August 24, 2020 – Islamabad: Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) organized a webinar on ‘Financing the Social Protection: Possibilities & Practices’. SAPM Dr. Sania Nishtar was invited to join as chief guest and keynote speaker. The webinar aimed to explore options to assess financial plans to provide social assistance to all deserving, in the wake of coronavirus. In her keynote, Dr. Nishtar shared details about Ehsaas Emergency Cash that was rolled out by the government in response to COVID-19 pandemic. She stated that the Rs. 203 billion Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme has capitalized mainly on digital capabilities to impact lives of 16.9 million poverty-stricken families. The guest speakers included Benjamin A. Olken, an American Economist and Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Naureen Adnan from Centre of Excellence CPEC, Safdar Sohail from SPRC, Nasir Iqbal and Shujaat Farooq from PIDE. The event was moderated by Nadeem ul Haque, Vice Chancellor PIDE.
