Pakistan — leading in the crisis

A once a century event. A literal stunner. A killer. A devastator. Economies crumbled. Humans decimated. Governments looking helpless. Hospitals looking hapless. The best brains in the world looked jammed. The largest institutions became paralyzed. The most powerful economies crashed. The most experienced governments became clueless. As the first wave of Corona hit the world, there was devastation and destruction in every part of the world. The worst thing was that nobody knew what to do. The US, the know all and have all country, was recording infections and deaths at a rate that set the shivers in the world. Europe became the epicenter of the Pandemic. As the waves subsided, new bigger waves submerged people, economies and strategies. India despite having largest vaccine institution became a graveyard of the virus.

In this misery there were no examples to follow - except for one. A country that completely challenged the paradigm of the other countries. A country that challenged what the whole world was doing. A country that went in the opposite direction while all were going the other way. Nobody and no one imagined that Pakistan will be leading in this global crisis. Most thought it was a fluke. Many thought it was just luck. They waited for other waves to come and flatten the country with its killer impact. They predicted an economic doomsday for Pakistan. The fourth wave has come. Europe has again become the epicenter of Covid-19. The US is still recording thousands of deaths. Pakistan has not only managed to minimize the positivity rate to the lowest ever but has an economy that is growing beyond expectations. This exceptional achievement was the result of the 3 leadership qualities, VCE, i.e., Vision, Courage, Execution:

1. Vision to see when the world went blind-Leadership is always on test in tough situations. When the pressure is unbearable, most people panic and just cannot think beyond the immediate. Corona was not just a stock market crash but a life and death crash. Countries were shut down. Life was at a halt. The developed countries set the path of complete lockdowns. China did it. The US followed. Europe was late but then shut down everything. India, Bangladesh all did the same. The prime minister of Pakistan was the lone voice stating that the richer countries have the reserve to shut down but poorer countries will kill more people through unemployment and hunger than Corona. His smart lockdown strategy and later through data mining the micro lockdown strategy has been acknowledged as a visionary strategy that led the country through this crisis with the lowest fatalities and positivity in nearly every wave.

2. Courage to make unpopular decisions- In hindsight it looks easy. But imagine a time when millions of voices are screaming against you. Opposition calls you a murderer. Media, analysts load up their scathing attack on your “not smart but stupid” mindset. Public beset with fear is begging you to close down. Doctors are declaring a doomsday warning. But that is what leadership is all about. To have the courage to do the right thing even if you are scorned, scathed, attacked and castigated. The Ehsaas programme that took some time to develop and needed registration and cross-checking became an easy target for the experts to bash. As it turned out the mechanism was so effective that it became a saviour of millions due to its easy delivery, transparency and accessibility. With the result that in this fourth wave, the WHO (World Health Organization) has said that Pakistan’s Corona management has been exceptional while it has declared Europe as again the new epicenter of Covid-19 as the infection rates rise to all time high.

3. Design structures and systems to execute to dot- 80% of strategies fail in execution. The creation of NCOC (National Command Operation Centre) with all major political, civil, military, medical stakeholders in its decision making body made implementation impossibility a great reality. The systems adopted of data collection and informed choices based on it allowed economic, education and other activities to continue when neighbouring and western countries were still not able to balance the equation between lives and livelihoods. In the latest Economist ‘normalcy index’ Pakistan has topped the list beating India, the US, Europe, etc.

This is a historical achievement. Unfortunately, it is under-projected in the country and at global level. To promote and project this amazing accomplishment there are some do’s and don’ts for Pakistan:

1. Do not let short-term snags overshadow this feat- While inflation has and will be the center of news for the next few months as global prices soar, this should not overshadow this unique feat. There needs to be a professional media campaign designed for creating persistent news on it. The media should be engaged to make a case of this in daily news. Similarly, these news clips should be part of promotion in all social media accounts of our embassies and ambassadors abroad.

2. Work with international forums to create case studies- The WHO had made a case study on it earlier. Time for some more work at the international level to project it as a best practice of leadership, strategy and execution. Harvard Kennedy School and other academia would be interested in such studies. Similarly, global think tanks need to be approached with presentations to highlight these achievements.

3. Develop a regional learning forum- With a virtual world growing rapidly, regional best practice forums can help to put it in the center of Pakistan’s achievements. South Asian forums on lessons from Covid-19, the post-pandemic world way forward initiatives on webinars, etc, can help highlight this as a rare strategic global innovation.

The challenge is that the immediateness of “current affairs” puts a negative halo in the most positive of achievements. While India manages to splash the smallest of its achievement in a big way, the opposite happens in Pakistan. This has been the case in tourism, in culture and now in Covid-19 management. India’s shining image was marred by its atrocious Corona handling but they have managed to re paint it with its slick marketing. Unfortunately, however Pakistan’s fantastic Corona handling in many areas has been re-painted as governance failures. And that too despite WHO head of mission in Pakistan Dr Palitha Mahipala writing an article and praising Pakistan’s performance by pointing out that “Pakistan’s economy performed beyond expectations amid the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a 3.94 per cent economic growth rate during the fiscal year,” while the local media is busy painting an economic failure. This is where the challenge lies. We must not let this opportunity go by. A dedicated, focused and sustained campaign is required to truly highlight how Pakistan has shown the light to the world in the darkest hour of this century.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021