delivery system; b) Establishing a Hybrid Social Protection (SP) system for resilience of poor against future crisis; c) Protecting human capital through demand-side education and health initiatives for children.

The project was designed to respond to gaps identified by the government during the Covid emergency cash transfer response through the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP). The institutional and operational reforms proposed under the program were designed to further improve the delivery system, expand coverage to protect human capital investments and introduce mechanisms to mitigate the risks for the vulnerable population not covered by the regular BISP safety net programs

The recent Implementation Support Mission (ISM) noted continued good progress towards achievement of most results, as elaborated in the results section below. However, delays remain in the launch of the Hybrid Social Protection scheme, and a beneficiary-centric design of the new payment system.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024