Indonesian delegation arrives on knowledge-sharing visit to BISP

ISLAMABAD: A five-member delegation comprising of MIS experts from Indonesia arrived here Monday on a knowledge-sharing visit to discuss best practices in social safety nets with Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) management.

The delegation, led by Heru Cahyono, Section Head of Planning of Social Assistance Needs, called on the Secretary BISP Omar Hamid Khan here.

“The purpose of the five-day study visit is to share knowledge between the experts of MIS department, Indonesia and BISP, Pakistan,” said a press release.

The Secretary BISP said there was a growing consensus in development circles that social protection was an effective policy choice for addressing poverty and vulnerability in developing countries.

He said social protection had featured prominently on the agendas of most developing economies in recent years as a result of this consensus.

He informed the delegation that the BISP had attained a reputation of a successful programme with positive impacts on lives of vulnerable women. He quoted impact evaluations of Oxford Policy Management (OPM) which found the BISP’s positive impacts on poverty reduction, school enrolment of children and increased willingness of women to vote.

The delegation was briefed about the BISP Endowment Fund which had been established for additional pro-poor schemes and initiatives by the BISP.

The exit strategy of the BISP beneficiaries i.e. Graduation Model was also shared with the members of delegation.

Further, it was shared that the BISP had grown as a leader in establishing an innovative system for poverty based targeting in social protection service delivery, the National Socio Economic Registry (NSER) which is a large data set akin to a census that is linked to computerized civic registry.

Section Head of Planning of Social Assistance NeedsHeru Cahyono thanked the BISP management for hosting the visit for his team and praised the BISP model for its efficacy, transparency and utilization of latest technological trends for poverty mapping and beneficiary identification.

He said he looked forward to a strong relationship with the BISP for sharing of knowledge, resolution of common challenges and application of best practices within the both entities.

The Secretary BISP hoped that the visit would help understand the context of social safety environment in Pakistan, and replicate the successful initiatives of the BISP in other parts of world.