Public expenditures for child welfare: UNICEF, Sindh govt and Sindh Assembly hold comprehensive review

KARACHI: UNICEF Pakistan, in collaboration with the Government of Sindh and the Sindh Assembly, organized a high-level roundtable meeting in Karachi to conduct a detailed review of public expenditures and their impact on child welfare sectors across Sindh over the past five years. The meeting focused particularly on key sectors including education, health, nutrition, social protection, clean water, and sanitation.

The meeting was attended by Chairman Public Accounts Committee Sindh Assembly & President of Pakistan Peoples Party Sindh, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro; Mayor Sukkur & Spokesperson for the Government of Sindh, Barrister Arsalan Islam Sheikh; Deputy Representative (Programmes) of UNICEF Pakistan, Sharmila Rasool; Head of UNICEF Sindh Field Office, Prem Bahadur Chand; social policy and development expert Syed Sajjad Imran; and Advisor on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection and former Federal Secretary, Ali Raza Bhutta, who participated online.

Members of the Sindh Assembly, representatives of international development organisations, United Nations agencies, GIZ, UNDP, UN Women, and other partner organizations also attended the session.

The meeting was informed that Sindh’s education sector budget has tripled since 2020, reaching Rs 627 billion, while expenditures on health and population welfare have recorded an increase of more than 140 percent. Furthermore, Rs 196 billion has been allocated for Sindh under the Benazir Income Support Programme to provide financial assistance to deserving families.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026