Dec 2, 2019, Honorable President Dr. Arif Alvi inaugurated the three-day conference on “Sustainable Development in a Digital Society”, organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was a keynote speaker at the inaugural session. Addressing the conference, Dr. Nishtar said that the Ehsaas is a multi-sector and multi-component programme encompassing 130 programmes and policy initiatives. She continued that on December 13, a hackathon would be held in collaboration with the Facebook to create mass awareness on the issue of malnutrition. Regarding the utilization of technology in its initiatives, she said a digital online education system through mobile phones would be introduced to facilitate the people in far flung areas, besides establishing agricultural value chains for the farmers. Moreover, she said, the prime minister had recently approved a policy under which 70 million women would be transferred cash assistance through their mobile wallet.
