July 16, 2020 -Islamabad: United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Pakistan hosted a webinar on the theme of social protection as it relates to inequality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Ehsaas Emergency Cash as the peg. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar chaired the webinar discussion. In her opening remarks, Dr. Nishtar stated, “Ehsaas Emergency Cash is the most extensive and transparent social protection operation, ever undertaken in the history of Pakistan. Given the overall success of program and its massive demand amid COVID-19, the government has expanded its target to reach 16.9 million beneficiaries with an increased budget of Rs. 203 billion. The webinar brought together rich perspectives of federal and provincial governments, international development partners, civil society and private sector around the social protection experiences. Participants highly lauded it that as compared to social protection initiatives taken in other countries, Pakistan’s Ehsaas Emergency Cash program has gained international recognition for disbursing in time cash assistance in a well-organized manner and at a larger scale.
