Children of Ehsaas beneficiaries to be trained on financial,digital literacy for better impact: Nishtar

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Dr. Sania Nishtar Wednesday revealed that the children of the Ehsaas beneficiaries will be trained on financial and digital literacy for better impact.

She stated this while chairing a meeting held here to take stock of the key findings of the qualitative study with Ehsaas Kafaalat beneficiaries.

The study was commissioned by Ehsaas in collaboration with Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

The main focus of the research was to gain insights into beneficiary saving behavior. Findings shall inform the design of a financial and digital literacy training program under the recently rolled out Ehsaas Saving Wallets initiative.

Opening the meeting, Dr. Nishtar stated, “Exclusion from the formal financial system is linked with low levels of human and economic development. Therefore, financial inclusion is one of the seven goals of Ehsaas. The recently launched Ehsaas Savings Wallets initiative will enable women to save, invest in small businesses, access loans, and thereby create income and employment, and pay for emergency expenditures. The initiative will also focus on financial literacy of Kafaalat beneficiaries.”

The meeting discussed research findings from focus group discussions moderated in five districts of Pakistan.

The study explored the current saving behaviour, financial literacy and education, and digital literacy of Ehsaas Kafaalat beneficiaries.

Regarding saving behaviour of Kafaalat beneficiaries, the study revealed that a cumulative saving figure at the end of the month averages between Rs. 500-1000.

Also, women enjoy complete decision making autonomy with regard to household savings. With reference to financial learning, women identified children as the most helpful resource for any computational requirements.

They also identified Ehsaas as the most trustworthy and reliable source, with some women able to recount the information received at Ehsaas offices.

Findings also highlighted that all women were helped predominantly by their children for using the phone, including reading out SMSs, making and receiving calls, and saving contacts. Further, the majority of women participants were familiar with banks and formal financial institutions.

In her closing remarks, Dr. Nishtar concluded, “Drawing on results of the qualitative study, Ehsaas beneficiaries will be trained on financial and digital literacy beside their children for better impact.”

Based on study, it was strongly recommended that training will be designed in local languages utilizing beneficiary centered approach to instill greater confidence and self-efficacy amongst the women beneficiaries of Ehsaas, enabling them to fully avail the benefits of Ehsaas Savings Wallets.